English
“One should do beforehand, what one knows is good for oneself; a wise person should not strive with the thoughts of a cart-driver. “Just as a cart-driver, leaving the smooth, main road; having ascended a rough path, laments, like one whose axle is broken. “So too, having turned away from the Dhamma, and followed the non-Dhamma; the foolish one, having fallen into the mouth of death, laments, like one whose axle is broken.” 3. The Serī Sutta Standing to one side, the devaputta Serī addressed the Blessed One with a verse: “Both gods and humans delight in food; then who is that yakkha who does not delight in food?” “Those who give it with faith, with a mind serene; that very food serves them, in this world and the next. “Therefore, having overcome stinginess, one should give gifts, having conquered defilements; merits in the other world, are the support for beings.” “Wonderful, Venerable Sir, amazing, Venerable Sir! How well spoken this is, Venerable Sir, by the Blessed One: “Those who give it with faith, with a mind serene; that very food serves them, in this world and the next. “Therefore, having overcome stinginess, one should give gifts, having conquered defilements; merits in the other world, are the support for beings.” “In the past, Venerable Sir, I was a king named Sirī, a giver, a master of giving, one who praised giving. To me, Venerable Sir, gifts were given at the four gates to ascetics, brahmins, the poor, the needy, beggars, and supplicants. Then, Venerable Sir, the women of the harem approached me and said this: spoke: ‘Indeed, to the king a gift is given; to us no gift is given. It would be good if we too, relying on the king, could give gifts, could make merit.’ Then it occurred to me, venerable sir: ‘I am indeed a giver, a lord of gifts, a praiser of giving. What should I say to those who say “We will give gifts”?’ So I, venerable sir, gave the first gate to the women of the inner palace. There, to the women of the inner palace, a gift was given; my gift was set aside. Then, venerable sir, the attendant nobles approached me and spoke: ‘Indeed, to the king a gift is given; to the women of the inner palace a gift is given; to us no gift is given. It would be good if we too, relying on the king, could give gifts, could make merit.’ Then it occurred to me, venerable sir: ‘I am indeed a giver, a lord of gifts, a praiser of giving. What should I say to those who say “We will give gifts”?’ So I, venerable sir, gave the second gate to the attendant nobles. There, to the attendant nobles, a gift was given; my gift was set aside. Then, venerable sir, the army approached me and spoke: ‘Indeed, to the king a gift is given; to the women of the inner palace a gift is given; to the attendant nobles a gift is given; to us no gift is given. It would be good if we too, relying on the king, could give gifts, could make merit.’ Then it occurred to me, venerable sir: ‘I am indeed a giver, a lord of gifts, a praiser of giving. What should I say to those who say “We will give gifts”?’ So I, venerable sir, gave the third gate to the army. There, to the army, a gift was given; my gift was set aside. Then, venerable sir, the brahmins and householders approached me and spoke: ‘Indeed, to the king a gift is given; to the women of the inner palace a gift is given; to the attendant nobles a gift is given; to the army a gift is given; to us no gift is given. is not given. ‘It is good that we too, relying on the king, may give gifts, may do meritorious deeds.’ Then, Venerable Sir, it occurred to me: ‘I am a giver, a lord of gifts, a praiser of giving. What should I say to those who say “We will give gifts”?’ So, Venerable Sir, I gave the fourth gate to the brahmins and householders. There, gifts were given to brahmins and householders, but my gifts were rejected. “Then, Venerable Sir, men approached me and said this: ‘Now, no one gives any gifts to the king.’ When this was said, Venerable Sir, I said to those men: ‘Well then, friends, whatever income arises in the outer provinces, bring half of it into the inner palace, and give half of it right there as gifts to ascetics, brahmins, the poor, the needy, beggars, and supplicants.’ So, Venerable Sir, I do not find the limit of such long-performed merits, of such long-performed wholesome deeds – saying ‘this much merit,’ or ‘this much result of merit,’ or ‘this long to stay in heaven.’ Wonderful, Venerable Sir! Amazing, Venerable Sir! How well-spoken this is, Venerable Sir, by the Blessed One – “Those who give it with faith, with a mind serene; That very food serves them, in this world and the next. “Therefore, having removed stinginess, overcome by defilement, one should give gifts; Merits in the next world, become a support for beings.” 4. Ghaṭīkāra Sutta 105. Standing to one side, the deity Ghaṭīkāra spoke this verse in the presence of the Blessed One: “Seven bhikkhus, attained to Aviha, are liberated; Their lust and hatred exhausted, they have crossed over the entanglement in the world.” “Who are they who crossed the mire, the realm of death, so hard to cross? Who, having abandoned the human body, surpassed the divine yoke?” “Upaka and Palagaṇḍa, and Pukkusāti, those three; Bhaddiya and Khaṇḍadeva, Bāhuraggi and Saṅgiya; They, having abandoned the human ...body, transcended divine bonds. “Skillfully you speak of them, who abandoned Mara’s snares; Knowing whose Dhamma, they cut off the bonds of existence?” “Not apart from the Blessed One, nor apart from your teaching; Knowing whose Dhamma, they cut off the bonds of existence. Where name and form, cease without remainder; Knowing that Dhamma here, they cut off the bonds of existence.” “You speak profound words, hard to know, very hard to understand; Knowing whose Dhamma, do you speak such words?” “I was a potter before, a pot-maker in Vekaḷiṅga; I supported my parents, a lay follower of Kassapa. Abstaining from sexual conduct, a celibate, unattached; I was your fellow villager, I was your friend before. I know these, seven liberated monks; Whose lust and hatred are destroyed, who have crossed over the world’s entanglement.” “So it was then, as you say, Bhaggava; You were a potter before, a pot-maker in Vekaḷiṅga. You supported your parents, a lay follower of Kassapa; Abstaining from sexual conduct, a celibate, unattached; You were my fellow villager, you were my friend before.” “Thus was this meeting, of old friends; Of two developed beings, who bear their final bodies.” 5. The Discourse on Jantu 106. Thus have I heard – On one occasion, many monks, were dwelling in the Kosalas, near the Himalayas, in a forest hut, arrogant, conceited, fickle, talkative, with scattered speech, unmindful, not comprehending, not concentrated, with distracted minds, with uncontrolled faculties. Then the deity Jantu, on that fifteenth day of the Uposatha, approached those monks; having approached, he addressed those monks with verses – “Happy-living they were before, the monks, disciples of Gotama; Without desire for alms food, without desire for lodging; Knowing the impermanence in the world, they made an end to suffering. Making themselves hard to support, like village headmen in a village; Having eaten, having eaten They lie down, Infatuated in others' houses. "Having made salutation to the Saṅgha, I say to some here: Abandoned, helpless are they, Just like ghosts, so indeed are they. "Those who indeed dwell heedless, That is spoken by me concerning them; Those who dwell heedful, I make homage to them." 6. The Discourse with Rohitassa 107. Occasion at Sāvatthī. Standing to one side, Rohitassa the deva-son said this to the Blessed One: "Where, indeed, venerable sir, there is no birth, no aging, no death, no passing away, no reappearing, is it possible, venerable sir, by going, to know or see or reach the end of the world?" "Where, friend, there is no birth, no aging, no death, no passing away, no reappearing, I do not say that the end of the world can be known or seen or reached by going." "Wonderful, venerable sir, Amazing, venerable sir! How well-spoken this is, venerable sir, by the Blessed One – 'Where, friend, there is no birth, no aging, no death, no passing away, no reappearing, I do not say that the end of the world can be known or seen or reached by going.'" "Formerly, venerable sir, I was a seer named Rohitassa, son of a Bhoja, endowed with psychic power, able to travel through the air. To me, venerable sir, there was such a speed; just as a strong-bowed archer, well-trained, skilled, practiced, accustomed, with a light arrow, without difficulty, might shoot across a palm-tree's shadow. To me, venerable sir, there was such a stride; just as from the eastern ocean to the western ocean. To me, venerable sir, such a desire arose – 'I will reach the end of the world by going.' So I, venerable sir, endowed with such speed and such a stride, apart from eating... eaten, drunk, chewed, and savored, apart from defecating and urinating, apart from sleeping and dispelling fatigue, he, with a lifespan of a hundred years, living for a hundred years, having traveled for a hundred years, without reaching the end of the world, died in the middle. “Wonderful, venerable sir, amazing, venerable sir! How well-spoken this is, venerable sir, by the Blessed One: ‘Where there is no birth, no aging, no death, no passing away, no reappearing, I do not say that by traveling one can know, see, or reach the end of the world, friend.’” “Yet, friend, I do not say that without reaching the end of the world there is an end to suffering. But, friend, in this very fathom-long body, with its perceptions and its mind, I declare the world, the origin of the world, the cessation of the world, and the path leading to the cessation of the world. “By traveling, the world’s end is never to be reached; Nor, without reaching the world’s end, is there release from suffering. “Therefore, indeed, the wise one, knower of the world,