Aṅguttara-Nikāya
Pañcaka-Nipāta
IV. Sumanā Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fives
IV: Sumanā

Sutta 40

Mahā Sāla Suttaṁ

Sal Trees

Translated by E. M. Hare

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[44] [36]

[1][bodh] Thus have I heard:

Once the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:

"Monks."

'Yes, lord,' they replied; and the Exalted One said:

"Monks,^[1] the great sāl trees,
supported by Himālaya,
the mountain king,
grow in five growths.

What five?

They grow in branches,
leaves and foliage;
they grow in bark;
in shoots;
in pith;
they grow in heart.

Monks, the great sāl trees,
supported by Himālaya,
the mountain king,
grow in these five growths.

Even so, monks,
folk within a home,
supported by a believing clan-chief,
grow in five growths.

What five?

They grow in faith,
in virtue,
in learning,
in charity,
they grow in insight.

Monks, folk within a home,
supported by a believing clan-chief,
grow in these five growths.

Where^[2] rise Himālaya's rocky mountain slopes
The trees and forest-giants there find place
For growth amid the jungle's massy groves:
So in a virtuous, believing chief,
Wife, sons, kith, kin, friends, followers find place
For growth. The well-behaved, with wit to see,
Will emulate the virtues of that man,
[37] His liberal ways;^[3] the way of Dhamma here
Will take which leads to heaven, and after dwell,
Joying in joy of devas, happy, glad.'

 

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^[1] Cf. the whole sutta with A. i, 152 (G.S. i, 136); on sāl trees, see K.S. v, 266 n. These parts of a tree are stock; see above, § 25; M. i, 192; the five 'growths' for a layman recur below, § 46 f. and 63; in the 'Sevens' at A. iv, 4, D. iii, 163 as 'treasures.'

^[2] I have ventured to translate this simile rather differently from G.S. loc. cit., following the prose. The gāthā does not bring in Himālaya, and A.A. ii, 252 on A. i merely remarks that selo means made of rock, but in Sanskrit the word has a definite connection with Himālaya; see Macdonell's Dict. s.v.; Buddhaghosa would probably not be aware of this; see P.E.D. and Dr. Stede's Afterword, p. 203.

^[3] The last two lines of the text, recur at It. 112; with variation at A. ii, 62; the last pāda of the second line at It. 19; Thag. 242. (In the uddāna, with v.l. and S.e. we should read putta-sālehi, no doubt.)