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SN 11.1PTS (1st ed) SN 1.2162 min read

With Suvīra

Suvīrasutta

When Sakka, the Lord of Gods, tries to organize a counterattack against the demons, he is frustrated by his lazy general Suvīra. Sakka asks Suvīra how one might get what one wants without effort; but Suvīra apparently believes Sakka can grant any wish he wants. The Buddha emphasizes that if effort is valuable among the gods, how much more so for mendicants.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 11.1Linked Discourses 11.1
  • 0.21. PaṭhamavaggaChapter One

0.3SuvīrasuttaWith Suvīra

1.1Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.1.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.1.3Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:There the Buddha addressed the mendicants,1.4“bhikkhavo”ti.“Mendicants!”

1.5“Bhadante”ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ.“Venerable sir,” they replied.1.6Bhagavā etadavoca:The Buddha said this:

2.1“Bhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, asurā deve abhiyaṁsu.“Once upon a time, mendicants, the titans marched against the gods.1

2.2Atha kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo suvīraṁ devaputtaṁ āmantesi:Then Sakka, lord of gods, addressed the godling Suvīra,22.3‘ete, tāta suvīra, asurā deve abhiyanti.‘Dear Suvīra, the titans march against the gods!2.4Gaccha, tāta suvīra, asure paccuyyāhī’ti.Go, and march against the titans!’

2.5‘Evaṁ, bhaddantavā’ti kho, bhikkhave, suvīro devaputto sakkassa devānamindassa paṭissutvā pamādaṁ āpādesi.‘Yes, lord,’ replied Suvīra. But he fell into negligence.3

2.6Dutiyampi kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo suvīraṁ devaputtaṁ āmantesi:For a second time Sakka addressed Suvīra,2.7‘ete, tāta suvīra, asurā deve abhiyanti.‘Dear Suvīra, the titans march against the gods!2.8Gaccha, tāta suvīra, asure paccuyyāhī’ti.Go, and march against the titans!’

2.9‘Evaṁ, bhaddantavā’ti kho, bhikkhave, suvīro devaputto sakkassa devānamindassa paṭissutvā dutiyampi pamādaṁ āpādesi.‘Yes, lord,’ replied Suvīra. But for a second time he fell into negligence.

2.10Tatiyampi kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo suvīraṁ devaputtaṁ āmantesi:For a third time Sakka addressed Suvīra,2.11‘ete, tāta suvīra, asurā deve abhiyanti.‘Dear Suvīra, the titans march against the gods!2.12Gaccha, tāta suvīra, asure paccuyyāhī’ti.Go, and march against the titans!’

2.13‘Evaṁ, bhaddantavā’ti kho, bhikkhave, suvīro devaputto sakkassa devānamindassa paṭissutvā tatiyampi pamādaṁ āpādesi.‘Yes, lord,’ replied Suvīra. But for a third time he fell into negligence.

2.14Atha kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo suvīraṁ devaputtaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:Then Sakka addressed the godling Suvīra in verse:

3.1‘Anuṭṭhahaṁ avāyāmaṁ,‘Suvīra, go to that place3.2sukhaṁ yatrādhigacchati;where you can achieve happiness3.3Suvīra tattha gacchāhi,without working for it or trying hard—3.4mañca tattheva pāpayā’ti.and take me with you!’

4.1‘Alasvassa anuṭṭhātā,‘That a lazy man who does no work,4.2na ca kiccāni kāraye;and doesn’t do his duty,4.3Sabbakāmasamiddhassa,can fulfill all his desires:4.4taṁ me sakka varaṁ disā’ti.Sakka, render me this boon!’4

5.1‘Yatthālaso anuṭṭhātā,‘Suvīra, go to that place5.2accantaṁ sukhamedhati;where a lazy man who does no work5.3Suvīra tattha gacchāhi,prospers in unending happiness—5.4mañca tattheva pāpayā’ti.and take me with you!’

6.1‘Akammunā devaseṭṭha,‘O Sakka, first among gods,6.2sakka vindemu yaṁ sukhaṁ;that we might find the happiness6.3Asokaṁ anupāyāsaṁ,that’s sorrowless, unstressed:6.4taṁ me sakka varaṁ disā’ti.Sakka, render me this boon!’

7.1‘Sace atthi akammena,‘If there exists anywhere a place7.2koci kvaci na jīvati;where one can live happily without working,57.3Nibbānassa hi so maggo,that surely would be extinguishment’s path!7.4suvīra tattha gacchāhi;Go there, Suvīra,7.5Mañca tattheva pāpayā’ti.and take me with you!’

8.1So hi nāma, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo sakaṁ puññaphalaṁ upajīvamāno devānaṁ tāvatiṁsānaṁ issariyādhipaccaṁ rajjaṁ kārento uṭṭhānavīriyassa vaṇṇavādī bhavissati.Since, mendicants, even that Sakka, lord of gods—while living off of the fruit of his good deeds, and ruling as sovereign lord over these gods of the thirty-three—will speak in praise of initiative and energy,8.2Idha kho taṁ, bhikkhave, sobhetha, yaṁ tumhe evaṁ svākkhāte dhammavinaye pabbajitā samānā uṭṭhaheyyātha ghaṭeyyātha vāyameyyātha appattassa pattiyā anadhigatassa adhigamāya, asacchikatassa sacchikiriyāyā”ti.you can excel at this, for you who have gone forth in such a well explained teaching and training can try hard, strive, and make an effort to attain the unattained, achieve the unachieved, and realize the unrealized.”6

Translator’s notes

  1. The gods (deva) stem from Proto Indo-European dyew, “shining, sky, heavens” (cf. Pali diva, “day”; English “day”, however, is a false friend), while the titans (asura) are the negative form of Proto Indo-European sóh₂wl, “sun”, so asura is “sunless, night”. As the day vanquishes the dark of night each dawn, the gods defeat the titans. Victory is sweet but short-lived, for soon follows dusk, at which the titans prevail and plunge the world into darkness once more (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 1.2.5.1, Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa 3.2.9.7). Note: The Vedas know the sense of asura as (human) “lord”; but given that the opposition between deva and asura is known to the Avesta, I assume that is the older sense and the sense “lord” derivative; cf. English “titan of industry”.

    ↩ sn11.1:2.1

  2. Suvīra (“good hero”) appears only here.

    ↩ sn11.1:2.2

  3. Sakka himself is accused of negligence by Moggallāna at MN 37:11.2. Sakka or Indra is a heroic deity associated with the accomplishment of great deeds, and accordingly here he extols energy.

    As a historical curio, in the earliest mention of Sanskrit pramāda (Rig Veda 8.2.18), it is the “exhilaration” from drinking Soma which grants the gods led by Indra unsleeping tirelessness. This passage lends support to the idea that Soma was originally a stimulant, perhaps ephedra. Nonetheless, pamāda became associated with drunkenness and hence “negligence”.

    ↩ sn11.1:2.5

  4. Disa is imperative of disati (“show”) in the sense “render, bestow, confer”.

    ↩ sn11.1:4.4

  5. The Chinese texts at both SA2 43 (活) and SA 1114 (生) appears to support jīvati rather than jīyati. Bingenheimer at SA2 43 has, “Have you ever seen or heard of someone who, without effort, attains happiness in life?” Both Chinese texts have more lines than the Pali; given that the Pali has five lines, it seems likely the text has suffered loss. I translate according to what I guess the meaning to have been.

    ↩ sn11.1:7.2

  6. This is a tricky construction. The idiom idha kho taṁ, bhikkhave, sobhetha occurs several times, always in the same context: someone is said to have some quality, and the mendicants are encouraged to have it even more so. The preceding clause usually includes hi nāma, suggesting a dependent clause (SN 11.2:8.2, SN 11.4:13.2, SN 35.103:5.7, Kd 16:6.4.2, Kd 5:4.3.1). Sobhetha is second plural optative in the sense “you all can (out)shine or excel”.

    ↩ sn11.1:8.2