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Sacred Texts: Buddhism

Sîgâlo-vâda-sutta (Dîgha Nik&acir...

Buddhist Articles CollectionChinese Buddhist SutrasNalanda Monastery

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The Ekashloka Shastra Shares 3 topics Â.tânâ.tiya-sutta (Dîgha Nikâya 32) Shares 3 topics Mahâ-samaya-sutta (Dîgha Nikâya 20) Shares 3 topics Index of Miscellaneous Short Buddhist Texts Shares 3 topics
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This is a Buddhist canonical text, specifically a sutta (discourse) from the Pali canon known as the Sigalovada Sutta (or Singalaka Sutta), belonging to the Digha Nikaya. The text presents the Buddha (Bhagava) encountering a young householder named Singalo performing a ritual of bowing to the six directions as instructed by his dying father, which the Buddha reframes: rather than literal cardinal directions, the six "quarters" represent key social relationships — parents, teachers, spouse and children, friends and relatives, servants, and religious figures. The core argument is a practical ethics for lay Buddhist life, covering the four polluting actions to avoid (killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying), the four corrupting motivations (self-will, anger, fear, folly), and six destructive habits including drinking, gambling, idleness, and keeping bad company. Particularly distinctive is the text's systematic, enumerated approach to social ethics: it provides concrete checklists for identifying false friends (flatterers, sycophants, the self-interested, spendthrifts) versus true friends (those loyal in adversity, who give honest counsel, and guard your welfare). The discourse is notably worldly and pragmatic in tone — unusually so for religious literature — offering household financial advice such as dividing one's wealth into four portions for friendships, sustenance, business, and savings.

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