Sacred Books of the Buddhists
Volume IV

Dīgha Nikāya

Dialogues of the Buddha
Part III

Sutta 31

Sigālovada (Siṅgālovāda) Suttantaɱ

The Sigāla Homily

Translated from the Pali by T.W. Rhys Davids and
C.A.F. Rhys Davids

Public Domain

Originally published under the patronage of
His Majesty King Chulālankarana,
King of Siam
by The Pali Text Society, Oxford

---

[168]

Introduction
to the
Sigālovāda Suttanta

This Suttanta has been translated into English by by Gogerly in Grimblot, Sept Suttas Palis (Paris, 1876), by Gogerly, J.R.A.S., Ceylon Branch, 1847, and by R.C. Childers in the Contemporary Review, London, 1876.^[1] The latter entitled it The Whole Duty of the Buddhist Layman.

Childers doubtless sought to draw the eye of the general reader by a title borrowed from a well-known English classic. At this time of day we should look, under a claim so comprehensive, for some statement of political duties, for allusions to the senate and the forum, to affairs national and international. It is not enough to reply that these questions of wider ethics had not arisen. The Saddhamma was promulgated, it is true, in the kingdoms of autocrats like Pasenadi of Kosala, and Bimbisāra and Ajātasattu of Magadha. But it was taught at the same time in the villages of the free clansmen of the Sākiyan, Koliyan, Licchavi and other republics. And among these the whole duty of the layman might well have included some corporate ideals of citizenship. There is certainly in one or two of the foregoing dialogues enough to show that Gotama could have uttered a discourse on such a theme. Either he judged that his listeners were not ready for it, or that the occasion did not call for it. Or it maybe that his chroniclers, cut off from political interests, failed to preserve or edit such sayings. But possibly ‘layman’ is susceptible, at least in our day, of a wider implication than gihī, house-man. And hence ‘whole duty’ were better modified as ‘whole domestic and social duty.’

Anyway, the Buddha’s doctrine of love and goodwill between man and man is here set forth in a domestic and social ethics with more comprehensive detail than elsewhere. In a Canon compiled by members of a religious order and largely concerned with the mental experiences and ideals of recluses, and with their outlook on the world, it is of great interest to find in it a Sutta entirely devoted to the outlook [169] and relations of the layman on and to his surroundings. And the discourse was felt to possess this interest in the long past by Buddhaghosa, or by the tradition he handed on, or by both. In this Sutta, he writes, ‘nothing in the duties of housemen is left unmentioned. This Suttanta is called the Vinaya of the Houseman. Hence in one who practises what he has been taught in it, growth is to be looked for, and not decay.’ And truly we may say even now of this Vinaya, or code of discipline, so fundamental are the human interests involved, so sane and wide is the wisdom that envisages them, that the utterances are as fresh and practically as binding to-day and here as they were then at Rājagaha. ‘Happy would have been the village or the clan on the banks of the Ganges, where the people were full of the kindly spirit of fellow-feeling, the noble spirit of justice which breathes through these naive and simple sayings.’^[2] Not less happy would be the village, or the family on the banks of the Thames to-day, of which this could be said.

The object of the young Sigāla’s open-air matins will seem unfamiliar to the readers who are more accustomed to the names of Vedic deities surviving in the allusions scattered throughout these dialogues — “to Brahmā and Prajāpati, Indra and Soma, Varuṇa and Isāna.^[3] He was probably no brahmin, or we might have found him tending Agni’s perpetual fire, or bathing his conscience clean in some stream of symbolical efficacy. The Commentary does not help us. The historical sense had not developed when the great commentators wrote, and they are incurious as to beliefs and rites that were possibly no longer alive at least in their own environment. It is a noteworthy instance of this that Buddhaghosa is silent regarding the deities just named, when he is commenting on the Tevijja-Suttanta, as well as on the string of tremendous attributes ascribed to Great Brahmā in the Kevaddha Suttanta that comes before it. We may picture him as we would a mediaeval Christian exegetist. In his milieu, Indian or Singhalese, a certain cosmology had long been traditional and orthodox. Outside it there were now other cults, pantheistic, polytheistic, atheistic. He doubtless held that discussion on the gods of these or older alien cults was as superfluous as discussion on Baal or Jupiter might have seemed to his Christian colleague. The only deva of whom, in the Kevaddha-Suttanta he has anything to say is Sakka (concerning whom the text is silent). And Sakka was just the quasi-human governor in the nearest, lowest heaven after earth.

[170] For Buddhaghosa the heavens were filled, not with gods in our sense of the word, but, at least as to those mentioned in that Sutta, with devas who are one in kind with ourselves, and who will in due time become once more men and women on earth, such as they have already been times without number, unless they, in their upward way, have attained to the Never-returner’s stage of advancement.

But we, more curious than the Commentators, may find evidence in Brahmanic literature that the quarters or regions of the external world (disā), or mighty spirits inhabiting them were invoked for protection generally, and especially in battle, for luck and against snakes, etc. In the Atharva-veda (III, 26, 27) are two of such rakshamantras (guarding runes) or parittas, as they are called by Buddhists (see the following Suttanta). Here we have the same six regions — viz., the four cardinal points, the fixed and the upward regions.

Ye gods that are in the Eastern quarter,
missiles by name,
of you there the arrows are fire!
Do ye be gracious to us,
do ye bless us!
To you be there homage!
To you there Hail! etc.^[4]

No. 27 identifies a god with each region, not the Four Kings of Buddhist cosmology^[5] but Agni, Indra, Varuṇa, Soma, Visnu, Brihaspati. To their jaws the invoker consigns his enemies. In the Satapatha Brāhmana^[6] five, and also seven disā’s as well as four are mentioned in rites. In the Grihya Sutras^[7] the four quarters are to be worshipped in connection with certain rites. And so much self-anointing or contact with water is enjoined that the lay celebrant may well have had both hair and garments wet as Sigāla had.

Hence it may well be that there was nothing eccentric or even unusual in these orisons of the filially-minded ‘householder’s son,’ as he is called. It is true that the Commentary speaks of his being asked, What are you doing? But the Master asks only, Why are you worshipping so the several quarters? If he was interrupted and shown a better channel for the sending forth of his votive gestures, this was because the hour had come when the Exalted One saw him. Saw him not then only, is the Comment, but at dawn already had the Teacher, surveying the world with the Buddha-vision, seen him so engaged and had decided that ‘this day will I [171] discourse to Sigāla on the layman’s Vinaya. That discourse will be of benefit to many folk. There must I go.’ And so he passed by him going to Rājagaha for alms. And when Sigāla saw him standing near, ‘the Exalted One, like a great lotus expanding at the touch of the rays of the sun, opened his mouth and spoke.’

The conversion from the invoking of animistically conceived nature-forces to that loving service to fellow-beings which is the truest worship of Deity, was the more easily effected because Sigāla’s own convictions were not involved. The Commentary expands his own words by relating that his parents were pious upāsakas (lay followers), but could not persuade their son to accompany them to hear the good Doctrine. Nay, he would say, ‘I’ll have naught to do with Samaṇas. Doing homage to them would make my back ache, my knees stiff. I should have to sit on the ground and soil and wear out my clothes. And when at the conversations with them, after so sitting, one gets to know them, one has to invite them and make them presents, and so one only loses by it.’ Finally the father on his deathbed bethought him of a pious ruse. If he, an upasaka’s son, were daily to practise disā-worship, the Master or his disciples would be sure to see him and teach him better things. And since deathbed wishes are to be remembered, the son remembered and obeyed.

Anukampanti. Empathy; Spa. Simpatico.

 — p.p.

The standpoint taken in this charming code of domestic and other relations, and the reciprocal duty resulting therefrom, calls here for just one remark. It will be noticed that in summing up the latter, the parable of the six-quarter-worship is maintained throughout. As good and loving gods take compassion upon (anukampanti) their sincere devotees, who wait upon them with offerings material and spiritual, so in all the six relations adduced the seniors are represented functioning as little gods, the juniors or subordinates as devotees. The one exception may be in the case of friends equal in age and other respects. The word expressing the duty towards the six seniors: paccupaṭṭhātabbā (the passive gerund) is rare,^[8] but its meaning is clearly that of attendance in tending. Etymologically it is to be re-as-sisted. Anukampanti is the type-word for the protecting tenderness of the stronger for the weaker, and means vibrating along-after. It thus in emotional force is even stronger than our compassion or sympathy. And because the pulsing emotion is other-regarding, a feeling-together what- [172] ever the loved one feels, it is justifiable to render it often by love, thus taking the smaller concept up into the greater. Gotama frequently claims to feel this godlike emotion:

Hitanukampī Sambuddho yad-aññaṅ anusāsati

Love and compassion doth th’Enlightened feel
Towards another when he teacheth him.^[9]

In the attitude of parent to child love is at bottom a tender compassion, a vibrant care to protect. So wife-love is largely motherly. Parent, wife, friend, master, teacher and religieux all rank, in Gotama’s social Vinaya, and for that matter in that of India generally, as little gods, so great is the responsibility attaching to these six positions, so fine is the opportunity for exercising compassion, tender care, protection. In the six reciprocal aspects there is an element of childhood. The child under loving compassionate protection feels safe and confident as does the believing worshipper. And ideally, such childlike security and confidence is the attitude of student to teacher, husband to wife, friend to friend, servant to master.

C.A.F.R.D.

---

[173]

Sigālovada Suttanta

The Sigāla Homily

[1][grim][nara][kell] Thus have I heard:

The Exalted One was once staying near Rājagaha
in the Bamboo Wood at the Squirrels Feeding ground.

Now at this time young Sigāla,^[10]
a householder’s son,
rising betimes,
went forth from Rājagaha,
and with wet hair and wet garments
and clasped hands uplifted,
paid worship to the several quarters of earth and sky: —
to the east, south, west, and north,
to the nadir and the zenith.

2. And the Exalted One
early that morning dressed himself,
took bowl and robe
and entered Rājagaha seeking alms.

Now he saw young Sigāla worshipping
and spoke to him thus:

“Why, young householder, do you,
rising betimes and leaving Rājagaha,
with wet hair and raiment,
worship the several quarters of earth and sky?”

“Sir, my father, when he was a-dying,
said to me:

‘Dear son, you should worship the quarters of earth and sky.’

So I, sir, honouring my father’s word,
reverencing,
revering,
holding it sacred,
rise betimes
and, leaving Rājagaha,
worship on this wise.”

“But in the religion of an Ariyan, young householder,
the six quarters should not be worshipped thus.”

“How then, sir, in the religion of an Ariyan,
should the six quarters be worshipped?

It would be an excellent thing, sir,
if the Exalted One would so teach me the doctrine
according to which, in the religion of an Ariyan,
the six quarters should be worshipped.”

§

[174] “Hear then, young householder,
give ear to my words and I will speak.”

“So be it, sir”, responded young Sigāla.

And the Exalted One said:

3. “Inasmuch, young householder,
as the Ariyan disciple has put away
the four vices in conduct,
inasmuch as he does no evil actions
from the four motives,^[11]
inasmuch as he does not pursue
the six channels for dissipating wealth,
he thus, avoiding these fourteen evil things,
is a coverer^[12] of the six quarters;
he has practised so as to conquer both worlds;
he tastes success^[13] both in this world and in the next.

At the dissolution of the body, after death,
he is reborn to a happy destiny in heaven.

What are the four vices of conduct
that he has put away?

[1] The destruction of life,
[2] the taking what is not given,
[3] licentiousness,
[4] and lying speech.

These are the four vices of conduct
that he has put away.”

---

Thus spake the Exalted One.

4. And when the Blessed One had thus spoken,
the Master spake yet again:

Slaughter of Life, theft, lying, adultery:
To these no word of praise the wise award.

■

5. “By which four motives
does he do no evil deed?

Evil deeds are done from motives of
[1] partiality,
[2] enmity,
[3] stupidity
[4] and fear.

But inasmuch as the Ariyan disciple
is not led away by these motives,
he through them does no evil deed.”

---

Thus spake the Exalted One.

6. And when the Blessed One had thus spoken, the Master spake yet again:

Whoso from partiality or hate
Or fear or dullness doth transgress the Norm,
All minishèd good name and fame become
As in the ebbing month the waning moon.

[175] Who ne’er from partiality or hate
Or fear or dullness doth transgress the Norm,
Perfect and full good name and fame become,
As in the brighter half the waxing moon.

■

7. “And which are the six channels
for dissipating wealth?

[1] The being addicted to intoxicating liquors,^[14]
[2] frequenting the streets at unseemly hours,
[3] haunting fairs,
[4] the being infatuated by gambling,
[5] associating with evil companions,
[6] the habit of idleness.

8. There are, young householder, these six dangers
through the being addicted to intoxicating liquors:
[1] actual loss of wealth,
[2] increase of quarrels,
[3] susceptibility to disease,
[4] loss of good character,
[5] indecent exposure,
[6] impaired intelligence.

9. Six, young householder, are the perils
from frequenting the streets at unseemly hours: —
[1] he himself is without guard or protection
[2] and so also are wife and children;
[3] so also is his property;
[4] he moreover becomes suspected
[as the doer] of [undiscovered] crimes,^[15]
[5] and false rumours fix on him,
[6] and many are the troubles he goes out to meet.

10. Six, young householder, are the perils
from the haunting of fairs: —
[1] [He is ever thinking] where is there dancing?
[2] where is there singing?
[3] where is there music?
[4] where is recitation?
[5] where are the cymbals?
[6] where the tam-tams?^[16]

11. Six, young householder, are the perils
for him who is infatuated with gambling:
[1] as winner he begets hatred;
[2] when beaten he mourns his lost wealth;^[17]
[3] his actual substance is wasted;
[4] his word has no weight in a court of law;
[5] he is despised by friends and officials;
[6] he is not sought after by those who would give or take [176] in marriage,
for they would say that a man who is a gambler
cannot afford to keep a wife.

12. Six, young householder, are the perils
from associating with evil companions:
[1] any gambler,
[2] any libertine,
[3] any tippler,
[4] any cheat,
[5] any swindler,
[6] any man of violence
is his friend and companion.

13. Six, young householder, are the perils
of the habit of idleness: —
[1] he says, ‘It is too cold’, and does no work;
[2] he says, ‘It is too hot’, and does no work;
[3] he says, ‘It is too early’, and does no work;
[4] he says, ‘It is too late’, and does no work;
[5] he says, ‘I am too hungry’ and does no work;
[6] he says, ‘I am too full’, and does no work.

And while all that he should do
remains undone,
new wealth he does not get,
and such wealth as he has dwindles away.”

Thus spake the Exalted One.

14. And when the Blessed One had thus spoken, the Master spake yet again: —

Some friends are bottle-comrades; some are they
Who [to your face] dear friend! dear friend! will say.
Who proves a comrade in your hour of need
Him may ye rightly call a friend indeed.

Sleeping when sun has risen, adultery,
Entanglement in strife, and doing harm,
Friendship with wicked men, hardness of heart
These causes six to ruin bring a man.

Is he of evil men comrade and friend,
Doth he in evil ways order his life,
Both from this world and from the world to come
To woeful ruin such a man doth fall.

Dicing and women, drink, the dance and song,
Sleeping by day, prowling around at night^[18]
Friendship with wicked men, hardness of heart: —
These causes six to ruin bring a man.

Playing with dice, drinking strong drink, he goes
To women dear as life to other men,
Following the baser, not th’enlightened minds,
He wanes as in the darker half the moon.

[177] The tippler of strong drink, poor, destitute,
Athirst while drinking, haunter of the bar,
As stone in water so he sinks in debt;
Swift will he make his folk without a name.

One who by habit in the day doth sleep,
Who looks upon the night as time to arise,^[19]
One who is ever wanton, filled with wine,
He is not fit to lead a household life.

Too cold! too hot I too late I such is the cry.
And so past men who shake off work that waits
The opportunities for good pass by.
But he who reckons cold and heat as less
Than straws, doing his duties as a man.
He nowise falls away from happiness.”^[20]

■

15. “Four, O young householder, are they
who should be reckoned as foes
in the likeness of friends;
to wit,
[1] a rapacious person,
[2] the man of words not deeds,
[3] the flatterer,
[4] the fellow-waster.

16. Of these the first is
on four grounds
to be reckoned as a foe
in the likeness of a friend: —
[1] he is rapacious;
[2] he gives little and asks much;
[3] he does his duty out of fear;
[4] he pursues his own interests.

17. On four grounds
the man of words, not deeds,
is to be reckoned as a foe
in the likeness of a friend: —
[1] he makes friendly profession as regards the past;^[21]
[2] he makes friendly profession as regards the future;
[3] he tries to gain your favour by empty sayings;
[4] when the opportunity for service has arisen
he avows his disability.^[22]

[178] 18. On four grounds
the flatterer is to be reckoned
as a foe in the likeness of a friend: —
[1] he both consents to do wrong,^[23]
[2] and dissents from doing right;^[24]
[3] he praises you to your face;
[4] he speaks ill of you to others.

19. On four grounds
the fellow-waster companion is to be reckoned
as a foe in the likeness of a friend: —
[1] he is your companion
when you indulge in strong drinks;
[1] he is your companion
when you frequent the streets at untimely hours;
[1] he is your companion
when you haunt shows and fairs;
[1] he is your companion
when you are infatuated with gambling.”

---

Thus spake the Exalted One.

And when the Blessed One had thus spoken,
the Master spake yet again: —

The friend who’s ever seeking what to take,
The friend whose words are other than his deeds,
The friend who flatters, pleasing you withal.
The boon companion down the errant ways: —
These four are Foes. Thus having recognized.
Let the wise man avoid them from afar
As they were path of peril and of dread.^[25]

■

21. “Four, O young householder,
are the friends who should be reckoned
as sound at heart^[26]: —
[1] the helper;
[2] the friend who is the same in happiness and adversity;
[3] the friend of good counsel;
[4] the friend who sympathizes.

22. On four grounds
the friend who is a helper
is to be reckoned as sound at heart: —
[1] he guards you when [179] you are off your guard,^[27]
[2] he guards your property when you are off your guard;
[3] he is a refuge to you when you are afraid;
[4] when you have tasks to perform
he provides a double supply [of what you may need].^[28]

23. On four grounds
the friend who is the same
in happiness and adversity
is to be reckoned as sound of heart: —
[1] he tells you his secrets;
[2] he keeps secret your secrets;
[3] in your troubles he does not forsake you;
[4] he lays down even his life for your sake.

24. On four grounds
the friend who declares what you need to do
is to be reckoned as sound of heart: —
[1] he restrains you from doing wrong;
[2] he enjoins you to [do what is] right;
[3] he informs you of what you had not heard before;
[4] he reveals to you the way to heaven.

25. On four grounds
the friend who sympathizes
is to be reckoned as sound at heart: —
[1] he does not rejoice over your misfortunes;
[2] he rejoices over your prosperity;
[3] he restrains anyone who is speaking ill of you;
[4] he commends anyone who is praising you.”

---

Thus spake the Exalted One.

26. And when the Blessed One had thus spoken,
the Master spake yet again: —

The friend who is a helpmate, and the friend
Of bright days and of dark, and he who shows
What ‘t is you need, and he who throbs for you
With sympathy^[29]: — these four the wise should know
As friends, and should devote himself to them
As mother to her own, her bosom’s child.

Whoso is virtuous and intelligent,
Shines like a fire that blazes [on the hill].^[30]
[180] To him amassing wealth, like roving bee
Its honey gathering [and hurting naught],^[31]
Riches mount up as ant-heap growing high.
When the good layman wealth has so amassed
Able is he to benefit his clan.
In portions four let him divide that wealth.
So binds he to himself life’s friendly things.^[32]

One portion let hint spend and taste the fruit.^[33]
His business to conduct let him take two.
And portion four let him reserve and hoard;
So there’11 be wherewithal in times of need.

■

27. “And how, O young householder,
does the Ariyan disciple
protect the six quarters?

The following should be looked upon
as the six quarters: —
[1] parents as the east,^[34]
[2] teachers as the south,
[3] wife and children as the west,
[4] friends and companions as the north,
[5] servants and work people as the nadir,
[6] religious teachers and brahmins as the zenith.

28. In five ways
a child should minister to his parents
as the eastern quarter: —

[1] ‘Once supported by them
I will now be their support;
[2] I will perform duties incumbent on them;
[3-4] I will keep up the lineage and tradition^[35] of my family;
[5] I will make myself worthy of my heritage.

[l8l] In five ways
parents thus ministered to,
as the eastern quarter,
by their child,
show their love^[36] for him: —
[1] they restrain him from vice,
[2] they exhort him to virtue,
[3] they train him to a profession,^[37]
[4] they contract a suitable marriage for him,
[5] and in due time^[38] they hand over his inheritance.

Thus is this eastern quarter protected by him
and made safe and secure.

29. In five ways
should pupils minister to their teachers
as the southern quarter:
[1] by rising (from their seat, in salutation)
[2] by waiting upon them,
[3] by eagerness to learn,^[39]
[4] by personal service,
[5] and by attention when receiving their teaching.

And in five ways
do teachers, thus ministered to
as the southern quarter by their pupils,
love their pupil: —
[1] they train him in that wherein he has been well trained;
[2] they make him hold fast
that which is well held;
[3] they thoroughly instruct him in the lore of every art;
[4] they speak well of him among his friends and companions.
[5] they provide for his safety in every quarter.

Thus is this southern quarter
protected by him
and made safe and secure.

30. In five ways
should a wife as western quarter
be ministered to by her husband: —
[1] by [182] respect,
[2] by courtesy,
[3] by faithfulness,
[4] by handing over authority to her,
[5] by providing her with adornment.

In these five ways does the wife,
ministered to by her husband
as the western quarter,
love him: —
[1] her duties are well performed,
[2] by hospitality to the kin of both,
[3] by faithfulness,
[4] by watching over the goods he brings,
[5] and by skill and industry in discharging all her business.

Thus is this western quarter
protected by him
and made safe and secure.

31. In five ways
should a clansman minister to his friends and familiars
as the northern quarter: —
[1] by generosity,
[2] courtesy
[3] and benevolence,
[4] by treating them as he treats himself,
[5] and by being as good as his word.

In these five ways
thus ministered to as the northern quarter,
his friends and familiars love him: —
[1] they protect him when he is off his guard,^[40]
[2] and on such occasions guard his property;
[3] they become a refuge in danger,
[4] they do not forsake him in his troubles,
[5] and they show consideration for his family.

Thus is the northern quarter
by him protected
and made safe and secure.

32. In five ways
does an Ariyan master^[41]
minister to his servants and employees
as the nadir: —
[1] by assigning them work according to their strength;
[2] by supplying them with food and wages;
[3] by tending them in sickness;
[4] by sharing with them unusual delicacies;
[5] by granting leave at times.^[42]

In these ways
ministered to by their master,
servants and employees love their master in five ways; —
[1] they rise before him,
[2] they lie down to rest after him;
[3] they are content with what is given to them;
[4] they do [183] their work well;
[5] and they carry about his praise and good fame.

Thus is the nadir
by him protected and made safe and secure.

33. In five ways should the clansman
minister to recluses and brahmins as the zenith: —
[1] by affection in act and [2] speech and [3] mind;
[4] by keeping open house to them,
[5] by supplying their temporal needs.

Thus ministered to as the zenith,
recluses and brahmins show their love for the clansman
in six ways: —
[1] they restrain him from evil,
[2] they exhort him to good,
[3] they love him with kindly thoughts;
[4] they teach him what he had not heard,
[5] they correct and purify what he has heard,
[6] they reveal to him the way to heaven.

Thus by him is the zenith
protected and made safe and secure.”

---

Thus spake the Exalted One.

And when the Blessed One had so spoken,
the Master said yet further: —

Mother and father are the Eastern view,
And teachers are the quarters of the South.
And wife and children are the Western view,
And friends and kin the quarter to the North;
Servants and working folk the nadir are,
And overhead the brahmin and recluse.
These quarters should be worshipped by the man
Who fitly ranks as houseman in his clan.

He that is wise, expert in virtue’s ways,
Gentle and in this worship eloquent,^[43]
Humble and docile, he may honour win.
Active in rising, foe to laziness,
Unshaken in adversities, his life
Flawless, sagacious, he may honour win.
If he have winning ways,^[44] and maketh friends,
[184] Makes welcome with kind words and generous heart,^[45]
And can he give sage counsels and advice,
And guide his fellows, he may honour win.

The giving hand, the kindly speech, the life
Of service, impartiality to one
As to another, as the case demands: —
These be the things that make the world go round^[46]
As linchpin serves the rolling of the car.
And if these things be not, no mother reaps
The honour and respect her child should pay,
Nor doth the father win them through the child.
And since the wise rightly appraise these things,^[47]
They win to eminence and earn mens praise.

■

When the Exalted One had thus spoken
Sigāla the young householder said this:

“Beautiful, lord, beautiful!

As if one should set up again
that which had been overthrown,
or reveal that which had been hidden,
or should disclose the road
to one that was astray,
or should carry a lamp into darkness, saying:
‘They that have eyes will see!’

Even so hath the Truth been manifested by the Exalted One in many ways.

And I, even I, do go to him as my refuge,
and to the Truth
and to the Order.

May the Exalted One receive me
as his lay-disciple,
as one who has taken his refuge in him
from this day forth
as long as life endures.”

Here ends the Sigālovāda Suttanta.

---

^[1] Cf. the abstract in Rhys Davids’s Buddhism, London, 1907.

^[2] Rhys Davids (op. cit.), p. 148.

^[3] Cf. I, 310.

^[4] Whitney-Lanman translation, Harvard O.S. 7, p. 131 f.

^[5] Cf. above II, 242, 259; next Suttanta.

^[6] S.B.E. XII, 382; XLIII, 277, 314.

^[7] S.B.E. XXIX, 320, cf. 232; XXX, 171, 194, 213, 278. These Sutras contain the rules of Vedic domestic ceremonies. Grihya means houseness.

^[8] Cf. above II, 84 f. rendered ‘persevere in kindness towards.’

^[9] Kindred Sayings I, 139; cf. 264.

^[10] The MSS. call him Singālo, Sigālo (both variants of the Pali for jackal) and Singālako, which has merely the affix of agency, of the adjective (cf. Greek κοϛ Latin -cus) or of the diminutive. The Singhalese MSS. mostly read Sigāla.

^[11] Ṭhānāni.

^[12] I.e, includes, embraces.

^[13] Āraddho.

^[14] The Comy., distinguishes five kinds of surā, and says that meraya is āsava. So also the old Comy., at Vin. IV. 110.

^[15] So the Comy.. : — crimes committed by some thief or adulterer are fathered on him. See Iti-vuttaka, § 76.

^[16] Cf. on shows and these last two terms, symbolical of performances, acrobatic, etc. Dialogues I, 7 f.

^[17] Read vittaṅ. Cf. S. I. 123. Kindred Sayings, p. 153, n. 3

^[18] Lit. unseasonably.

^[19] B. paraphrases by rattiṅ anuṭṭhāna-silena: by habit rises not at night.

^[20] These last six lines are identical (with one or two slight variations) with verses ascribed in Psalms of the Brethren, No. 174, to Mātanga.

^[21] Such as a supply of rice was put by for you; we sat watching the road, but you did not come, and now it is gone bad. In the next case a present of corn is spoken of in the future. Comy..

^[22] Such as, you want a cart, and his has a wheel off, or a broken axle. Comy..

^[23] With respect to taking life, etc., to whatever you propose to do, he consents saying: Good, friend, let’s do it. With respect to right acts, the same method applies. Comy..

^[24] The MSS. are equally divided between consents and dissents (anujānāti, nānujānāti). Childers translates as from anujānāti.

^[25] These verses are quoted at Jātaka II, 390, where Dr. Rouse has a charming version.

^[26] Suhadā.

^[27] If he sees you fallen down anywhere in the village after drinking spirits, he sits down by you till you wake, lest your cloak should be stolen. Comy..

^[28] If you go to him burdened with a commission involving outlay, he presses you to accept double what you will require to spend. Comy..

^[29] The literal sense of anu-kamp-ako is one who vibrates because of. See p. 171 f.

^[30] On a hill in the night. Comy..

^[31] Thus Buddhaghosa prettily amplifies, taking the idea perhaps from Dhammapada, ver. 49.

^[32] Mittāni. Cf. S. I, 214. The Comy., explains by mitte, friends.

^[33] Which portion is to serve for doing good? asks B. The first; with it he can both give gifts to religienx and the destitute, and can pay wages to weavers, bathmen, etc. [for personal services as distinct from trade dealings].

^[34] The symbolism is deliberately chosen: as the day in the East, so life begins with parents’ care; teachers’ fees and the South are the same word: dakkhiṇa; domestic cares follow when the youth becomes man, as the West holds the later day-light; North is ‘beyond,’ so by help of friends, etc., he gets beyond troubles.

^[35] Kula-vaṅsa implies both. B. explains it as not dissipating property, restoring, if need be, the family honour and integrity, and maintaining gifts to religienx.

^[36] Anukampanti, and so below. See p. 179, n. 1.

^[37] To conveyancing, or as an accountant, etc., according to the family tradition. Comy..

^[38] Both on suitable occasions and at death.

^[39] Childers has obedience. This is quite wrong. Considering the enormous importance attached in the autocratic states and religious Orders of Europe to obedience, it is most worthy of notice that obedience does not occur in Buddhist ethics. It is not mentioned in any one of the 227 rules of the Buddhist Order. It does not occur in any one of the clauses of this summary of the ethics of the Buddhist layman, and it does not enter into any one of the divisions of the Eightfold Path nor of the thirty-seven constituent qualities of Arahantship. Hence no member of the Buddhist order takes any vow of obedience; and the vows of a Buddhist layman ignore it. Has this been one of the reasons for the success of Buddhism? It looked beyond obedience.

^[40] See above § 22.

Metathesis: transposition of sounds or syllables in a word

 — p.p.

^[41] Ayirakena or ayyirakena. B. is silent as to this unusual term. Cf. Jāt. II, 349. On the metathesis cf. Ed. Müller, Pali Gram., p. 49.

^[42] I.e., constant relaxation so that they need not work all day, and special leave with extra food and adornment for festivals, etc. Comy..

^[43] B. thus interprets paṭibhānavā in this connexion, viz., on the occasion of worshipping the quarters.

^[44] I.e., the four bases of popularity, says B. These are liberality, affability, beneficence, impartiality (cf. Childers s.v., saṅgaha, above, p. 145).

^[45] = A pada in S. I, 34. There and here, with different illustrations, B. explains vādaññu, makes welcome. …

^[46] So B.: given these qualities the world goes round. Cf. the French adage: C’est l’amour, qui fait le monde a la ronde.

^[47] Samavekkhanti.