Aṇguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka Nipāta
16. Saddhamma Vaggo
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fives
Chapter XVI: Saddhamma
Sutta 156
Tatiya Saddhamma-Sammosa Suttaṃ
The Confounding of Saddhamma (c)
Translated by E. M. Hare
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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, these five things
lead to the confounding,
the disappearance of Saddhamma.
What five?
Herein, monks, the monks master an ill-grasped saying,[1]
ill-arranged as to word and letter;
monks, when it is so ill-arranged,
the meaning[2] also is an ill deduction.
This, monks, is the first thing
that leads to the confounding,
the disappearance of Saddhamma.
■
They are speakers of ill,
whose ways make for unruliness,
without endurance,
with little talent for grasping instruction.[3]
This, monks, is the second thing
that leads to the confounding,
the disappearance of Saddhamma.
■
[134] And the monks who have heard much,
to whom the traditional lore[4] has come down,
the Dhamma-bearers,
the Discipline-bearers,
the Summary-[5] bearers;
they make not another say a saying carefully;
and because of them
the saying becomes like a thing with its roots[6] cut
and no refuge.
This, monks, is the third thing
that leads to the confounding,
the disappearance of Saddhamma.
■
Again, the elders[7] are luxurious,
lax,
prime-movers in back-sliding,
who shirk the burden of the secluded life,
nor put forth effort
to attain the unattained,
to master the unmastered,
to realize the unrealized;
and the folk who come after them
fall into the way of (wrong) views;
and they too become luxurious,
lax,
prime-movers in backsliding,
shirking the burden of the secluded life,
putting forth no effort
to attain the unattained,
to master the unmastered,
to realize the unrealized.
This, monks, is the fourth thing
that leads to the confounding,
the disappearance of Saddhamma.
■
Moreover, monks, the Order[8] is broken;
then there is reviling between one another,
accusation between one another,
quarrelling between one another,
repudiation between one another;
and they of no faith
do not find faith there
and the faithful
become otherwise.
This, monks, is the fifth thing
that leads to the confounding,
the disappearance of Saddhamma.
Monks, these are the five things
that leads to the confounding,
the disappearance of Saddhamma.
§
"Monks, these five things
lead to the stability,
non-confounding,
to the non-disappearance of Saddhamma.
What five?[ed1]
Herein, monks, the monks master a well-grasped saying,
well-arranged as to word and letter;
monks, when it is so well-arranged,
the meaning also is a good deduction.
This, monks, is the first thing
that leads to the stability,
non-confounding,
to the non-disappearance of Saddhamma.
■
They are well-spoken,
with ways making for concord,
with endurance,
with talent for grasping instruction.
This, monks, is the second thing
that leads to the stability,
non-confounding,
to the non-disappearance of Saddhamma.
■
And the monks who have heard much,
to whom the traditional lore has come down,
the Dhamma-bearers,
the Discipline-bearers,
the Summary-bearers;
they make another say a saying carefully;
and because of them
the saying does not become like a thing with its roots cut,
and is a refuge.
This, monks, is the third thing
that leads to the stability,
non-confounding,
to the non-disappearance of Saddhamma.
■
Again, the elders are not luxurious,
or lax,
are not prime-movers in back-sliding,
do not shirk the burden of the secluded life,
they put forth effort
to attain the unattained,
to master the unmastered,
to realize the unrealized;
and the folk who come after them
do not fall into the way of (wrong) views;
and become luxurious,
or lax,
and are not prime-movers in backsliding,
do not shirk the burden of the secluded life,
and put forth effort
to attain the unattained,
to master the unmastered,
to realize the unrealized.
This, monks, is the fourth thing
that leads to the stability,
non-confounding,
to the non-disappearance of Saddhamma.
■
Moreover, monks, the Order is unified;
there is no reviling one another,
no accusation between one another,
no quarrelling between one another,
no repudiation between one another;
and they of no faith
find faith there
and the faithful
increase in their faith.
This, monks, is the fourth thing
that leads to the stability,
non-confounding,
to the non-disappearance of Saddhamma.
Verily, monks, these are the five things
that lead to the stability,
non-confounding,
to the non-disappearance of Saddhamma.
[1] Suttanta. Cf. above, No. 79.
[2] Attha. Cf. A. i, 59 for this section, and the whole sutta with A. ii, 147, where suttanta = 'text.' We see here attha having the import of 'meaning,' as a later preoccupation rather than that of 'weal' or 'thing-of-quest,' as in Nos. 57, 123, etc.
[3] Appa-dakkhiṇa-ggāhino. See M. i, 95; K.S. ii, 137, reading apa-.
[4] Āgatāgamā, what is handed down.
[5] Mātihadharā, lit. channels, the proto-Abhidhamma.
[6] Chinna-mūlako appaṭisaraṇo.
[ed1] Hare has abridged with 'But acting in the opposite way leads to its stability' where 'the opposite' of the language in the previous half does not precisely fit. I have reconsructed the secion following Hare as closely as I could while consulting the Pali.
