Saṃyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
55. Sot'Āpatti Saṃyutta
1. Veḷu-Dvāra Vagga
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
5. The Great Chapter
55. Kindred Sayings on Streamwinning
1. Veḷudvāra[1]
Sutta 1
Rāhā Suttaṃ
Rājah
Translated by F. L. Woodward
Edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved
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Once the Exalted One was staying near Sāvatthī,
at Jeta Grove,
in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
Then the Exalted One addressed the monks,
saying:
"Monks."
"Yes, lord," replied those monks to the Exalted One.
The Exalted One said:
"Monks, although a rājah,
a roller of the wheel,[2]
holding supreme lordship and dominion
over four continents,
on the break-up of body
is reborn after death in the Happy Lot,
in the Heaven World,
in the company of the Devas of the Thirty-Three;
although he spends his time there
in Nandana Grove,[3]
attended by a troop of nymphs,
supplied and provided with,
surrounded by,
celestial pleasures of sense;
although he is possessed of these four things,[4] -
yet is he not released
from Purgatory,
he is not released
from (birth in) the womb of an animal,
he is not released
from the realm of ghosts,
he is not released
from Hell,
the Way of Woe,
the Downfall.
Monks, although an Ariyan disciple
lives on gathered scraps,[5]
though he be clothed in rags,[6]
yet is he possessed of four things;
[297] moreover be is released
from Purgatory,
be is released
from (birth in) the womb of an animal,
he is released
from the realm of ghosts,
he is released
from Hell,
the Way of Woe,
from the Downfall.
What are the four things?
Herein, monks, the Ariyan disciple is possessed
of unwavering loyalty to the Buddha,
thus:
(He has faith that)
'He it is the Exalted One,
Arahant,
a fully Enlightened One,
perfect in knowledge and practice,
a Happy One,
world-knower,
unsurpassed charioteer
of men to be tamed,[7]
teacher of devas and mankind,
a Buddha,
an Exalted One.'[8]
He is possessed of unwavering loyalty to the Norm,
thus:
'Well proclaimed by the Exalted One
is the Norm,
seen in this very life,
a thing not involving time,
inviting one to come and see,
leading onward,
to be known for themselves
by the wise.'
He is possessed of unwavering faith in the Order,
thus:
'Walking righteously is the Exalted One's Order,
walking uprightly,
walking in the right way,
walking dutifully
is the Exalted One's Order of Disciples:
namely,
the four pairs of men,
the eight sorts of men.[9]
That is the Exalted One's Order of Disciples.
Worthy of honour are they,
worthy of reverence,
worthy of offerings,
worthy of salutations with clasped hands, -
a field of merit unsurpassed for the world.'
Then he is possessed
of the virtues loved by the Ariyans,
virtues unbroken,
whole,
unspotted,
untarnished,
giving freedom,
praised by the wise:
virtues untainted (by craving or delusion),
which lead to concentration of the mind.
Such are the four things he is possessed of.
Monks, there is the winning of four continents,
and there is the winning of the four things.
But to win four continents
is not worth a sixteenth part
of the winning of the four things."
[1] The title of this chapter comes from § vii. It is the name of a brahmin village of the Kosalans.
[2] Universal Ruler. Cf. DA. i, 249. The Sutta is quoted at UdA. 108 ff.
[3] Cf. K.S. i, 9 n. The Grove in Sakka's Heaven, the lowest of the Devalokas, to which devas went when about to die,' there to dissolve like snow, or like a wind-blown lamp-flame, and to be reborn.'
[4] Reading sammannagāto with S1-3; and UdA. Text reads asamannagāto evidently referring to the four dooms following; but the 'four things' are the four continents, as stated below.
[5] Piṇḍiyālopena. The name of Piṇḍola (the scrap-gatherer) was bestowed on one of the monks. Cf. text, 224.
[6] Nantahāni. Comy. 'a cloth of thirteen spans ("hands"), so called from being divided into ten parts (?).'
[7] Text as usual misprints -damma as -dhamma.
[8] Cf. K.S. iv, 187 nn. Comy. refers to VM. 1, 221.
[9] Those following the fourfold path to Arahantship in its twofold division.
