Saṃyutta Nikāya
I. Sagātha Vagga
1. Devatā-Saṃyutta
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
I. Kindred Sayings with Verses
1. The Devas
4. The 'Satullapa-Group' Suttas
Translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Assisted by Sūriyagoḍa Sumangala Thera
Public Domain
Sutta 31
With Good Men
[31.1][bodh] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
And a great number of the Satullapa company of devas,[1] [26] when the night ws far spent, shedding radiance with their effulgent beauty over the entire Jeta Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and coming, saluted him, and stood at one side. So standing, one of the devas spoke this verse before the Exzlted One: —
"See that with good men only ye consort,[2]
With good men do ye practise intercourse.
Knowledge of how the good do shape their life[3]
Maketh the better man, and not the worse."
Then five other devas in turn spoke his verse before the Exalted One: —
"See that with good men only ye consort,
With good men do ye practise intercourse.
Knowledge of how the good do shape their life,
Wisdom bestoweth as naught else can do."[4]
"See that with good men only ye consort,
With good men do ye practise intercourse.
Knowledge of how the good do shape their life,
Doth dry our tears in midst of those that weep."
"See that with good men only ye consort,
With good men do ye practise intercourse.
Knowledge of how the good do shape their life,
Makes us of bright renown among our kin."[5]
"See that with good men only ye consort,
With good men do ye practise intercourse.
Knowledge of how the good do shape their life,
Doth make us find rebirth in happier worlds."
"See that with good men only ye consort,
With good men do ye practise intercourse.
Knowledge of how the good do shape their life,
Makes men persist in bliss perpetual."
[27] Then yet another deva said to the Exalted One: —
"By which of ese, Exalted One, was it well spoken?"
"As to matter[6] ye have all spoken well. But listen also to me: —
See that with good men only ye consort;
With good men do ye practise intercourse.
Knowledge of how the good do shape their life,
From all and every ill may set us free."
Sutta 32
Avarice
[32.1][bodh] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī, at the Jeta Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
And a great number of the Satullapa company of devas ... when night was far spent, came to the Exalted One ... and so standing, four of them spoke each a verse before him, one after another: —
(i) "From avarice and from frivolity,[7]
No charitable gift of alms doth come.
By him who would have merit's sure reward,
By him who can discern, gifts should be given."
(ii) "That which the miser dreads, and hence gives not,
To him not giving just that danger 't is: —
Hunger and thirst—for this the thing he dreads—
Just this the doom that doth befall the fool
In this and also in some other world.
Hence should he avarice suppress, and make
Off'rings of charity, mastering the taint.
Sure platform in some other future world
Rewards of virtue on good beings wait."[8]
(iii) "They are not perished 'mong the dead[9] who, like
Good comrades travelling on the jungle-roads,[10]
Share scanty store. Lo! here's an ancient rule.[11]
[28] Some from their scanty means bestow their mite;
Some of their plenty have no wish to give.
The offerings given from a scanty source
Measured, with gifts of thousand pieces rank."
(iv) "Hard is the giving unto those that give,
And difficult the doing of such deeds.
The wicked are unable to conform,
For hard it is to follow[12] good men's rule.
Wherefore unlike the going heiice must be
That righteous and unrighteous folk befalls.
To doom of purgatory these must go;
The righteous fare hereafter to the heavens."[13]
Then yet another deva said to the Exalted One: —
"Which of these, Exalted One, hath well spoken?"
"As to matter ye have all spoken well. But listen also to me: —
Righteous his act who, though[14] he live by scraps
Gleaned here and there,[15] though he maintain a wife,
Yet from his scanty store finds gift to give.[16]
Of thousand donors hundred thousand [gifts][17]
Are not in value equal to his mite."[18]
Then yet another deva addressed the Exalted One in a verse: —
"Why is their offering, abundant, lavish,
Not equal to the poor man's righteous[19] gift?
[29] How is 't the thousand gifts of thousand donors
Are not in value equal to his mite?"
Then the Exalted One addressed that deva in a verse: —
"Some give with inconsistent ways of conduct,
First smiting,[20] murdering, then comfort giving.
Those offerings, [besmirched by] tears[21] and blows,
Have not the value of the righteous gift.
'Tis thus the thousand [coins] of thousand donors
Are not in value equal to his mite."
Sutta 33
How Blest!
[33.1][bodh] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The same class of devas, when night is far spent, visit the Exalted One at the same place. And six of them before the Exalted One breathed out the thought that inspired them[22] one after the other: —
(i) "How blest[23] a thing, dear sir, is it to give!
From avarice and from frivolity
No charitable gift of alms doth come.
By him who would have merit's sure reward,
By him who can discern, gifts should be given."[24]
(ii) "How blest a thing, dear sir, is it to give!
Yea, blest the gift though from a scanty store.
Some from their scanty means bestow their mite,
Some of their plenty have no wish to give.
The offerings given from a scanty source,
Measured, with gifts of thousand pieces rank."[25]
[30] (iii) "How blest a thing, dear sir, is it to give!
Yea, blest the gift though from a scanty store.
Of the believer[26] too how blest the gift!
Giving and fighting are alike, 't is said;
A handful of good men may down a host.[27]
And if we give believing in result,[28]
Good hap is ours from good to others done."
(iv) "How blest a thing, dear sir, is it to give!
Yea, blest the gift though from a scanty store.
Of the believer too how blest the gift!
And blest the gift from wealth that's fairly won.
The man who gives from wealth that's fairly won,
Got by the honest effort he hath made,[29]
When dead and Death's dark river[30] he hath crossed,
To heavenly places doth he find his way."
(v) "How blest a thing, dear sir, is it to give!
Yea, blest the gift though from a scanty store.
Of the believer too how blest the gift!
And blest the gift from wealth that's fairly won
And blest the giving that's discreetly made.[31]
Wise giving by the Blessed One is praised.
[31] Gifts offered them who in this world of life[32]
Are worthy of our care bring great reward,
As do [good] seeds when sown in fertile field."
(vi) "How blest a thing, dear sir, is it to give!
Yea, blest the gift though from a scanty store.
Of the believer too how blest the gift!
And blest the giving that's discreetly made,
And self-restraint with every living thing.
Whoso 'mong fellow-creatures harmless lives,
From fear of neighbour's blame no evil works,
Him timid they commend, but blame the bold.
'T is fear of blame deters good men from wrong."
Then yet another deva said to the Exalted One: —
"Which now of these, lord, has spoken well?"
"As to matter, ye have all spoken well.
But listen also to me: —
Giving and gifts they that believe therein
In divers ways and words praise and commend.
Now there's a better thing than pious gift,
Even the doctrines grouped within the Norm.[33]
The good in days gone by, yea, in the days
Yet further back,[34] with wisdom and insight
They even to Nibbāna won their way."
Sutta 34
They Are Not
[34.1][bodh] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The same class of devas visit the Exalted One at the same place when night is far spent. And one of them uttered this verse before the Exalted One: —
[32] "They are not permanent, these sense-desires.
They are with us,[35] these things we fain would have.
The man who with them dallies, by them bound,
From realms of death doth never come to that[36]
Whereto there is no coming back again.
Misery[37] born of desires, desire-born pain: —
Suppress desires, then misery 's suppressed;
From misery suppressed, suppressed is pain.
The manifold of objects in the world —
This in itself is not desires of sense.
Lustful intention is man's sense-desire.
That manifold of objects doth endure;
The will thereto the wise exterminate.[38]
Put wrath away, yea, and conceit abandon.[39]
Have ye but got past all the bonds [of pris'ners],
Not cleaving fast unto this mind and body,[40]
Nowise [by lust, hatred, and dullness] hampered,[41]
Sorrow and pain no more may overwhelm ye.[42]
He[43] hath renounced [bondage to] name and notion;
His mind is not set to imagine vain things;
For life in this world hath he cut all craving.
Him freed from bonds, happy and void of longing,
[33] Him gods and men, here on this earth or yonder
Or in the heavens, in every sphere of being,
Seeking, they seek vainly, they will not find him.
If him they find not, thus emancipated
(thus said the reverend Moghardjan),
Nor gods nor men here on this earth or yonder —
Him best of men working out man's salvation —
They that revere him, shall we praise them also?
Yea, they become praiseworthy also, almsman,
Mogharajan! (so the Exalted One)
They that revere him thus emancipated.
Yea, if, the Norm knowing, all doubt they conquer,
They too become bond-liberated, almsman!"[44]
Sutta 35
The Captious-minded
[35.1][bodh] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
A great number of captious-minded devas[45] visited the Exalted One at the same place when the night was far spent, and hovered in the air. So hovering, one of them uttered this verse before the Exalted One -
[34] "If any man profess he's otherwise
Than what he really is, what he enjoys
Is got by theft, as by the trickery of a cheat.
Let him but talk of that which should be done.
Let him not talk of what should not be done.
Of him who talketh ever, doing not,
Wise men take stock and rate him [at his worth]."[46]
[The Exalted One:—]
"Not if he merely talk or simply hear,
Shall he avail to make advance herein.[47]
A hard and strenuous course is this, whereby
The strong in spirit liberation find
In contemplative work from Mara's toils.
Not thus in sooth it is they do[48] who strong
In spirit know the methods of the world,[49]
And knowing, have attained Nibbāna here,[50]
Safe crossing o'er where all the world sticks fast."[51]
Then those devas, standing on the earth, prostrated themselves at the Exalted One's feet, and said to him: —
"'T is our transgression, lord, we have transgressed; even according to our folly, our stupidity, our wrongdoing have we fancied we could assail[52] the Exalted One. Lord, may the Exalted One accept the confession of this our trans gression as transgression, that in future there may be self- restraint."[53]
[35] Then the Exalted One smiled.
Then the devas, exceedingly irritated, rose up into the air. And one of them spoke this verse before the Exalted One: —
"Whoso, when others do confess their fault,
Doth not accept confession at their hands,
Angry within, preferring enmity,
Doth bind together wTrath as in a knot.[54]
In whom is no fault found, no error proved?
Who never doth give way to thought confused?
Who strong and wise can heedful be alway?"
[The Exalted One:—]
"In the Tathāgata, the Buddha who
For every creature doth compassion feel,[55]
In him no fault is found, no error proved,
Never doth he give way to thought confused,
Alway is he, the strong and wise, alert.
'Whoso,' ye say, 'when men confess their fault,
Doth not accept confession at their hands,
Angry within, preferring enmity,
Doth bind together wrath as in a knot': —
Now I in wrath so held no pleasure take,
And the confession of your fault accept."
Sutta 36
Faith
[36.1][bodh] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
A great number of the Satullapa Group of devas visited the Exalted One at the same place, when the night was far spent. . . . And so standing, one of them uttered these verses before the Exalted One: —
"Faith is the 'other I,' the mate of man.[56]
Thence, if he tarry not in disbelief,
His shall be followers and fair renown,
And when he quits this frame to heaven he goes.
[36] Put wrath away, yea, and conceit abandon.
Have ye but got past all the bonds [of pris'ners],
Not cleaving fast unto this mind and body,
Nowise [by lust, hatred, and dullness] hampered,
Sorrow and pain no more may overwhelm you.[57]
'T is a fool's part heedless to waste his life: —
Such are the folk who will not understand.
He who is wise doth foster earnestness
As he were watching o'er his chiefest wealth.
Give not yourselves to wastage in your lives,
Nor be familiar with delights of sense.
He who doth strenuously meditate,
His shall it be to win the bliss supreme."[58]
Sutta 37
The Concourse[59]
[37.1][bodh] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once dwelling among the Sakkas, at Kapilavatthu, in the Great Wood, together with a great band of the brethren, about five hundred of them, all being Arahants. And devas from the ten thousand world-systems oft-times assembled there, that they might visit the Exalted One and the band of brethren.
[37] 2. Now to four gods of the hosts of the Pure Abodes[60] this thought occurred: — "That Exalted One is now dwelling among the Sakkas, at Kapilavatthu, in the Great Wood, together with a great band of the brethren, all being Arahants. And devas, from the ten thousand world-systems, oft-times are assembling there to see the Exalted One and his band of brethren. What if we, too, were to go into his presence, and before him were to recite each of us a poem?"
3. Then those gods, as easily as a strong man might stretch out his arm, or draw it outstretched back again, vanished from the Pure Abodes, and appeared before the Exalted One, There they saluted him, and stood at one side. And so standing, one after another, they recited to him these verses: —
(i.) "Great is the gathering in the glade;
The hosts of heaven together met!
We to this holy congress here
Are come, that we too may behold[61]
The Brotherhood invincible."
(ii.) "The brethren have made straight their hearts,
Wrought up to concentration rapt.
Wisely their faculties they guard,
As driver keeping grip on rein."
(iii.) "All bars and bolts are cut for them.
The barriers down, all lusting gone,
Spotless and pure their way they go,
Seers, well-tamed young elephants."
(iv.) "Who in the Buddha refuge take,
They shall not go to woeful doom.
When they put off this human frame,[62]
They shall fill up the hosts of heaven."
Sutta 38
The Splinter
[38.1][than][bodh] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying at Rājagaha, in the Maddakucchi Deer Park.[63] Now at that time the Exalted One's foot was pierced by a stone splinter. Sorely in sooth did the Exalted One feel it, grievous the pains he suffered in the body, keen and sharp, acute, distressing and unwelcome. Them in sooth he bore mindful and discerning, nor was he cast down. And making them spread his robe folded in four, he lay down on his right side like a lion resting,[64] the left foot over the right, mindful and discerning.
Now seven hundred devas of the Satullapa Group, when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with their effulgent beauty over all Maddakucchi, drew near, and coming to the Exalted One's presence, they saluted him, and standing at one side, seven of them, one after the other, gave vent to inspired utterance:[65]—
(i.) "Lo! what a wondrous creature[66] is the worshipful recluse Gotama! 'Tis by this wondrous nature that he endures, mindful and discerning, the pains that have arisen in his body, keen and sharp, acute, distressing and unwelcome, and that he is not cast down."
(ii.) "Lo! what a lion is the worshipful recluse Gotama! 'Tis by his lion's nature that he endures, mindful and discerning, the pains that have arisen in his body, keen and sharp, acute, distressing and unwelcome, and that he is not cast down."
(iii.) "Lo! what a thoroughly trained creature[67] is the worshipful recluse Gotama! 'Tis by his lion's nature that he endures, mindful and discerning, the pains that have arisen in his body, keen and sharp, acute, distressing and unwelcome, and that he is not cast down."
(iv.) "Lo! how unrivalled is the worshipful recluse Gotama! 'Tis by his lion's nature that he endures, mindful and discerning, the pains that have arisen in his body, keen and sharp, acute, distressing and unwelcome, and that he is not cast down."
[39] (v.) "What a patient burden-bearer is the worshipful recluse Gotama! 'Tis by his lion's nature that he endures, mindful and discerning, the pains that have arisen in his body, keen and sharp, acute, distressing and unwelcome, and that he is not cast down."
(vi.) "How tamed[68] is the worshipful recluse Gotama! 'Tis by his self-mastery that he endures, mindful and discerning, the pains that have arisen, in his body, keen and sharp, acute, distressing and unwelcome, and that he is not cast down."
(vii.) "Behold how his mind is well practised in contemplative concentration and emancipated! Not strained forth, nor strained aside,[69] nor having restrained [itself] by conscious deliberation, but as having the habit of self-denial[70]. He who could transgress against such a wonder, such a lion, one bo thoroughly trained, such a matchless one, such a burden- bearer, a creature so self-controlled, could only so act from blindness; if not, then from what else?
Brahmins of five-fold Veda-lore[71] may ply
Ascetic practices a century,
Yet would their heart be never rightly freed,
Such is the low ideal at which they aim,[72]
Not theirs it is to win to the beyond.
[40] Suffused by craving, bound to rite and rule.
Penance severe a century they may ply,
Yet would their heart be never rightly freed,
Such is the low ideal at which they aim,
Not theirs it is to win to the beyond.
Are[73] vain conceits wished for by us and welcomed,
Ne'er win we here taming [of mind and body],
Lone in the woods though we dwell, if we dally.
Ne'er may we pass over the Death-realm's coniines.
All vain conceits leaving, well-concentrated,
Lovely in heart, wholly emancipated,
Lone in the forest dwelling, earnest, strenuous,
Well may lie cross over the Dead-realm's confines."
Sutta 39
Pajjunna's Daughter (1)
[39.1][bodh] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying at Vesālī, in the Great Wood at the Gabled Hall. Now Kokanadā, daughter of Pajjunna,[74] when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with her effulgent beauty over the whole of Great Wood, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and standing at one side, spoke before him this verse: —
"The very Buddha, Crown of all that is,[75]
Residing at Vesālī, in the Wood,
Let me now worship — Cloud King's daughter I,
Even Pajjunna's child, Kokanadā.
[41] Till now had I but heard about the Norm,
Revealed by the Man of Vision clear.
To-day I know, eye-witness of the Sage,
The Blessed One teaching [that Norm to men].
They who do go about, in wisdom poor,
Casting aspersions on the Ariyan Norm,
Fall into Roruva's dreadful abyss,[76]
Long, long therein to suffer misery.
They who unto the Ariyan Truths draw nigh
With heart consenting and with passions hushed,
When they shall have put off their human frame,
They shall fill up the heavenly hosts on high."[77]
Sutta 40
Pajjunna's Daughter (2)
[40.1][bodh] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once at Vesālī, in the Great Wood, at the Gabled Hall. And Kokanada the Less, daughter of Pajjunna ...[78] came into the presence of the Exalted One ... and spoke before him this verse: —
"Come hither with the hue of lightning's flame,
Kokanadā, Pajjunna's daughter, she,
Adoring both the Buddha and the Norm,
Did speak these lines of sense beneficent:
Though I by divers methods might expound
The detailed parts of such a Norm as this,
Yet in brief summary will I declare
The contents, if so far my mind may reach: —
[42] Let him commit no evil whatsoever
Throughout the world, in speech, or mind, or body.
Dropping desires, mindful and understanding,
Let him not work torment on self that's useless."[79]
[1] B. has a graphic and mediaevally humorous story to account for the curious name of these visitors, who have, so far, been met with only in this Vagga. He interprets the name as the 'Hundred-Shouters' (sat-ullapā). In their previous birth they were a ship's crew on a trading voyage. Their vessel was overwhelmed by stormy seas and sank, none escaping. During the storm the terrified crew noticed one only who, ' seated like a yogi,' was calm. He was thinking, not on his sins but on his good deeds. Of these he had enough and to spare to ensure happy rebirth, and the passengers implored his charity. He divided them into five groups of a hundred each, and shouted to them through the tempest the Five Precepts, one to each group, assuring them that to take these maxims on themselves would see them to a happy doom. As the waters rose in the ship they recited them and after death were reborn in Sakka's heaven, each with a noble golden vimāna (I, 2, § 10). Now they visit the Buddha to praise their good teacher.
[2] Occurs in Jāt. v, 483. The whole Sutta recurs below, II, 3, § 1.
[3] Lit. 'knowledge of the good doctrine or Norm.' The Comy. explains this, in this context, to mean the Five Precepts (against murder, etc.) — cf. its introductory legend — hence a code of moral conduct.
[4] 'As oil comes, not from sand, but from tila-seeds.' Comy.
[5] Here B. launches into another legend: that of Adhimutta, nephew to Sankicca, referring to his adventure as told by Dhammapāla in the Comy. on Theragāthā (Pss. of the Brethren, 291), but with different details.
[6] Pariyāyena.
[7] 'Some fear to lose their goods; some are thoughtless, some grudge the loss of amusement.' Comy.
[8] An oft-repeated verse: see I, 5, § 3; III, 1, § 4; 2, § 10, 3, § 2.
[9] 'And therefore unable to bestow their goods here and there.' Comy.
[10] Pantho.
[11] Sanantano.
[12] Durannayo.
[13] This gāthā is that of the Duddada (Hard-to-give) Jātaka (No. 180). All the verses occur in the Bilārikosiya Jātaka (No. 450). The Jātaka Comy. on these gāthās is more helpful than B.
[14] The Jātaka version supplies pi after yo, and after appakasmiṃ.
[15] 'E.g. ears of corn from swept threshing floors.' Comy.Though it may be only herbs.' Comy.
[16] 'Though it may be only herbs.' Comy.
Luke xxi, 1-4: And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,
And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?
And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:
The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?
— p.p.
[17] B. is uncertain whether the '100,000' refers to gifts or to 'recipients.' Cf. Luke xxi, 1-4.
[18] Kalaṃ, lit. fraction, portion.
[19] The Jātaka Comy. explains samena by dhammena, and for sataṃ in the next line reads kathaṃ ('how').
[20] Jhatvā.
[21] 'The gift of one who has caused others to weep is called a tear-faced gift.' Comy. The Jātaka translator has missed this pathetic phrase.
[22] Udānaṃ udānesi. As a measure (? a sieve) cannot contain oil, which oozes through, or a net a flood of waters, so can the heart not contain within the uprush of rapturous speech which pours forth. Such an utterance is the udāna. Comy.
[23] Sādhu.
[25] See § 2. (iii).
[26] Saddhāya. I.e. who believes in karma and its fruit. Comy. The fresh matter in Gāthās iii-vi occurs in the Āditta-Jātaka (iii, 472. No. 424)
[27] He who would guard his life anyhow cannot be a good soldier; he who is timid as to his goods gives not. Comy.
[28] B. cites, as illustrations, the stories in Dhp. Comy (iii, 3; 219 f.) of the One-Coat Brahmin and of Ankura. Whether this Comy, was his work, or not, is among scholars still undecided, but see H.C. Norman, Dhammapada Commentary, I, xivf; S. Sumangala: The Dhammapada and its Commentary, Ceylon Nat. Rev., 1914.
[29] Samena. The Jātaka translation misses this point. The character of the donee comes on only in the next gāthā.
[30] Both Commentaries call this a mere desanā-sīsaṃ or typical instance. The word Vetaraṇī (the infernal river) stands for the infernal regions. Cf. Jāt. v, 266.
[31] Discretion in the gift and choice of recipient, says B. — e.g. not giving to schismatics, like the 95 Pāsaṇḍas, but rather to the Sāsana. Let us hope the deva was less denominationally minded than B.
[32] Idha jīvaloke — an unusual compound.
[33] The line represents the one word dhammapadaṃ. The ambiguity of the term is well known. See Childers' Dict. s.v.; S. Sumangala The Dhammapada and its Commentary. That Comy, (on Dhp. 44, 45) defines it as the 37 'factors of enlightenment' = doctrines. Our Comy. paraphrases it here by Nibbāna.
[34] Such as Kassapa Buddha and others; and Koṇāgamana Buddha, etc., or simply all the good in the past. Comy.
[35] Lit. 'here.' Cf. Wordsworth's The world is too much with us ...
[36] The Comy. reads anāgantā.
[37] Aghaṃ
[38] This gāthā, in A. iii, 411, is ascribed to the Buddha, and is quoted in the Kathā-vatthu (see Points of Controversy, p. 216, n. 2). It is also quoted in our Comy, with reference to the Pasūra Sutta in the Sutta-Nipāta. The Comy to that work explains this reference in its narrative introducing the Sutta (p. 538 f.).
[39] Occurs in Dhp. 221, and is repeated below, § 6.
[40] Cf. the explanation in Dhp, Comy, iii, 298.
[41] Cf. ibidem. B.'s explanation coincides.
[42] 'One is in the inevitable misery-whirlpool of life, but one is not further overwhelmed.' Comy.
[43] See above, I, 2, § 10.
[44] The form of these two verses is much affected in the Sutta-Nipata (e.g., Sela Sutta and Parāyanavagga, where see another query of Mogharājan, ver. 1116 f.), but are quite exceptional in the Saṃyutta-Nikāya. The bhikkhu, probably the Thera Mogharājan (it was a careless oversight in the Pss. of the Brethren to suppose he might be the deva of the first verse; he is called 'reverend,' āyasmā), is said by B. to have formed the wish to carry on the listeners' interest to learn what befell those who admired the saint. If they that praise do so with emulation, they also may hope to attain.
[45] These, wrote B., formed no separate deva-world. They were just devatas who had heard the recluse Gotama praise his disciples for self-denying practices, while he himself wore raiment of silk, fine cloth, or linen, ate food worthy of a raja, dwelt, in a 'Fragrant Cell' like a deva-mansion, and used good medicines. Because of their captious remarks the Theras, when editing these verses, gave them their name. The soubriquet is also given to a Thera in the Dhp. Comy. (iii, 376) in connection with ver. 253.
[46] Lit. 'understand him.' These four lines are also assigned to Bākula, and the last two to Subhūta (Pss. of the Brethren, vers. 322; 226).
[47] Anukkamituṃ.
[48] Parsed as 'We do not talk in this way.' Comy.
[49] [Loka]pariyāyaṃ.
[50] Nibbutā.
[51] See I, 1, § 1.
[52] Asādetabbaṃ.
[53] The usual formula of confession as given in the Vinaya and Suttas, with, of course, a special application. See Vin. Texts ii, 261, where also the wonted response is given called 'accepting.' It was the Master's inscrutable (and ironic?) smile, in place of that which flustered the impulsive devas. B. judges that the smile was shown in order to provoke the questions which led to the fuller revelation of the Buddha's high office. (Tāsaṃ in the text should be tesaṃ.)
[54] So the Comy., gaṇṭhikaṃ. Cf. Dhp. Comy. iii, 352 f.
[55] The first two lines occur Iti-vuttaka, § 39.
[56] A line repeated below, I, 6, § 9. The 'other I' is literally 'the second one' (dutiyā), a term usually reserved for the more sinister company of natural desire, or craving: S. iv, 37; Pss. of the Brethren, vers. 541; 1091; Sn. 740. In rendering suddhā by 'faith,' we would say that faith must be taken in its sense of assurance, confidence in the worth of a certain attitude and course of action. Thus a pupil must have suddhā: M. ii, 94.
[57] See above, I, 4, § 4.
[58] These verses are included in those assigned to Angulimāla, Thera and ex-bandit, Pss. of the Brethren, ver. 883 f.; = M. ii, 105, with one variant. 'Chiefest wealth' B. holds to be 'pearls, and other jewels.'
[59] This Sutta is verbatim the opening part of the Malā Samaya or Great Concourse Suttanta of D. ii, 253 f. (Dialogues ii, 282f.). Sakka's, or Sākya's, a noble clan of the highlands or Himālayan foothills of Kosala, the Buddha's own clan. B. launches fully into the story of the feud between the Sakka's and Koliyans, told also in the introduction to the Kunāla Jātaka (v, 412 f.).
[60] The supreme heaven of the Rūpa-loka, the Brahmā world being its lowest. Compendium, 138.
[61] Dakkhitaye, a Vedic infinitive. Cf. E. Müller, Pali Grammar, p. 126.
[62] The persistently animistic language of even these 'higher' gods is noteworthy. B. is garrulously imaginative — or the tradition he hands on is so — about their thoughts, words, and deeds on this great occasion.
[63] The Comy. narrates an absurd legend to explain the name, associated with Maddā, mother of King Ajātasattu. (See Thusa Jātaka, No. 338). The park was a preserve in a very real sense: 'where deer (or game) might dwell free from peril.' The injury to the Buddha is that inflicted by his cousin, the schismatic Devadatta, narrated in Vinaya Texts, iii, 245; cf. Jātaka, No. 503; Milinda i, 248 f. Cf. Dhp. Comy. ii, 164.
[64] The lion posture is gone into by B. at some length.
[65] See above, I, 4, § 3.
[66] Nāga. Cf. Pss. of the Brethren, ver. 692 ff. B. explains in a similar exegesis: balavantaṭṭhena nāgo.
[67] See above, I, 2, § 4, n. ...
[68] All these six appellatives are terms connoting excellence borrowed from the animal kingdom, as metaphors of high mettle, breed, and training.
[69] Abhinataṃ, apanataṃ. Merely exegetically explained by B. as rāgānugataṃ, dosānugataṃ respectively: '(not) gone after lust or ill-will.' Nata is bent; the verb is applied (a) literally to the bending forth and, with second prefix ni, down, of a tortoise's limbs emerging from its shell, when danger is past, S. iv, 178; (b) figuratively to constructive work of mind (citta) in Jhāna, Dialogues i, 86 (§ 83) f.
[70] I tried, in this difficult passage, to get light from B., who has vāritavataṃ. See *sasaṇkhāra and *vāritavataṃ.
[71] I have followed the Comy. in this curious line, but am not convinced that the compilers of the Four Nikāyas knew of more than the three older Vedas (to which they often allude). B. indeed specifies the Fifth as the Itihāsa (-purāṇa), but that is another matter. Sataṃ saman he reads as = to the vassasataṃ of the next verse, and caraṃ as = to carantā. '500 Vedas' is the more obvious hyperbole.
[72] A free, but, I think, not unfaithful rendering of the one compound hīnatta-rūpā: having the quality or nature (Comy.: sabhāvā) of 'lowness.' The whole effort to secure rebirth in Brahmā-world was judged to be low or poor; cf. M. ii, 195: 'that low Brahmā-world,' etc. Cf. p. 37, n, 1. So the Teacher. Devas usually judged otherwise.
[73] See above, I, 1, § 9.
[74] This amiable fairy has not been met with elsewhere in Pali literature. B. is silent about her, and about Kokanadā-minor, of the next Sutta — whether they were sisters or not. The father's name occurs not infrequently, e.g., D. iii, 205; Jāt. i, 322; [?] iv, 253; cf. Pss. of the Brethren, 5, n. 3, etc. B. calls him 'rāja' of the raincloud devas, and the first named fairy catu-mahārājikā: of the status of the Four Kings of the Firmament (Dialogues, ii, 242).
[75] Sattassa ? = sattattassa, as in D. i, 29 sattattāya.
[76] Cf. Jāt. v, 266. This particular purgatory does not appear in the list of purgatories below, VI, 1, § 10. The seaport so named (see Buddhist India, p. 38) was not apparently connected with purgatorial legend. B. gives legendary details. Cf. below, 82, n. 3; 117.
[77] See above, I, 4, § 7.
[78] As in § 9. These verses form an interesting contrast to the preceding. The terms used are of a less popular, more academical nature, as if the junior lady were more cultured. She uses the verb characterizing the Vibhajjavādins and is primed in methodology.
[79] See I, 2, § 10.
