The Connected Discourses of the Buddha

by Bhikkhu Bodhi

  601 Spk: Dutiful (dhuravā) means not neglecting one’s responsibilities and implies mental energy; one with initiative (uṭṭhātā) implies physical energy. I here follow Be; in Se the last two lines come at the end of v. 850; in Ee1, at the end of both v. 852 and v. 853; in Sn, they are attached to neither verse.

  602 The problem is to correlate the two tetrads mentioned in vv. 853-54. The difficulty arises not only on account of the replacement of dhiti by khantyā in the second verse but also because of the variant readings of the second term. Perhaps the best reading is that in Se, which accords with Sn (Ee) vv. 187-88: in v. 853, saccaṃ dhammo dhiti cāgo; in v. 854, saccā damā cāgā khantyā. Spk (Be) and Spk (Se) differ over the second term: the former has dammo and dammā, the latter dhammo and dhammā. The explanations in Spk-pṭ establish beyond doubt that dhammo and damā were the respective readings known to Dhammapāla.The four qualities mentioned at vv. 853-54 refer back to vv. 851-52. Truth corresponds to truthfulness in v. 852c (sacca in all three instances), while generosity (cāga) clearly corresponds to giving (dadaṃ) in v. 852d. Spk (Se) explains that Dhamma is spoken of (in v. 851c) under the name of wisdom gained through a desire to learn, on which Spk-pṭ comments: “Wisdom is called Dhamma because of bearing up and examining (dhāraṇato upadhāraṇato) entities in accordance with actuality.” (As the verb dhāreti (> dhāraṇa) is the stock etymological explanation of dhamma in the commentaries, we can infer that the author of Spk-pṭ had a text that read dhammo.) Steadfastness (dhiti) is spoken of under the names dutifulness and initiative (in v. 852ab).

  In its paraphrase of v. 854, Spk states: “Come now, ask the many ascetics and brahmins whether there is any greater means for winning acclaim than truthfulness; any greater means for gaining mundane and supramundane wisdom than self-control (I suggest reading damā, following Spk-pṭ, which explains that wisdom is so designated because it controls (dameti) the defilements as well as body and speech, etc.); any greater means of binding friends than generosity; and any greater means for finding mundane and supramundane wealth than patience, which is identical with activated energy, (called patience) in the sense that it endures heavy burdens, and which is referred to by the names dutifulness and initiative.”

  Thus the correlations can be shown schematically as follows:1. 852: truthfulness = 853 & 854: truth.

  2. 851: wisdom = 853: Dhamma = 854: self-control.

  3. 852: giving = 853 & 854: generosity.

  4. 852: dutifulness, initiative = 853: steadfastness = 854: patience.

  603 Although Spk explains attho in pāda d as the visible benefit (diṭṭhadhammika) and samparāyiko as the benefit in a future life, there seems to be no compelling reason not to take the two words at their face value as adjective and noun bearing a single significance, namely, the good pertaining to the future life.

  604 Spk continues with the background story: Just as the yakkha finished speaking this verse, the sun rose and the king’s men arrived bringing the prince as a sacrificial offering. They handed the infant to the yakkha, who presented him to the Buddha. The Master recited some verses of blessing over the boy and returned him to the king’s men. When the prince reached maturity, he was known as Hatthaka Āḷavaka, because he had been passed around from one person’s hands (hattha) to another’s. He attained the stage of nonreturner and was one of the Buddha’s foremost lay disciples, the chief of those who win followings through the four bases of beneficence (saṅgahavatthu; see AN I 26,7-9). The Buddha holds him up as a model for male lay followers at 17:23 and praises his virtues at AN IV 217-20. 11. Sakkasaṃyutta

  605 The texts commonly depict the Tāvatiṃsa devas and the asuras as engaged in perpetual strife, the devas representing the forces of light, peace, and harmony, the asuras or “jealous titans” the forces of violence, conflict, and dissension; see too 35:248.Spk explains that the devas are protected by five lines of defense: the nāgas, the supaṇṇas (n. 397), the kumbhaṇḍas (a kind of goblin), the yakkhas, and the Four Great Kings, the presiding deities of the lowest sense-sphere heaven. When the asuras penetrate these five lines, the Four Great Kings inform Sakka, who mounts his chariot and then either goes to the battlefront himself or commissions one of his sons to lead the devas into battle. On this occasion he wanted to send his son Suvı̄ra.

  606 Spk: Accompanied by his retinue of nymphs, he entered upon the great golden highway sixty yojanas wide and roamed around in the Nandana Grove playing (the game of) Constellation.

  607 Spk: In pāda a, alasassa (in Se and Ee1; alasvassa in Be & Ee2) should be resolved: alaso assa; in pāda c, sabbakāmasamiddhassa should be resolved: sabbakāmehi samiddho assa. In pāda d, I read disā ti with Be, Se, and Ee2, as against disan ti in Ee1.Spk paraphrases pāda d thus: “O Sakka, supreme deva, show me that blessed, supreme, state (or) region, point it out to me, describe it” (sakka devaseṭṭha taṃ me varaṃ uttamaṃ ṭhānaṃ okāsaṃ disa ācikkha kathehi). VĀT proposes that because pāda d includes no other noun for an adjective varaṃ to qualify, it would be better to take varaṃ itself as the noun meaning “a boon” and disa as meaning “to grant, to bestow.” This meaning is attested to in PED, s.v. disati, but without references. I have followed VĀT’s suggestion, though I cannot cite any other instances where varaṃ is used in relation to disati. It is usually governed by the verb dadāti, as at Vin I 278,23.

  608 The verse is particularly obscure. Spk and Spk-pṭ offer little more than glosses, and a translator can do little better than take a shot in the dark. In pāda a, I regard koci as equivalent to kvaci (see n. 175). I read the verb in pāda b with Ee1 & 2 as jīyati, as against jīvati in Be and Se; the latter may have entered the text through a misunderstanding of the commentarial gloss.Spk: “The place of living without doing work is the path of Nibbāna (kammaṃ akatvā jīvitaṭṭhānaṃ nāma nibbānassa maggo).” Spk-pṭ: “The ‘path of Nibbāna′ is the path which serves as the means for attainment of Nibbāna.” This is perplexing: since “work” (kamma) in the sense of exertion is certainly needed to attain Nibbāna, the purport may be that with the attainment of Nibbāna no more work is needed to attain it. The verse may also be playing upon two meanings of kamma, suggesting that one who attains Nibbāna does not create further kamma, volitional action ripening in rebirth.

  609 The verb sobhetha, in this stock expression, has proved troublesome to previous translators. C.Rh.D renders it “do ye enhance his words” (at KS 1:281); Horner, based on PED, as “let your light shine forth” (in BD 4:249, 4:498, 5:227 = Vin I 187,23, I 349,7, II 162,15). Neither of these offerings captures the intended meaning. The verb—a middle voice, third person singular optative—always occurs in a context where the Buddha is speaking of a type of lay conduct that the bhikkhus, as renunciants, should be able to surpass. Hence the verb points to how one should act to make oneself shine, i.e., the mode of conduct that is fitting for one’s station.

  610 This sutta is a popular paritta or protective discourse, included in the Maha Pirit Pota. The Northern Buddhist tradition has preserved versions in Tibetan and Chinese, translated from the Skt, and Skt fragments also have been found. The various versions are discussed in detail by Skilling, Mahā Sūtras II, pp. 441-67.

  611 Spk does not gloss the compound dhajagga, but it occurs at AN III 89,17 foll. and is explained at Mp III 267,18 as “the crests of standards raised up from the backs of elephants, horses, etc., or from chariots.” Skilling discusses the Skt words dhvaja and dhvajāgra at length and concludes that “in its early form a dhvaja was a pole surmounted by an emblem, carried as a military or royal symbol” (Mahā Sūtras II, p. 457). The emblem is the dhvajāgra, the “crest of the standard,” though it seems that over time the two terms came to be used almost interchangeably. Since the standard often also bore a flag, the word dhvaja eventually was transferred to the flag; this understanding of the term seems to be implicit in Spk’s remark (just below). Dhaja occurs at v. 226a.Spk: “The crest of Sakka’s sta
ndard is raised up from his chariot 250 yojanas high, and when it is struck by the wind it gives forth the sound of a five-piece orchestra. When the devas look up at it, they think, ‘Our king has come and stands by his troops like a deeply planted pillar. Of whom need we be afraid?’ Thus they have no fear.”

  612 Of these three deities, Spk says only that Pajāpati is of the same appearance and life span as Sakka and gets the second seat, while Varuṇa and Īsāna respectively get the third and fourth seats. According to MW, Prajāpati was originally “lord of creatures, creator, … a supreme god above the Vedic deities.” Varuṇa “is one of the oldest Vedic gods … often regarded as the supreme deity.” Īsāna is “one of the older names of Śiva-Rudra.”

  613 See n. 157. Spk here says that he is the oldest of all the asuras.

  614 A similar incident is related at 35:248 (IV 201,18-202,4).

  615 In pāda a, Be, Se, and Ee2 read pabhijjeyyuṃ, Ee1 pakujjheyyuṃ . The latter is recognized by Spk as a v.l. The dialogue represents a contest between two opposing models of political leadership, with Mātali advocating the principle of despotic rule, Sakka the principle of benevolent rule. The despotic political philosophy seems more in keeping with the character of the asuras, and indeed in the following sutta Vepacitti himself proclaims the verses here ascribed to Mātali.

  616 I translate pādas cd guided by Spk’s paraphrase: “Among the goals (or goods) which culminate in one’s own good, there is found no other goal (or good) better than patience” (tesu saka-atthaparamesu atthesu khantito uttaritaro añño attho na vijjati). Because of the discrepancy between the plural sadatthaparamā atthā in pāda c and the singular verb vijjati in pāda d, it seems necessary to read the nominative clause in pāda c as doing service for a locative or genitive, as Spk suggests, with a singular subject implicit. The only alternative would be to amend pāda c to read singular sadatthaparamo attho, but no text has this reading. Cp. v. 854d above and v. 895d below. Ñāṇamoli splits the two pādas syntactically and translates: “One’s own good is the best of all, and there is none surpasses patience” (The Guide, p. 227), but this seems too free.Note that Sakka speaks from the perspective of mundane ethical values rather than from the transcendent perspective of the Dhamma. From that perspective sadattha is identified with arahantship, which cannot be gained simply by patience.

  617 C.Rh.D takes niccaṃ khamati dubbalo to mean that a weak person must always be tolerated (see KS 1:285), but dubbalo , as nominative, is clearly the subject of khamati, not its object. My translation conforms to Ñāṇamoli’s (in Minor Readings and Illustrator, p. 162), but was made independently. Ñāṇamoli’s note speaks for my interpretation as well: “The rendering here … seeks to bring out that patience is a necessity rather than a virtue in the weak, but appears as a virtue in the forbearance of the strong. The verse is a difficult one.”

  618 Spk: Dhammaguttassa: to one who is protected by the Dhamma or to one who is protecting the Dhamma (dhammena rakkhitassa dhammaṃ vā rakkhantassa).

  619 Tumhe khvettha vepacitti pubbadevā. Spk paraphrases: “Being the senior master long residing in the deva world, speak what has been transmitted to you.” Spk-pṭ: Because he had arisen in this world earlier than Sakka and his retinue of devas, he is extolled as “the senior deva” (pubbadevā, lit. “former deva”). He addresses Vepacitti with plural forms as a sign of respect.Both Spk (to 11:1) and Dhp-a I 272-73 relate how Sakka ousted the old generation of devas and drove them out to the asura world; see BL 1:319.

  620 The verses of Vepacitti are identical with those of Mātali in the preceding sutta, and Sakka’s verses here are identical with his own verses above.

  621 The same incident, set in a different context, is related at Dhp-a I 279 (see BL 1:323-24) and in Ja No. 31 (I 202-3). Ja I 203 glosses kulāvakā as supaṇṇapotakā, baby supaṇṇa birds, but at v. 37b the word clearly means a nest and not its occupants.Spk: As they headed towards the silk-cotton woods, the noise of the chariot, the horses, and the standard was like thunderbolts on all sides. The strong supaṇṇa birds in the forest fled, but those that were old, ill, and too young to fly were terrified and let loose a loud cry. Sakka asked, “What is that sound?” and Mātali told him. Sakka’s heart was shaken by compassion and he spoke the verse.

  622 Spk: As soon as Sakka said this, Vepacitti became as if bound by bonds on his four limbs and neck.

  623 I read with Be: tadeva tvaṃ mā pajahāsi. Ee1 reads pahāsi, which gives the same sense, but Se and Ee2 have mārisa pahāsi, which yields the opposite meaning.

  624 Spk: The verse refers to four great evils (mahāpāpāni) of the present aeon: (i) “the evil that comes to a liar”: the evil of the king of Ceti, the first liar of the present aeon (see the Cetiya Jātaka, Ja No. 422); (ii) “to a reviler of noble ones”: evil like that of Kokālika (see 6:10); (iii) “to a betrayer of friends”: evil like that of the betrayer of the Great Being in the Mahākapi Jātaka (Ja No. 516); (iv) “to one without gratitude”: the evil of an ingrate like Devadatta.In pāda e, I read phusati with Se and Ee1 & 2, as against phusatu in Be. “Sujā’s husband” (Sujampati) is a name for Sakka; see 11:12 and n. 641.

  625 Neither Spk nor Spk-pṭ offers any help in identifying Verocana. At DN II 259,11 mention is made of “a hundred sons of (the asura ) Bali, all named Veroca” (satañ ca baliputtānaṃ sabbe Verocanāmakā), on which Sv II 689,26-27 comments: “They all bore the name of their uncle Rāhu.” This might suggest that Verocana and Rāhu are identical, but there is no additional evidence for this.

  626 Both C.Rh.D and Geiger translate pādas cd as if they were two independent sentences: “A purpose shines when perfected. /Nothing forbearance doth excel.” I go along with the paraphrase of Spk, which treats them as forming one sentence: “Among the goals (goods) that shine when achieved, there is no goal better than patience.” I read pada c here (and in v. 894 just above) with Se and Ee2 as plural: nipphannasobhino atthā, as against the singular nipphannasobhano attho of Be and Ee1. Pāda d here is identical with v. 854d and v. 877d. See n. 616.

  627 In pāda a, sabbe sattā atthajātā might also have been rendered, “All beings are beset by needs.” Spk explains: “Bent upon a goal means engaged in a task (atthajātā ti kiccajātā); for there is no being at all, including dogs and jackals, that is not engaged in a task. Even walking to and fro can be called a task.”Pādas cd read: Saṃyogaparamā tveva/Sambhogā sabbapāṇinaṃ . The exact meaning and relevance are obscure. Spk interprets the line with an example—bland food may be made savoury when combined with various condiments—which construes saṃyoga as meaning combination or preparation. This seems to me unlikely. At Ja IV 127,14-15 the couplet occurs in a context which implies that the meaning is association with other people; see too AN IV 57-58, where saṃyoga signifies contact or association between man and woman (sexual, but not necessarily coitus). I understand the syntax as parallel to that of Dhp 203-4, that is, “enjoyments have association as supreme,” rather than “through association enjoyments become supreme,” the sense proposed by Spk.

  628 Apabyāmato karitvā (or apavyāmato karitvā, in Ee1). CPD says apavyāma is a v.l. for apasavya. At Ud 50,18 the expression apasabyāmato karitvā occurs, which Ud-a 292, 4 explains as turning the left side towards a holy person as a sign of disrespect.

  629 Spk glosses ciradikkhitānaṃ in pāda a as cirasamādiṇṇavatānaṃ , “who have long undertaken vows.” On “thousand-eyed” (sahassanetta) as an epithet of Sakka, see 11:12; though there the Pāli is sahassakkha, the meaning is the same. The seers say this because they subscribe to the common belief that the devas find the smell of human bodies repulsive—particularly ascetics who may not bathe frequently (see Mātali’s argument at v. 932). Sakka’s reply conveys the same point as Dhp 54-56: the scent of virtue is supreme among all scents and pervades even the worlds of the devas.

  630 Spk paraphrases: “The devas do not perceive anything repulsive in this odou
r of the virtuous ones; they perceive it as desirable, lovely, agreeable.”