SN 11.11 Sattavatapada 1. Vows.

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mikenz66
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SN 11.11 Sattavatapada 1. Vows.

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SN 11.11 Sattavatapada 1. Vows.
Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi


https://suttacentral.net/en/sn11.11

At Savatthī. “Bhikkhus, in the past, when Sakka, lord of the devas, was a human being, he adopted and undertook seven vows by the undertaking of which he achieved the status of Sakka. What were the seven vows?

(1) “‘As long as I live may I support my parents.’

(2) “‘As long as I live may I respect the family elders.’

(3) “‘As long as I live may I speak gently.’

(4) “‘As long as I live may I not speak divisively.’

(5) “‘As long as I live may I dwell at home with a mind devoid of the stain of stinginess, freely generous, open-handed, delighting in relinquishment, devoted to charity, [635] delighting in giving and sharing.’

(6) “‘As long as I live may I speak the truth.’

(7) “‘As long as I live may I be free from anger, and if anger should arise in me may I dispel it quickly.’

“In the past, bhikkhus, when Sakka, lord of the devas, was a human being, he adopted and undertook these seven vows by the undertaking of which he achieved the status of Sakka.
  • “When a person supports his parents,
    And respects the family elders;
    When his speech is gentle and courteous,
    And he refrains from divisive words;

    When he strives to remove meanness,
    Is truthful, and vanquishes anger,
    The Tavatiṃsa devas call him
    Truly a superior person.”
Note
[635] Although the form yācayoga prevails in the Pāli textual tradition, it is likely that the original compound was yājayoga, recognized as a variant reading at Visuddhimagga 224,11-12 (Ppn 7:112).
  • 112. Freely generous: liberally generous. Open-handed: with hands that are
    purified. What is meant is: with hands that are always washed in order to give
    gifts carefully with one’s own hands. That I delight in relinquishing: the act of
    relinquishing (vossajjana) is relinquishing (vossagga); the meaning is, giving up.
    To delight in relinquishing is to delight in constant devotion to that relinquishing.
    Expect to be asked (yácayoga): accustomed to being asked (yácana-yogga) because
    of giving whatever others ask for, is the meaning. Yájayoga is a reading, in
    which case the meaning is: devoted (yutta) to sacrifice (yája), in other words, to
    sacrificing (yajana). And rejoice in sharing: the meaning is, he recollects thus: “I
    give gifts and I share out what is to be used by myself, and I rejoice in both.”
I translate on the basis of this reading, which means literally “devoted to sacrifice,” a brahmanical notion reinterpreted by the Buddha to mean self-sacrifice through the practice of charity (see vv. 395-96). [SN 3.9]
  • 395 “But when sacrifices free from violence
    Are always offered by family custom,
    Where no goats, sheep, or cattle
    Of various kinds are slain:
    The great seers of right conduct
    Attend a sacrifice like this.

    396 “The wise person should offer this,
    A sacrifice bringing great fruit.
    For one who makes such sacrifice
    It is indeed better, never worse.
    Such a sacrifice is truly vast
    And the devatās too are pleased.”
Since charity (yāja) is directed to supplicants (yācaka), the variant yācayoga could have arisen through substitution of object for act; see GD, p. 241, n. to p. 87,2 [Norman's translation].
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mikenz66
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Re: SN 11.11 Sattavatapada 1. Vows.

Post by mikenz66 »

The Chinese parallel at: samyukta āgama 2.33 is very similar to the Pali.

:anjali:
Mike
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