{"collection":"Buddhism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/sam/sn3-1.htm","path":"bud/sam/sn3-1.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bud/sam/sn3-1.htm","text":"\"If, great king, one speaking rightly could say of anyone, 'He has awakened to the unexcelled right self-awakening,' one could rightly say that of me. For I, great king, have awakened to the unexcelled right self-awakening.\"\n\"But Master Gotama, those priests & contemplatives each with his group, each with his community, each the teacher of his group, an honored leader, well-regarded by people at large -- i.e., Purana Kassapa, Makkhali Gosala, Ajita Kesakambalin, Pakudha Kaccayana, Sa\u00f1jaya Belatthitaputta, and the Nigantha Nathaputta: even they, when I asked them whether they claimed to have awakened to the unexcelled right self-awakening, didn't make that claim. So who is Master Gotama to do so when he is still young & newly gone-forth?\"\n\"There are these four things, great king, that shouldn't be despised & disparaged for being young. Which four? A noble warrior, great king, shouldn't be despised & disparaged for being young. A snake...A fire...And a monk shouldn't be despised & disparaged for being young. These are the four things that shouldn't be despised & disparaged for being young.\"\nThat is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-Gone, the Teacher, said further:\nYou shouldn't look down on\n-- for being young --\na noble warrior of consummate birth,\na high-born prince of great status.\nA person shouldn't disparage him.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For it's possible\nthat this lord of human beings,\nthis noble warrior,\nwill gain the throne\nand, angered at that disparagement,\ncome down harshly\nwith his royal might.\nSo, guarding your life,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 avoid him.\nYou shouldn't look down on\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -- for being young -- \na serpent you meet\nin village or wilderness:\nA person shouldn't disparage it.\nAs that potent snake slithers along\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 with vibrant colors,\nit may someday burn the fool,\nwhether woman or man.\nSo, guarding your life,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 avoid it.\nYou shouldn't look down on\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -- for being young -- \na blaze that feeds on many things,\na flame with its blackened trail:\nA person shouldn't disparage it.\nFor if it gains sustenance,\nbecoming a great mass of flame,\nit may someday burn the fool,\nwhether woman or man.\nSo, guarding your life,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 avoid it.\nWhen a fire burns down a forest\n-- that flame with its blackened trail -- \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the shoots there\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 take birth once more\nwith the passage of days & nights.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But if a monk,\nhis virtue consummate,\nburns you with his potency,[1]\nyou won't acquire sons or cattle\nnor will your heirs enjoy wealth.\nThey become \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 barren,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 heir-less,\nlike palm tree stumps.\nSo a person who's wise,\nout of regard for his own good,\nshould always show due respect\nfor \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a serpent,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a fire,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a noble warrior with high status,\n& \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a monk, his virtue consummate.\n1. The \"potency\" of a virtuous monk is his unwillingness to seek redress when he has been treated wrongly. The bad kamma of having mistreated a monk pure in his virtue is what returns to burn the person who did it. [Go back]","title":"SN III.1: Dahara Sutta","type":"page"}