Aṇguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka Nipāta
14. Rāja Vaggo
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fives
Chapter XIV: The Rajah
Sutta 136
Dutiya Patthanā Suttaṃ
The Aim (b)
Translated by E. M. Hare
Copyright The Pali Text Society
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[1] Thus have I heard:
Once the Exalted One dwelt near Sāvatthī;
and there he addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks."
'Yes, lord,' they replied;
and the Exalted One said:
"Monks, if he have five things,
an anointed warrior rajah's eldest son
makes viceroyalty[1] his aim.
What five?
Herein, monks, the anointed warrior rajah
is well born on both sides,
pure in descent
as far back as seven generations
both of mother and father,
unchallenged
and without reproach
in point of birth;
■
is handsome,
comely,
amiable,
he has a wondrous lotus-like beauty;
■
is dear and lovely is he to his parents;
■
dear and lovely to the army;
■
and he is wise,
intelligent
and discreet,
able rightly to judge the future from past happenings.
§
And it occurs to him:
"I am well born on both sides,
pure in descent
as far back as seven generations
both of mother and father,
unchallenged
and without reproach
in point of birth.
Wherefore should I not make viceroyalty my aim?
■
I am handsome,
comely,
amiable,
and have a wondrous lotus-like beauty.
Wherefore should I not make viceroyalty my aim?
■
I am dear and lovely is he to my parents.
Wherefore should I not make viceroyalty my aim?
■
I am dear and lovely to the army.
Wherefore should I not make viceroyalty my aim?
■
I am wise,
intelligent
and discreet,
able rightly to judge the future from past happenings.
Wherefore should I not make viceroyalty my aim?"
Monks, if he have these five things,
the warrior rajah's eldest son
makes viceroyalty his aim.
Even so, monks,
if he have five things,
a monk makes the destroying of the cankers
his aim.
What five?
Herein, monks, the monk is virtuous,
lives restrained in the restraint of the Obligations,
perfected in conduct and habit,
seeing danger in the smallest fault,
in his endeavour,
training himself in the steps of the training;
■
he has heard much,
bears in mind things heard,
as it were lays up in store things heard;
those things lovely in the beginning,
lovely in the middle,
lovely in the end,
which set forth in spirit and letter
the godly life of purity,
perfect in its entirety —
those are heard much by him,
resolved upon,
made familiar by speech,
pondered over in mind,
fully understood in theory;
■
he is he is firmly set
in the fourfold stand of mindfulness;[2]
§
he abides in active energy
to give up evil things,
and to hold to good things;
staunch and strong in effort,
he shirks not the burden of righteousness;
§
he has insight
and is endowed therewith
into the way of the rise and fall of things,
with Ariyan penetration
into the utter destruction öf Ill.
§
And it occurs to him:
"I am virtuous,
live restrained in the restraint of the Obligations,
perfected in conduct and habit,
seeing danger in the smallest fault,
in my endeavour,
training myself in the steps of the training
Wherefore should I not make
the destroying of the cankers
my aim?
■
I have heard much,
bear in mind things heard,
as it were laying up in store things heard;
those things lovely in the beginning,
lovely in the middle,
lovely in the end,
which set forth in spirit and letter
the godly life of purity,
perfect in its entirety —
those are heard much by me,
resolved upon,
made familiar by speech,
pondered over in mind,
fully understood in theory.
Wherefore should I not make
the destroying of the cankers
my aim?
■
I am firmly set
in the fourfold stand of mindfulness.
Wherefore should I not make
the destroying of the cankers
my aim?
■
I abide in active energy
to give up evil things,
and to hold to good things;
staunch and strong in effort,
I shirk not the burden of righteousness;
Wherefore should I not make
the destroying of the cankers
my aim?
■
I have insight
and am endowed therewith
into the way of the rise and fall of things,
with Ariyan penetration
into the utter destruction öf Ill.
Wherefore should I not make
the destroying of the cankers
my aim?"
Verily, monks, if he have these five things,
the monk makes the destroying of the cankers
his aim.'
[1] Oparajja, see C.H.I. i, 488 ff.; Cf. the stages of Mahā Sudassana (D. ii, 196): kumārakiḷikaṃ kiḷi, oparajjaṃ kārtesi and rajjaṃ kāresi.
[2] Above, § 15; mindfulness as to body, feelings, mind and ideas.
