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.”
[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.”
- 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.”