{"collection":"Buddhism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/angu/an4-67.htm","path":"bud/angu/an4-67.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bud/angu/an4-67.htm","text":"\"Then it's certain, monks, that that monk didn't suffuse the four royal snake lineages with a mind of good will. For if he had suffused the four royal snake lineages with a mind of good will, he would not have died after having been bitten by a snake. Which four? The Virupakkha royal snake lineage,[1] the Erapatha royal snake lineage, the Chabyaputta royal snake lineage, the Dark Gotamaka royal snake lineage. It's certain that that monk didn't suffuse these four royal snake lineages with a mind of good will. For if he had suffused these four royal snake lineages with a mind of good will, he would not have died after having been bitten by a snake. I allow you, monks, to suffuse these four royal snake lineages with a mind of good will for the sake of self-protection, self-guarding, self-preservation.\"\nI have good will for the Virupakkhas,\ngood will for the Erapathas,\ngood will for the Chabyaputtas,\ngood will for the Dark Gotamakas.\nI have good will for footless beings,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 good will for two-footed beings,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 good will for four-footed beings,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 good will for many-footed beings.\nMay footless beings do me no harm.\nMay two-footed beings do me no harm.\nMay four-footed beings do me no harm.\nMay many-footed beings do me no harm.\nMay all creatures, \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 all breathing things,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 all beings\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -- each & every one -- \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 meet with good fortune.\nMay none of them come to any evil.\nLimitless is the Buddha,\nlimitless the Dhamma,\nlimitless the Sangha.\nThere is a limit to creeping things:\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 snakes, scorpions, centipedes, \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 spiders, lizards, & rats.\nI have made this safeguard, \nI have made this protection.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 May the beings depart.\nI pay homage \nto the Blessed One,\nhomage \nto the seven \nrightly self-awakened ones.[2]\n1. The Virupakkhas are the chiefs of the nagas, associated with the western quarter (see DN 20). The other royal lineages of snakes are nowhere else mentioned in the Pali Canon. The commentary to this discourse does not identify them. [Go back]\n2. The seven most recent Buddhas, including \"our\" Buddha, are mentioned in DN 14 & DN 32: Vipassi, Sikhi, Vessabhu, Kakusandha, Konagamana, Kassapa, and Gotama. It's noteworthy that the concept of the seven Buddhas is associated with protective charms. For example, the heart of the charm given in DN 32 is this:\nHomage to Vipassi, possessed of vision & splendor.\nHomage to Sikhi, sympathetic to all beings.\nHomage to Vessabhu, cleansed, austere.\nHomage to Kakusandha, crusher of Mara's host.\nHomage to Konagamana, the Brahmin who lived\nthe life perfected.\nHomage to Kassapa, entirely released.\nHomage to Angirasa [Gotama],\nsplendid son of the Sakyans,\nwho taught this Dhamma:\nthe dispelling of all stress & pain.\nThose unbound in the world,\nwho have seen things as they are,\ngreat ones of gentle speech,\nthoroughly mature,\neven they pay homage to Gotama,\nthe benefit of human & heavenly beings,\nconsummate in knowledge & conduct,\nthe great one, thoroughly mature.\nWe revere the Buddha Gotama,\nconsummate in knowledge & conduct.","title":"AN IV.67: Ahina Sutta","type":"page"}