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Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One. In the Vinaya Piṭaka Vajirabuddhi Commentary Introduction to the Work By pure wisdom and compassion, By whom all trainable beings were liberated; Having bowed down with my head to that eye-like one, To the Dhamma of the world, gone to the end of the world. And to the Saṅgha, endowed with virtues like morality, Taking the essence from all parts; By my intention, desiring brevity; And seeing the welfare of monks, being urged. Named Samantapāsādikā, Expounded by the teacher Buddhaghosa; I shall write concisely on obscure passages; It has been written concisely on obscure passages. The name, the cause, and the author, The extent, the purpose; Before all traditions, What should be said, one wishes to say. – From the saying, "Samantapāsādikā" is the name. "It does not fully serve the purpose of the monastic community in other islands" is the cause. "Buddhaghosa" is the author, by the name taken by the teachers. "By that text of more than twenty-seven thousand [stanzas]" is the extent. "For the long-lastingness of the Dhamma" is the purpose. Therein it is said – "That which was said, 'one wishes to say what should be said,' what kind of speaker is there?" It is said – A speaker who knows the text and its meaning, Pure, not stingy; One who has abandoned the fourfold evil, Eager for the welfare of the teacher. That which is recited is the text. Indeed, it is of many kinds, corresponding to the meaning and not corresponding to the meaning. How? Spoken with intention, spoken literally, text with remainder, text without remainder, explicit, implicit. Therein, "spoken with intention" means that which conveys many meanings, such as "Having slain mother and father" and so on (Dhp. 294). "Spoken literally" means that which conveys one meaning, such as "Mind precedes all mental states" and so on (Dhp. 1, 2; Netti. 90, 92; Peṭako. 14). "Text with remainder" means such as "All, monks, is burning" and so on (Mahāva. 54; Saṃ. Ni. 4.28). The opposite, "text without remainder," means such as "All phenomena in all aspects come into the range of the knowledge of the Blessed Buddha" and so on (Mahāni. 156; Paṭi. Ma. 3.5). That which is to be understood as it is spoken is called 'explicit' (nīta), as in "impermanent, suffering, non-self," etc. That which is to be inferred by reasoning is called 'implicit' (neyya), as in "one person, monks," etc. (A.N. 1.170). Meaning, too, is of many kinds: literal meaning, intrinsic meaning, knowable meaning, meaning according to the text, meaning not according to the text, partial meaning, complete meaning, explicit meaning, implicit meaning, etc. Among these, the text uttered for the purpose of making this or that known, that is the literal meaning, as in "with meaning and with phrasing," etc. (Pārā. 1; D.N. 1.190). The intrinsic meaning is the characteristic, function, etc., of material and immaterial phenomena, as in "develops right view," etc. (Vibh. 489; S.N. 5.3). That which, when known, leads to benefit, that, being worthy of being known, is the knowable meaning, as in "speaker of what is beneficial, speaker of the Dhamma," etc. (D.N. 1.9, 194; 3.238; M.N. 1.411). The meaning according to the text is spoken exactly as the text, as when the Blessed One said, "The eye, monks, is old kamma" (S.N. 4.146), meaning the eye itself is kamma. The meaning not according to the text is spoken by rejecting the meaning through the shadow of the phrasing. The partial meaning is spoken by making a remainder, without abandoning anything that should be excluded, as in "depending on the eye and forms, arises" (S.N. 4.60; Mahāni. 107), and as in "All tremble at punishment, all fear death," etc. (Dhp. 129). The opposite is the complete meaning, as in "I and you have run on and wandered through saṃsāra" (D.N. 2.155; Mahā. 287; Netti. 114). "There, monks, who would think, who would believe... except for those who have seen the truth?" etc. (A.N. 7.66). The explicit meaning is to be known by the power of the word itself, as in "forms, sounds, tastes, smells, and delightful tangibles," etc. (S.N. 1.151, 165; Mahāva. 33). The implicit meaning is to be understood by way of convention, as in "These four persons, monks, are like clouds," etc. (A.N. 4.101; Pu. Pa. 157). And it is said: That meaning which is known from the word, that they know as explicit meaning; The full comprehension of the meaning... Indeed, it is called "meaning to be led." Thus, one who understands the meaning of the text in its various divisions is a master of the text. He is not carried away by the arguments of others, having long resided in the doctrine, hence unswayed. He is able to speak due to his accomplishment in development, attainment, and insight, hence a speaker, meaning he is able to enlighten others with reasons and examples, in brief and in detail. He purifies himself and others, hence pure, meaning free from the defilement of bad conduct and wrong views. For one with bad conduct harms himself and his words are not worth taking, like a constantly sick physician with improper food and conduct. One with wrong views harms others, and is not necessarily a refuge, like a lotus pond infested with venomous snakes. One who is deficient in both is in every way not to be served, like a burning brand fallen into excrement, or like a black snake fallen into excrement. But one who is accomplished in both, pure, is in every way to be served and associated with by the wise, like a jewel mine free from danger. He has no stinginess, hence unselfish, meaning he does not withhold the teacher's fist. He does not abandon the fourfold (method) consisting of the Suttas, the Sutta-consistent teachings, the teachers' traditions, and one's own insight; meaning he explains only their meaning. Or, he does not abandon the fourfold (method) of valid cognition, consisting of direct perception, inference, tradition, and implication. "One statement is categorical, another is to be analyzed; A third should be questioned, a fourth should be set aside." Thus, he does not abandon this fourfold (method) as stated; Eager for welfare, meaning he is eager for the welfare of the listeners, he desires their enlightenment; Such a one is dear because of his purity; Respected because he does not abandon the fourfold (method); To be cultivated because he is unswayed; A speaker because he is a teacher; Capable of speaking because he is eager for welfare; A speaker of profound discourse because he is a master of the text; And because he is unselfish, he does not appoint to an improper place; "Dear, respected, to be cultivated, a speaker and capable of speaking; A speaker of profound discourse, and not one who appoints to an improper place." Thus is the teacher described; Now the listener is described: A listener is devoted to the teacher of the Dhamma, adorned with qualities like faith and wisdom; He is not deceitful or cunning, he is intelligent, with a mouth like nectar. Therein, due to reverence for the Dhamma, he does not despise the talk; due to reverence for the teacher, he does not despise the speaker; due to being adorned with qualities like faith and wisdom, he does not despise himself; due to being without deceit or trickery, and facing the deathless, his mind is not distracted; due to being intelligent, he pays wise attention—this is the meaning. And this has been said: “Endowed with five qualities, monks, one who listens to the True Dhamma is capable of entering the fixed course, of rightness in wholesome states. Which five? He does not despise the talk, he does not despise the speaker, he does not despise himself, he listens to the Dhamma with an undistracted mind, with a concentrated mind, and he pays wise attention.” Due to having attained those characteristics, the listener is said to be one whose listening is development. Description of the introductory words of the text Now begins its commencement— therein, "whoever" is an indefinite designation, thereby showing that purity of birth, family, clan, etc., or purity from defilements, or worthiness of veneration, are not the cause; whoever, by means of the initial verse of this Samantapāsādikā, makes the stated cause of being a world-savior firm and unshakeable with the aforementioned root-cause, perfectly fulfilling the aforementioned period of the cause, and finally accomplishing the aforementioned fruit of the cause, achieves the aforementioned purpose of the fruit of the cause, only that one is truly worthy of supreme veneration—thus it is determined. By this much— This is not at all a salutation of fear, delusion, or wrong view; this salutation, preceded by wisdom, is thus indicated. Therein, "cause" refers to the extremely difficult meritorious deeds, namely the thirty perfections. For these are performed with extreme suffering, with difficulty, with an effort whose power surpasses words, with great exertion—thus they are called "extremely difficult." Indeed, because of their extreme difficulty, they bear a fruit that is extremely rare in the world, unique, called "saviorship"; that is the fruit of the cause there. The "root of the cause" is the great compassion capable of producing the aforementioned cause; from the initial aspiration, in the manner of "having been freed, I shall free others," and so on, it flows uninterruptedly until the purpose of the fruit of the cause. Regarding which it was said: With forests, with mountains, with oceans, The earth has gone to ruin many times; At the end of an eon, by water, fire, and wind, How could it not be the Bodhisatta's great asceticism? Because of being endowed with which, he said, "Homage to that greatly compassionate one." The causal period is a time divided into four, eight, sixteen, and other immeasurable eons, regarding which it is said, "a time immeasurable even by crores of eons.