Saṃyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
55. Sot'Āpatti Saṃyutta
1. Veḷu-Dvāra Vagga

The Book of the Kindred Sayings
5. The Great Chapter
55. Kindred Sayings on Streamwinning
1. Veḷudvāra

Sutta 3

Dīghāvu Upāsaka Suttaṃ

Dīghāvu^[1]

Translated by F. L. Woodward
Edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids

Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved

For details see Terms of Use.

 

---

[298]

[1] THUS have I heard:

Once the Exalted One was staying near Rājagaha,
in Bamboo Grove,
at the Squirrels' Feeding-ground.

[299] Now on that occasion Dīghāvu the lay-disciple
was sick
afflicted,
suffering from a sore disease.

Then Dīghāvu the lay-disciple
called to his father Jotika the housefather,
saying:

"Come, housefather!

Do you go to the Exalted One,
and on coming to him,
with your head worship at the feet of the Exalted One,
and say in my name:

'Lord, Dīghāvu the lay-disciple
is sick,
afflicted,
suffering from a sore disease.

He worships with his head
at the Exalted One's feet.'

Then say:

'It were a good thing, lord,
if the Exalted One would come to the house
of Dīghāvu the lay-disciple,
out of compassion for him.'"

"Very good, my lad,"
said Jotika the housefather
in reply to Dīghāvu the lay-disciple,
and went to the Exalted One,
and on coming to him
saluted him
and sat down at one side.

So seated, Jotika the housefather
said this to the Exalted One:

"Lord, Dīghāvu the lay-disciple
is sick,
afflicted,
suffering from a sore disease.

He worships with his head
at the feet of the Exalted One
and says thus:

'It were a good thing, lord,
if the Exalted One would come to the house
of Dīghāvu the lay-disciple,
out of compassion for him.'"

And the Exalted One consented by his silence.

Thereupon the Exalted One robed himself,
and taking bowl and outer robe
set off for the house of Dīghāvu the lay-disciple,
and on arriving there
sat down on a seat made ready.

Having sat down
the Exalted One said this
to Dīghāvu the lay-disciple:^[2]

"Well, Dīghāvu,
I hope you are bearing up,
I hope you are enduring.

Do your pains abate
and not increase?

Are there signs of their abating
and not increasing?"

"No, lord!

I am not bearing up.

I am not enduring.

Strong pains come upon me.

They do not abate.

There is no sign of their abating
but of their increasing."

"Then, Dīghāvu,
thus must you train yourself:

'I will be blessed
with unwavering loyalty to the Buddha,
thus:

He it [300] is the Exalted One,
Arahant,
a fully Enlightened One,
perfect in knowledge and practice,
a Happy One,
world-knower,
unsurpassed charioteer
of men to be tamed,
teacher of devas and mankind,
a Buddha,
an Exalted One.

I will be blessed
with unwavering loyalty to the Norm,
thus:

Well proclaimed by the Exalted One
is the Norm,
seen in this very life,
a thing not involving time,
inviting one to come and see,
leading onward,
to be known for themselves
by the wise.

I will be blessed
with unwavering loyalty to the Order,
thus:

Walking righteously is the Exalted One's Order,
walking uprightly,
walking in the right way,
walking dutifully
is the Exalted One's Order of Disciples:
namely,
the four pairs of men,
the eight sorts of men.

That is the Exalted One's Order of Disciples.

Worthy of honour are they,
worthy of reverence,
worthy of offerings,
worthy of salutations with clasped hands, -
a field of merit unsurpassed for the world.

Also I will be blessed
with the virtues dear to the Ariyans,
virtues unbroken,
whole,
unspotted,
untarnished,
giving freedom,
praised by the wise:
virtues untainted (by craving or delusion),
which lead to concentration of the mind.'

That, Dīghāvu,
is how you must train yourself."

"As to these four limbs of stream-winning, lord,
which have been taught by the Exalted One,
all of those conditions
are to be found in me,
and I do live in accordance with them.

Lord, I am indeed blessed
with unwavering loyalty to the Buddha,
thus:

'He it is the Exalted One,
Arahant,
a fully Enlightened One,
perfect in knowledge and practice,
a Happy One,
world-knower,
unsurpassed charioteer
of men to be tamed,
teacher of devas and mankind,
a Buddha,
an Exalted One.'

I am indeed blessed
with unwavering loyalty to the Norm,
thus:

'Well proclaimed by the Exalted One
is the Norm,
seen in this very life,
a thing not involving time,
inviting one to come and see,
leading onward,
to be known for themselves
by the wise.'

I am indeed blessed
with unwavering loyalty to the Order,
thus:

'Walking righteously is the Exalted One's Order,
walking uprightly,
walking in the right way,
walking dutifully
is the Exalted One's Order of Disciples:
namely,
the four pairs of men,
the eight sorts of men.

That is the Exalted One's Order of Disciples.

Worthy of honour are they,
worthy of reverence,
worthy of offerings,
worthy of salutations with clasped hands, -
a field of merit unsurpassed for the world.'

I am indeed blessed
with the virtues dear to the Ariyans,
virtues unbroken,
whole,
unspotted,
untarnished,
giving freedom,
praised by the wise:
virtues untainted (by craving or delusion),
which lead to concentration of the mind."

"Therefore, Dīghāvu,
resting on these four limbs of stream-winning,
you should further practise
the six conditions
which are constituent parts of knowledge.^[3]

Herein, Dīghāvu, do you dwell
contemplating impermanence
in all the activities,^[4]
conscious of ill
in impermanence,
conscious of there being no self
in what is ill,
conscious of abandoning,
of dispassion,
of cessation.

That, Dīghāvu,
is how you must train yourself."

Lord, as to these same six conditions,
which are constituent parts of knowledge,
all of them are to be found in me.

I do live
contemplating impermanence
in all the activities,
conscious of ill
in impermanence,
conscious of there being no self
in what is ill,
conscious of abandoning,
of dispassion,
of cessation.

Then, lord, I have this thought:

'I would not have the housefather Jotika here
fall into dejection at my death.'"

"Don't you trouble about that, Dīghāvu, my lad!
(said his father).

Look you, Dīghāvu, my lad!

Attend closely to what the Exalted One is saying to you."

[301] So the Exalted One,
having thus admonished Dīghāvu the lay-disciple,
rose from his seat and went awray.

And not long after the Exalted One had gone
Dīghāvu the lay-disciple made an end.

Thereupon a number of monks
went to see the Exalted One,
and on coming to him
saluted him
and sat down at one side.

So seated
those monks said this to the Exalted One:

"Lord, that lay-disciple named Dīghāvu,
who was admonished in brief by the Exalted One,
has made an end.

What is his lot?

What is his destiny in the life to come?"^[5]

"A sage, monks, was Dīghāvu the lay-disciple.

He lived according to the Norm.^[6]

He did not harm me
by disputings about the Norm.

Dīghāvu, the lay-disciple, monks,
by wearing out the five fetters of the lower sort,
is reborn by spontaneous birth.^[7]

His destiny
is not to return from that world."

 

---

^[1] Dīghāvu-ḍīghāvu (as a king's title at JA. v, 120). Cf. Āvuso and āyusmanta. There are several princes of this name in the Jātakas.

^[2] For the stock greetings cf. S. iii, 120, etc., supra, p. 66.

^[3] Cha vijjā-bhāgiye dhamme.

^[4] Comy. sabbesu tebhūmaka-sañkhāresu.

^[5] Kā gati, ko abhisamparāyo. Cf. D. ii, 91; S. iv, 59, 63 (of Purina the clansman); also of Suppabuddha the leper at Ud. v, 3.

^[6] Dhammass'ānudhammaṇ paccapādi (fr. paṭipajjati)

^[7] Opapātika (without material cause), i.e., in a body of the matter of the super-sphere in which he had 'become.' He is therefore anāgāmin Cf. K.S. iii, 166, iv, 250 n. and add this instance to those of (text) 177 n.