The Mind Like a Wild Deer
Sandha Kātyāyana Sutta (Aṅguttara Nikāya 4.180)
“Just as a deer roaming free in the forest, unbound by snares...”
Among the shorter yet profound discourses in the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Sandha Kātyāyana Sutta (AN 4.180) stands out for its poetic simile and radical statement about the nature of peaceful liberation of mind. The teaching, compact yet deep, touches the core of early Buddhist meditative insight and non-clinging.
The Setting
The Buddha is staying in Rājagaha, at the Bamboo Grove. A monk named Sandha Kātyāyana (or Kaccāyana) approaches him with a heartfelt question:
“Venerable sir, it is said, ‘peaceful liberation of mind, peaceful liberation of mind.’ In what way is there peaceful liberation of mind?”
What follows is a striking statement that challenges all conceptual frames.
The Unfindable Realm
“There is, Sandha,” said the Blessed One,
“that base where there is no earth, no water, no fire, no air;
no base consisting of the infinity of space,
no base consisting of the infinity of consciousness,
no base consisting of nothingness,
no base consisting of neither-perception-nor-non-perception;
neither this world nor another world,
neither moon nor sun.”
The Buddha describes a domain beyond all conditioned experience, free from the four great elements and even the highest immaterial attainments. This is not annihilation, but the ungraspable.
“Here, Sandha, there is no coming, no going, no staying;
no passing away and no arising.
It is not fixed, not moving, and has no support.
It is the end of suffering.”
This "base" (āyatana) is where all perceptual activity ceases—not a place, but a mode of consciousness free from fabrication.
The Thoroughbred and the Wild Deer
Two similes drive the message home:
“Just as a fine thoroughbred horse is untroubled in battle...
the well-taught noble disciple who has seen this
becomes unshaken, like a strong pillar,
like a deep, still lake.”
And then:
“Just as a deer roaming free in the forest, unbound by snares,
moves freely and without fear—
so is the mind of one who has seen the formless liberation,
gone beyond the range of Māra.”
The image of the deer is especially poignant: a metaphor for freedom that is not rooted in identity or conceptual knowing, but in liberation from clinging and views. No cage of perception, no trap of becoming.
Commentary Notes: Sumangala-vilāsinī & Beyond
Though the Sumangala-vilāsinī primarily comments on the Dīgha Nikāya, its hermeneutic tradition influences how later commentaries approach this sutra. It emphasizes:
The distinction between peaceful and temporary liberation.
The danger of clinging even to refined states such as the formless jhānas.
The metaphor of the deer as a mind that neither lingers in concepts nor flees from experience but simply moves with awareness, unbound.
Later commentaries like the Manorathapūraṇī (on the Aṅguttara) and even Chinese parallels elaborate similar themes, linking this sutra to teachings on nibbāna as the unconditioned (asaṅkhata).
Reflections for Practice
What would it mean to let go not just of thoughts, but of identity, time, and even space?
Can we imagine the mind as a deer—aware, alert, yet not caught?
Is liberation a thing to be achieved or a letting go so complete that even “achievement” dissolves?
This sutra doesn’t give techniques. It offers a glimpse. A pointer beyond grasping. A wild call to release everything and in that release, find a peace beyond words.
“This, Sandha, is what is called the peaceful liberation of mind.”