1Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living among the Sumbhas, where there was a town of the Sumbhas named Sedaka. sn.v.170 There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Bhikkhus!"

"Venerable sir!" the bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this: [n.171] This sutta is related in the introduction to Ja No. 96 (I 393–401), which concludes with a verse that alludes back to the sutta:
Samatittikaṁ anavasesakaṁ
telapattaṃ yathā parihareyya
evaṃ sacittam anurakkhe
patthayāno disaṃ agatapubbaṃ.
As one might carry a bowl of oil.
Full to the brim without spilling a drop,
So should one protect one’s own mind,
Yearning for the quarter not reached
before (i.e., Nibbāna).

2"Bhikkhus, suppose that on hearing, ‘The most beautiful girl of the land! The most beautiful girl of the land!’ a great crowd of people would assemble. Now that most beautiful girl of the land would dance exquisitely and sing exquisitely. On hearing, ‘The most beautiful girl of the land is dancing! The most beautiful girl of the land is singing!’ an even larger crowd of people would assemble. [n.172] From the Pali it cannot be determined whether the crowd gathers because they have heard "The most beautiful girl of the land!" being announced or gathers exclaiming "The most beautiful girl of the land!" I take it in the former way. Spk says such a girl is devoid of six physical defects (too tall or too short, too thin or too stout, too dark or too fair) and endowed with five kinds of beauty (of skin, flesh, sinews, bones, and age). The expression paramapāsāvinī nacce, paramapāsāvinī gīte seems to be unique to this text. PED explains pāsāvin as "bringing forth," but see MW, s.v. pra-sava (2) > pra-savin, derived from pra-sūti (1) and meaning "impelling, exciting." Spk: "In dancing and singing her presentation is supreme, her performance is the best; she dances and sings supremely well." Then a man would come along, wishing to live, not wishing to die, wishing for happiness, averse to suffering. Someone would say to him: ‘Good man, you must carry around this bowl of oil filled to the brim between the crowd and the most beautiful girl of the land. A man with a drawn sword will be following right behind you, and wherever you spill even a little of it, right there he will fell your head.’

"What do you think, bhikkhus, would that man stop attending to that bowl of oil and out of negligence turn his attention outwards?"

"No, venerable sir."

3"I have made up this simile, bhikkhus, in order to convey a meaning. This here is the meaning: ‘The bowl of oil filled to the brim’: this is a designation for mindfulness directed to the body. Therefore, bhikkhus, you should train yourselves thus: ‘We will develop and cultivate mindfulness directed to the body, make it our vehicle, make it our basis, stabilize it, exercise ourselves in it, and fully perfect it.’ Thus, bhikkhus, should you train yourselves."

1Evaṁ me sutaṁ—​ ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sumbhesu vihārati sedakaṁ nāma sumbhānaṁ nigamo. Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: "bhikkhavo"ti.

"Bhadante"ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. Bhagavā etadavoca:

2"Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, ‘janapadakalyāṇī, janapadakalyāṇī’ti kho, bhikkhave, mahājanakāyo sannipateyya. ‘Sā kho panassa janapadakalyāṇī paramapāsāvinī nacce, paramapāsāvinī gīte. Janapadakalyāṇī naccati gāyatī’ti kho, bhikkhave, bhiyyoso mattāya mahājanakāyo sannipateyya. Atha puriso āgaccheyya jīvitukāmo amaritukāmo sukhakāmo dukkhappaṭikūlo. Tamenaṁ evaṁ vadeyya: ‘Ayaṁ te, ambho purisa, samatittiko telapatto antarena ca mahāsamajjaṁ antarena ca janapadakalyāṇiyā pariharitabbo. Puriso ca te ukkhittāsiko piṭṭhito piṭṭhito anubandhissati. Yattheva naṁ thokampi chaḍḍessati tattheva te siro pātessatī’ti.

Taṁ kiṁ maññatha, bhikkhave, api nu so puriso amuṁ telapattaṁ amanasikaritvā bahiddhā pamādaṁ āhareyyā"ti?

"No hetaṁ, bhante".

3"Upamā kho myāyaṁ, bhikkhave, katā atthassa viññāpanāya. Ayaṁ cevettha attho – samatittiko telapattoti kho, bhikkhave, kāyagatāya etaṁ satiyā adhivacanaṁ. Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, evaṁ sikkhitabbaṁ: ‘kāyagatā sati no bhāvitā bhavissati bahulīkatā yānīkatā vatthukatā anuṭṭhitā paricitā susamāraddhā’ti. Evañhi kho, bhikkhave, sikkhitabban"ti.

Dasamaṁ.
Nālandavaggo dutiyo.