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Homage to the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One. In the Vinaya Piṭaka Sāratthadīpanī-ṭīkā (First Part) Introduction to the Work The Buddha, full of great compassion, And the Dhamma, pure and supreme; I venerate the Noble Saṅgha, Worthy of offerings, without blemish. By the power of abundant merit, Having crushed all enemies; Having attained the anointing of kingship, Desiring the illumination of the Dispensation. Relying on the King of Sri Lanka, Whose arm was mighty in effort; Having brought about unity of the sects, The Dispensation was thoroughly purified. That great elder Kassapa, Leader of the Saṅgha; In the island of Tambapaṇṇi, Causing the rise of the Dispensation. Devoted to practice, Always dwelling in the forest; Manifest in the Dispensation, Like the moon's orb in the sky. I venerate the father of the Saṅgha, Highly skilled in Vinaya; Relying on whom I dwell, And have attained growth in the Dispensation. The junior elder, of great merit, Sumedha, widely renowned; Whose pure virtues, Such as morality, are unbroken. Learned, mindful, Disciplined, peaceful, concentrated; I bow my head to that wise one, My teacher, the reciter of the community. Among his disciple monks, Who are skilled in the traditional texts and logic, And in the ways of grammar; The Dispensation is well-established. I shall make this Sāratthadīpanī, Which illuminates the hidden meanings, Of the Vinaya Aṭṭhakathā; Easy to understand, complete, and clear. That which was done by the ancients, An exposition of hidden meanings; Does not fully serve the purpose, Of monks everywhere. Because of the nature of the Sinhala language, Which is difficult to understand; Something was written here and there, In many difficult passages. And something else, Though begun in the Māgadhī language; Was written mixed, With other languages. Also, the burden of unessential texts, Is seen there in abundance; And even what is easy to understand in meaning, Is made confusing. Therefore, with such incompleteness, How can those dwelling in various countries, Understand the meaning, In every respect? Therefore, abandoning other languages, Taking the essence in every respect; I shall make it clear, With complete determination. Description of the Introduction to the Work Vinayasa At the start of the commentary, desiring to pay homage to the Triple Gem, to show its connection with distinguished qualities, he said, "He who for crores of aeons..." and so on. Indeed, by connection with distinguished qualities, there is worthiness of veneration. And veneration made to those worthy of veneration accomplishes the intended purpose. Here, the purpose of paying homage to the Triple Gem at the start of the commentary is explained in various ways by the teachers here and there. Thus they explain: "At the start of the commentary, veneration of the Triple Gem is for making known the purity of the origin and support of the Dhamma to be commented upon. And that is for generating great respect among the wise in the commentaries on the Dhamma. And that is for the accomplishment of all welfare and happiness through right practice, which is to be attained by their proper learning, retention, and so on. Or else, the act of paying homage to the Triple Gem in the commentary is because it is auspicious, because it is a preliminary act in all undertakings, because it is practiced by the wise, and because it leads others to follow the example in the future." But we shall show the very purpose intended here. Therefore, it should be understood that the act of paying homage to the Triple Gem at the start of the commentary is for the completion of the commentary as promised, without obstacles. Indeed, this very purpose is intended by the teacher here. Thus he will say: "Thus, that which is supremely worthy of homage, Having paid homage to the Triple Gem, I obtained an abundance of great merit. By its power, obstacles are removed." And here, the completion of the commentary as promised, without obstacles, by the act of paying homage to the Triple Gem, is due to the keenness of wisdom from honoring the Triple Gem. And that keenness of wisdom is from dispelling defilements like lust and so on. For it has been said: "At whatever time, Mahānāma, a noble disciple recollects the Tathāgata, at that time his mind is not overcome by lust, his mind is not overcome by hatred, his mind is not overcome by delusion. At that time his mind is straight," and so on (A.N. 11.11). Therefore, by honoring the Triple Gem, With wisdom, cleansed of defilements, skill is attained. Or, the honoring of the Triple Gem, being the proximate cause of wisdom and concentration, leads to the skill of wisdom. For its being the cause of concentration has been said: “Thus, Mahānāma, the noble disciple, with a mind made straight, obtains the meaning-sense, obtains the Dhamma-sense, obtains joy connected with the Dhamma; being joyful, rapture arises; with a rapturous mind, the body becomes tranquil; with a tranquil body, he feels pleasure; with a pleasant mind, concentration is established.” And the proximate cause of wisdom being concentration has been said: “One who is concentrated knows things as they are.” Therefore, with such keen wisdom, overcoming the weariness caused by the magnitude of the undertaking, the exposition will be concluded without obstruction. Therefore, it was said: “for the sake of concluding without obstruction.” Or, by the honoring of the Triple Gem, life, beauty, happiness, and strength increase, and thus it should be understood as concluding without obstruction. For by saluting the Triple Gem, life, beauty, happiness, and strength increase. This has been said: “For one who is respectful, Always honoring the elders; Four things increase: Life, beauty, happiness, and strength.” Therefore, with the increase of life, beauty, happiness, and strength, the task is indeed completed. Thus, it was said: “for the sake of concluding without obstruction.” Or, because reverence for the Triple Gem prevents the loss of ready wit. Indeed, reverence for all three Jewels prevents loss. This has been said: “These seven, monks, are conditions of non-decline. Which seven? Reverence for the Teacher, reverence for the Dhamma, reverence for the Saṅgha, reverence for training, reverence for concentration, good friendship, and easy teachability.” And from that, indeed, with the non-decline of ready wit, the completion as undertaken is achieved. Or, because honoring the objects of faith is an abundance of merit. For its being an abundance of merit has been said: “Honoring those worthy of honor, Buddhas or their disciples; Those who have transcended proliferation, Those who have crossed over sorrow and lamentation. “Honoring such ones…” For one who is victorious, extinguished, without fear from any quarter; It is not possible for anyone to count the merit, saying, 'this much'. And the abundance of merit is the means to the desired completion. As it is said: "This is a treasure that grants all wishes to gods and humans; Whatever they wish for, all is obtained through it." And for one who is engaged in the means, the completion of the task certainly occurs. For the worship of the Triple Gem, due to its connection with the field of immeasurable merit, is an abundance of merit of incomparable origin, and thus is capable of destroying all defilements that cause obstacles in the world, even amidst many kinds of dangers, and it averts dangers and calamities. Therefore, it is well said: "It should be understood that the homage to the Triple Gem at the beginning of the commentary is for the unobstructed completion of the promised commentary." Thus, wishing to perform this beneficial homage to the Triple Gem, he first intends to pay homage to the Blessed One, since the other gems originate from him, and therefore he says: "Who for an eon... (etc.)... of that Greatly Compassionate One." Here, since the teaching for which he wishes to write a commentary is primarily compassionate, not primarily compassionate and wise like a Suttanta teaching, nor primarily wise like an Abhidhamma teaching, therefore, the praise of the Blessed One is begun as primarily compassionate. This is indeed the nature of the teacher, namely, praise that is appropriate to the beginning. For this reason, at the beginning of a commentary on a Suttanta teaching, the praise "whose heart is cooled by compassion, whose profound darkness of delusion is dispelled by the light of wisdom" is begun as primarily compassionate and wise; and at the beginning of a commentary on an Abhidhamma teaching, the praise "whose compassion is like that for beings, whose wisdom is that of the Great Seer" is begun as primarily wise. For Suttanta teachings are primarily compassionate and wise because of the extraordinary operation therein of wisdom capable of discerning the differences in the dispositions, latent tendencies, inclinations, and conduct of various beings, and of great compassion for beings. For in Suttanta teachings, the Great Compassion is abundant, and in the minds of those to be trained, their dispositions... He established a profound doctrine in due order. And the Abhidhamma teaching is solely wisdom-predominant, because wisdom, capable of penetrating ultimate realities as they truly are, operates there with special intensity. But the Vinaya teaching, independent of intentions and so forth, solely out of compassion, the Blessed One, hearing what even an ordinary being should not hear, asking what should not be asked, and saying what should not be said, established the training rules; thus, it is compassion-predominant. For indeed, even the Blessed One, who had reached the highest limit of shame and dread, spoke words like "You are a bald-pated one!" and other such words that even virtuous worldly people would avoid, and words of reproach according to the offense,