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I HEAR TELL:[1]
1.What would you say, beggars, if questioned like this by seekers:[2]
'What, friend, is the root of all things?[3]
What brings all things to life?
What is the support of all things?
What is the confluence of all things?[4]
What is at the interface[5] of all things?
Ruled over by what are all things?
Directed[6] at what are all things?
What is at the heart of all things?
What is the pitfall of all things?
What is the end of all things?'
Thus questioned by seekers, beggars, what would you answer, what explanation would you make of this?
The Bhagava is the root of things for us, broke-tooth; The Bhagava is the resource; The Bhagava is the recourse. Good for us, broke-tooth, if that response which was well said occurred to the Bhagava. Hearing it from the Bhagava the beggars will retain it in mind.
In that case, beggars, pay attention, give ear, I will speak!
Even so, broke-tooth!
And this is what the Bhagava said to them: --
This is what you should say, beggars, if questioned thus by seekers:
'What, friend, is the root of all things?
What brings all things to life?
What is the support of all things?
What is the confluence of all things?
What is at the interface of all things?
Ruled over by what are all things?
Directed at what are all things?
What is at the heart of all things?
What is the pitfall of all things?
What is the end of all things?'
Wanting is the root of all things, friend.
Work of mind brings all things to life.
Contact supports all things.
All things converge in sense experience.
Being high[7] is at the interface of all things.
Ruled over by mind are all things.
Directed at wisdom are all dhammas.
Freedom is at the heart of all dhammas.
Falling into the deathless are all dhammas.
Ending in Nibbana are all dhammas.
Thus questioned by seekers, beggars, thus should you answer, thus should you explain this.
[1]No nidana for this specific sutta, the series begins on page 105, where the location is given as Jeta Grove, Anathapindika's Park in Savatthi.
[2]Paribb¤jak¤: A wanderer. I am putting into this word the idea that the reason they are wandering is that they are seeking out The Truth of things.
[3]This sutta requires one to hear the pun between dhamma as meaning "thing" and dhamma as meaning "teaching." The seekers are actually looking for one word as the answer to all these questions, that is, "tanha," the Buddha turns this into a useful lesson.
[4]Samosara: PED: [sa¸+osaraĵa] coming together, meeting, union, junction; Woodward: conjoined
[5]Pamukha:1 PED: [pa+mukha] lit. "in front of the face," fore-part, first, foremost, chief, prominent; Woodward: headed by
[6]Uttara: uttermost, outer limit; Woodward: ultimate.
[7]Sam¤dhi: Woodward uses "concentration." I think not. This is the state experienced by those who have gotten high, where the feeling is that they are on top of it all, that from this point, all things are possible. I also think that this is the pivot point of the riddle: with the next, the mind, as the fulcrum, from here the answers require the understanding that what is being spoken of is the dhamma, not just things in general -- things in general are not directed at wisdom, do not have freedom at their heart, do not plunge into the deathless, or end in Nibbana.
References:
PTS: The Book of the Gradual Sayings, V: The Book of the Tens, VI: One's Own Thoughts, viii: Rooted in the Exalted One.
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