With regard to these things
they’re attached–
some contemplatives & brahmans.
Not reaching the footing,1
they sink in mid-stream.
Notes
1. This compound–tamogadhaṁ–is ambiguous in that it can be divided in two ways: tam-ogadhaṁ, “that footing”; or tamo-gadhaṁ, “a footing in darkness.” The first is the meaning apparently intended here, with “that footing” referring to the deathless (the image is of the point, when crossing a river, where one comes close enough to the far shore that one can touch bottom–see AN 10:58). However, the Buddha was probably conscious that the compound could also be interpreted in the second way, which would have made the term memorable for its shock value. There are several other passages in Pali poetry where terms seem to have been intended to carry both positive and negative meanings for this reason. See, for example, Dhp 97, Sn 4:10, and Sn 4:13.
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