SN 1.54PTS (1st ed) SN 1.371 min read

Grounds

Vatthusutta

What is it that sustains various beings? Unusually, this verse lacks a “Dhamma” counterpart.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 1.54Linked Discourses 1.54
0.26. Jarāvagga6. Old Age

0.3VatthusuttaGrounds

1.1“Kiṁsu vatthu manussānaṁ,“What is the site for human beings?1.2kiṁsūdha paramo sakhā;What is the best comrade here?1.3Kiṁsu bhūtā upajīvanti,By what do the creatures who live off the earth1.4ye pāṇā pathavissitā”ti.sustain their life?”
2.1“Puttā vatthu manussānaṁ,“Children are the site for human beings.2.2bhariyā ca paramo sakhā;A wife is the best comrade.¹2.3Vuṭṭhiṁ bhūtā upajīvanti,The creatures who live off the earth2.4ye pāṇā pathavissitā”ti.sustain their life by rain.”²

Translator’s notes

See AN 7.63:10.1.
↩ sn1.54:2.2
For eulogies of rain, see the related verse at SN 1.80:4.1, and also SN 1.13:3.4, SN 1.74:2.2.
↩ sn1.54:2.4