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SN 1.79PTS (1st ed) SN 1.441 min read

Provisions

Pātheyyasutta

A series of questions on diverse topics.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 1.79Linked Discourses 1.79
  • 0.28. Chetvāvagga8. Slain

0.3PātheyyasuttaProvisions

1.1“Kiṁsu bandhati pātheyyaṁ,“What binds the provisions for a journey?11.2kiṁsu bhogānamāsayo;What’s the vault of wealth?21.3Kiṁsu naraṁ parikassati,What drags a person around?1.4kiṁsu lokasmi dujjahaṁ;What in the world is hard to give up?1.5Kismiṁ baddhā puthū sattā,With what are ordinary beings bound,1.6pāsena sakuṇī yathā”ti.like birds in a snare?”

2.1“Saddhā bandhati pātheyyaṁ,“Faith binds the provisions for a journey.32.2sirī bhogānamāsayo;Majesty is the vault of wealth.42.3Icchā naraṁ parikassati,Desire drags a person around.2.4icchā lokasmi dujjahā;Desire in the world is hard to give up.2.5Icchābaddhā puthū sattā,Ordinary beings are bound by desire,2.6pāsena sakuṇī yathā”ti.like birds in a snare.”

Translator’s notes

  1. Pātheyya is equivalent to the archaic Latinate viatica, “provisions for a journey”. Both this question and the next have the literal sense of safeguarding one’s possessions.

    ↩ sn1.79:1.1

  2. Āsaya here has the sense of a place of safety (see Manu 7.160), which for wealth is a “vault”.

    ↩ sn1.79:1.2

  3. The Buddha elevates the meaning, since faith holds all the factors of the path together.

    ↩ sn1.79:2.1

  4. Sirī (“majesty”) is explained by the commentary is issariya, “sovereignty”. This suggests that the sense is that wealth can only be safeguarded by power. Alternatively, sirī can also mean “luck” or “Lady Luck”, suggesting that the keeping of wealth is just a matter of luck.

    ↩ sn1.79:2.2