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Saṁyutta Nikāya — The Linked Discourses

Vol 1:
Verses
SN1-11
Vol 2:
Causation
SN12-21
Vol 3:
Aggregates
SN22-34
Vol 4:
Sense Bases
SN35-44
Vol 5:
Great Book
SN45-56

SN17: Linked Discourses on Possessions, Honour, and Popularity

III. The Fourth Chapter — SN17.35: Shortly After He Left

1At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain, not long after Devadatta had left. There the Buddha spoke to the mendicants about Devadatta:

“Possessions, honor, and popularity came to Devadatta for his own ruin and downfall.


2–4It’s like a banana tree … or a bamboo … or a reed, all of which bear fruit to their own ruin and downfall …


5It’s like a mule, which becomes pregnant to its own ruin and downfall. In the same way, possessions, honor, and popularity came to Devadatta for his own ruin and downfall.

So brutal are possessions, honor, and popularity. …” That’s how you should train.”


6That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:

7“The banana tree is destroyed by its own fruit,
as are the bamboo and the reed.
Honor destroys a sinner,
as pregnancy destroys a mule.”

1Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe vihārati gijjhakūṭe pabbate acirapakkante devadatte. Tatra kho bhagavā devadattaṁ ārabbha bhikkhū āmantesi:

"attavadhāya, bhikkhave, devadattassa lābhasakkārasiloko udapādi, parābhavāya devadattassa lābhasakkārasiloko udapādi.


2Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, kadalī attavadhāya phalaṁ deti, parābhavāya phalaṁ deti; evameva kho, bhikkhave, attavadhāya devadattassa lābhasakkārasiloko udapādi, parābhavāya devadattassa lābhasakkārasiloko udapādi.

3Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, veḷu attavadhāya phalaṁ deti, parābhavāya phalaṁ deti; evameva kho, bhikkhave, attavadhāya devadattassa lābhasakkārasiloko udapādi, parābhavāya devadattassa lābhasakkārasiloko udapādi.

4Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, naḷo attavadhāya phalaṁ deti, parābhavāya phalaṁ deti; evameva kho, bhikkhave, attavadhāya devadattassa lābhasakkārasiloko udapādi, parābhavāya devadattassa lābhasakkārasiloko udapādi.


5Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, assatarī attavadhāya gabbhaṁ gaṇhāti, parābhavāya gabbhaṁ gaṇhāti; evameva kho, bhikkhave, attavadhāya devadattassa lābhasakkārasiloko udapādi, parābhavāya devadattassa lābhasakkārasiloko udapādi.

Evaṁ dāruṇo kho, bhikkhave, lābhasakkārasiloko. Evañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabban"ti.


6Idamavoca bhagavā. Idaṁ vatvāna sugato athāparaṁ etadavoca satthā: 

7"Phalaṁ ve kadaliṁ hanti,
phalaṁ veḷuṁ phalaṁ naḷaṁ;
Sakkāro kāpurisaṁ hanti,
gabbho assatariṁ yathā"ti.

Pañcamaṁ.