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1. Millet, cingula beans and peas, edible leaves
and roots, the fruit of any creeper; the virtuous who eat
these, obtained justly, do not tell lies out of sensuous
delight.
2. O Kassapa, you who eat any food given by
others, which is well-prepared, nicely arranged, pure and
appealing; he who enjoys such food made with rice, eats
[rotting flesh that emits a] stench.
3. O brahmin, although you say that the charge
of stench does not apply to you whilst eating rice with
well-prepared fowl, yet I inquire the meaning of this from
you: of what kind is your stench?
4. The Buddha Kassapa: Taking life,
beating, wounding, binding, stealing, lying, deceiving,
worthless knowledge, adultery; this is stench. Not the eating
of meat.
5. In this world those individuals who are
unrestrained in sensual pleasures, who are greedy for sweet
things, who are associated with impure actions, who are of
nihilistic views, [which are] crooked and difficult to follow,
this is stench. Not the eating of meat.
6. In this world those who are rude, arrogant,
backbiting, treacherous, unkind, excessively egoistic,
miserly, and do not give anything to anybody; this is stench.
Not the eating of meat.
7. Anger, pride, obstinacy, antagonism, deceit,
envy, boasting, excessive egoism, association with the
immoral; this is stench. Not the eating of meat.
8. Those who are of bad morals, refuse to pay
their debts, slanderous, deceitful in their dealings,
pretentious, those who in this world, being the vilest of men,
commit such wrong things; this is stench. Not the eating of
meat.
9. Those persons who, in this world, are
uncontrolled towards living beings, who are bent on injuring
others, having taken their belongings; immoral, cruel, harsh,
disrespectful; this is stench. Not the eating of
meat.
10. Those who attack these living beings either
out of greed or of hostility and are always bent upon evil, go
to darkness after death, and fall headlong into woeful states;
this is stench. Not the eating of meat.
11. Abstaining from fish and meat, nakedness,
shaving of the head, matted hair, smearing with ashes, wearing
rough deerskins, attending the sacrificial fire; none of the
various penances in the world performed for unhealthy ends,
neither incantations, oblations, sacrifices nor seasonal
observances, purify a person who has not overcome his
doubts.
12. He who lives with his senses guarded and
conquered and is established in the Dhamma, delights in
uprightness and gentleness; who has gone beyond attachments
and has overcome all sorrows; that wise man does not cling to
what is seen and heard.
13. Thus the Buddha Kassapa preached this again
and again. That ascetic who was well-versed in the [Vedic]
hymns understood it. The sage who is free from defilements,
non-attached and difficult to follow, uttered this [discourse]
in beautiful stanzas.
14. Thus having listened to the well-spoken
words of the Buddha who is free from defilements, which end
all misery, he worshipped the Tathāgāta with humble mind and
requested to be admitted into the Order at that very place.
(Sutta Nipāta, Hammalawa Saddhātissa, Curzon
Press) |
Commentary to the Āmagandha Sutta
Where was the Āmagandha Sutta taught? By whom was it
taught, and to whom? The commentary to a Sutta often adds
important information about the context in which the teaching
was given. Out of context, some discourses can easily be
misunderstood.
The commentary traces the origin of this sutta to a
period before the appearance of Buddha Gotama. A Brahmin
named Āmagandha led the life of a hermit along with five
hundred disciples. They lived in the Himalayan foot hills
where they had a hermitage and lived on forest fruits and
roots. They abstained completely from fish and meat. Due to a
deficiency of salt in their diet, all of the hermits suffered
from jaundice. For this reason they went to a border village
to beg for salt and vinegar. Being warmly invited by the
villagers who respectfully provided them with almsfood, they
spent four months a year in dwellings built by the
villagers.
Then the Buddha arose in the world and after setting
in motion the Wheel of the Dhamma, he arrived at Sāvatthi
after some years. While residing there, the Buddha saw these
hermits in his divine eye and realised that they had the
necessary perfections for the attainment of Arahantship.
Accordingly, the Buddha went to the village where they stayed
for four months of the year, and taught the Dhamma to the
villagers. The villagers became Stream-winners,
Once-returners, and Non-returners, while a few of them entered
the Sangha and became Arahants.
When the hermits led by Āmagandha came to the village
to seek salt as usual, they noticed a conspicuous change in
the behaviour of the villagers. The villagers no longer
greeted them with the great excitement that they had shown
previously. Amāgandha asked whether there was a famine, or if
they had been punished by the king, or whether there was some
fault in the conduct of the hermits to explain the
transformation of the village. The villagers told him about
the arrival of the Buddha, whose teaching of the Dhamma they
had heard, and from which they had all benefited immensely.
When the hermit Āmagandha heard the word “Buddha,” he asked,
“Did you say ‘Buddha’, householder? Even this sound is rare to
hear in this world.” When the householder confirmed it he was
pleased and asked further, “Does the Buddha eat stench?” The
householder asked, “What is this stench?” Āmagandha replied,
“Fish and meat is called stench.” The householder replied,
“Venerable sir, the Buddha does eat fish and meat.”
Disappointed at this, Āmagandha resolved to go and see the
Buddha and ask him about it himself.
Having asked where the Buddha stayed, Āmagandha set
off hastily towards the Jetavana grove at Sāvatthī,
accompanied by the five hundred hermits. When the hermits
arrived, the Buddha was seated in the fourfold assembly to
teach the Dhamma. After mutual exchange of friendly greetings,
the hermit Āmagandha asked the Buddha if he avoided eating
fish and meat, which he considered to be stench. The Buddha
replied that fish and meat should not be considered as stench.
On the other hand, all kinds of mental defilements and
unwholesome deeds should be regarded as stench. To convince
Āmagandha completely, the Buddha recollected the same dialogue
between himself and the Buddha Kassapa.
At that time the Bodhisatta had been a Brahmin by the
name of Tissa who had asked the same question. Āmagandha’s
pride was humbled, and he entered the Sangha along with his
five hundred disciples, who all attained
Arahantship. |
