Aṇguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka-Nipāta
XVII. Āghāta Vaggo
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fives
Chapter XVII: Malice
Sutta 162
Dutiya Āghāta-Paṭivinaya Suttaṃ
The Putting Away of Malice (b)
Translated by E. M. Hare
Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved
For details see Terms of Use.
[1][than] Thus have I heard:[ed1]
The Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī.
There the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:
'Monks.'
'Yes, lord,' they replied, and the Exalted One said:
'Monks, there are these five ways of putting away malice
whereby all malice arisen in a monk
ought to be put away.
What five?
Monks, in whatsoever person malice is engendered,
in him amity ought to be made to become more.
In this way malice in him ought to be put away.
'Monks, in whomsoever malice is engendered,
in him pity ought to be made to become more.
In this way malice in him ought to be put away.
'Monks, in whomsoever malice is engendered,
in him poise ought to be made to become more.
In this way malice in him ought to be put away.
Monks, in whomsoever malice is engendered,
in that man unmindfulness,
inattention to it,
ought to be brought about.
In this way malice in him ought to be put away.
Monks, in whomsoever malice is engendered,
in that man the fact that he is of his own making
ought to be fixed in his mind;
and he should think:
'This, reverend sir,
is of one's own making,
the heir to deeds,
deeds are the matrix,
deeds are the kin,
deeds are the foundation;
whatever one does,
good or bad,
one will become heir to that.'
In this way malice in him ought to be put away.
Verily, monks, these are the five ways of putting away malice
whereby all malice arisen in a monk
ought to be put away.'
Then said the venerable Sāriputta, addressing the monks:
'Reverend sirs!'
'Reverend sir,' they replied;
and he said:
'Reverend sirs, there are these five[1] ways of putting away malice
whereby all malice arisen in a monk
ought to be put away.
What five?
[138] There is the case, reverend sirs,
of the person whose ways are impure in deed,
but not in word —
in such a person, sirs,
malice ought to be put away.
■
There is the case, reverend sirs,
of the person whose ways are impure in word,
but pure in deed —
in such a person, sirs,
malice ought to be put away.
■
There is the case, reverend sirs,
of the person whose ways are impure
both in deed and word,
yet from time to time
obtains mental clarity,
mental calm —
in such a person, sirs,
malice ought to be put away.
■
There is the case, reverend sirs,
of the person whose ways are likewise impure;
but obtains no such clarity and calm —
in such a person, sirs,
malice ought to be put away.
■
There is the case, reverend sirs,
of the person whose ways are pure
both in deed and word
and who obtains mental clarity,
mental calm —
in such a person, sirs,
malice ought to be put away.
§
Now of him whose ways are impure in deed,
but not in word —
how in him
ought malice to be put away?
Suppose, sirs, a monk, who robes himself in dust-heap rags,
were to see a rag in the carriage-way;
he would hold on[2] to it with his left foot
and spread it out with his right
and take
and make use[3] of the best of it
and go his ways.
Just so, sirs,
of one whose ways are impure in deed,
but pure in word:
the ways of deeds that may be impure
ought not at that time to be thought on;
let him think at that time
on the ways that may be pure.
In this way in him
ought malice to be put away.
■
And of him whose ways are impure in word,
but pure in deed —
how in him
ought malice to be put away?
Suppose, sirs, a man, tortured by heat,
by heat forspent,
wearied,
craving
and thirsty,[4] were to come to a pond
overgrown with mossy slime[5]
and water plants;
he would plunge into that pond,
scattering with both hands
the moss and plants
hither and thither,
and cup[6] his hands
and drink
and go his ways.
Just so, sirs,
of one whose ways are impure in word,
but pure in deed:
the ways of words
that may be impure
ought not then to be thought on;
let him think then
on the ways that may be pure.
In this way in him
ought malice to be put away.
■
[139] And of him whose ways are impure
both in deed and word,
yet from time to time
obtains mental clarity,
mental calm —
how in him ought malice to be put away?
Suppose, sirs, a man,
tortured by heat,
by heat forspent,
wearied,
craving
and thirsty,
were to come upon a puddle
in a cow's footprint;[7]
he might think:
Here's a cow's footprint puddle,
but if I drink of it by hand or cup,
I shall stir and churn[8] it up
and make it unfit to drink;
what if,
crouched on all fours,[9]
I were to lie and sup[10]
as a cow sups
and then go my ways? —
and he does so.
Just so, sirs,
of one whose ways are impure
both in deed and word,
yet from time to time
obtains mental clarity,
mental calm:
neither the ways of deeds
that may be impure
nor the ways of words
that may be impure
ought to be thought on then,
but the mental clarity,
the mental calm,
that he obtains from time to time,
let him think then just on that.
In this way in him
ought malice to be put away.
■
And of him whose ways are impure
both in deed and word,
but obtains no such clarity and calm —
how in him ought malice to be put away?
Suppose, sirs, a sick and ailing man,
grievously ill,[11]
were to go along the highway —
it might be with no village near ahead
or near behind —
unable to get proper food,
to get proper medicine,
to get proper attention,
to get a guide[12]
to some village boundary;
and suppose another man,
also going along the road,
were to see him;
verily it[13] might raise pity in that man,
raise compassion,
raise commiseration,
so that he might say to himself:
Alas for this man!
He ought to have proper food,
proper medicine,
proper attention;
he ought to have a guide to some village.
Wherefore?
Lest he suffer even here
wasting and destruction.
Just so, sirs, of one whose ways are impure,
who obtains no mental clarity,
mental calm:
in such a person verily pity ought to arise,
compassion ought to arise,
commiseration ought to arise,
so that he say to himself:
Alas for this venerable sir!
He should [140] give up bad habits in deed
and make good habits become more,
give up bad habits in word
and make good habits become more,
give up bad habits in thought
and make good habits become more.
Wherefore?
Lest this venerable sir,
on the breaking up of the body,
after death,
arise in the wayward way,
the ill way,
the abyss,
hell.
In this way in him
ought malice to be put away.
■
And of him whose ways are pure
both in deed and word
and who obtains mental clarity,
mental calm —
how in him
ought malice to be put away?
Suppose, sirs, a man,
tortured by heat,
by heat forspent,
wearied,
craving
and thirsty,
were to come to a pool[14]
clear,
sweet,
cool,
limpid,
a lovely resting-place,[15]
shaded by all manner of trees;
he would plunge rnto that pool,
bathe and drink,
and coming out,
would sit
and lie there
in the shade of the trees.
Just so, sirs,
of one whose ways are both pure
in deed and word,
who from time to time
obtains mental clarity,
mental calm:
the ways of deeds
that may be pure at that time,
the ways of words
that may be pure at that time,
let him think on them then;
and the mental clarity,
the mental calm,
that he obtains
from time to time,
let him verily think on that then.
In this way in him
ought malice to be put away.
Reverend sirs,
when a person comes to be calm throughout,[16]
the mind becomes calm.
Verily, sirs, these are the five ways
of putting away malice
whereby all malice arisen in a monk
ought to be put away.'
[1] Quoted at SnA. 10.
[2] Niggahetvā. Comy. glosses: akkamitvā.
[3] Paripācetva. Comy. luñchtivā, to pull out.
[4] This is a stock phrase; see M. ii, 74; S. ii, 110; cf. D. ii, 266.
[5] Sevāla-paṇaka-pariyonaddhā. Comy. sevālena ca udaka-pappaṭakena ca paṭicchannā; sevala = slimy, in Skt. Cf. below V, § 193.
[6] Añjalinā pivitvā. P.E.D. s.v. observes that añjali only occurs in stock phrases referring to salutations.
[7] Cf. A. iv, 102.
[8] Khobhessāmi, lolessāmi. Comy. cālessāmi, ākulaṃ karissāmi.
[9] Catukuṇḍiko. Comy. jānuhi ca hatthehi ca bhūmiyaṃ patiifṭṭhānena.
[10] Go-pītakaṃ pivitvā. Comy. gāviyo viyo mukhena ākaḍḍhanto pivitvā.
[11] Cf. below V, § 194.
[12] Gam'anta-nāyakaṃ.
[13] So.
[14] Cf. M. i, 76, 283; below V, § 194; the phrases are stock; see D. ii, 129; Vin. iii, 108; Ud. 83.
[15] Our text supatiṭṭhā, which I follow; however, S.e., Comy. and other texts -tittha, Skt. tīrtha; our Comy. sama-, level; DA. ii, 569 and UdA. 403 sundara-, good; Dial. trsl. easy to get down into.
[16] Samanta-pāsādikaṃ ... āgamma cittaṃ pasīdati; on the first word see G.S. i, 19 but here we have three derivatives of √sad: pāsādika, pasāda and pasīdati. On āgamma see K.S. i, 114, 318. [Ed.? 318 is the Index of Pali words.]
[ed1] The following section is AN 5.161 which I suggest is to be taken as the Nidana for this sutta. I further suggest that this pattern should be considered wherever a Nidana is missing and the sutta begins "Then ..." or "There, then..."
