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SN 11.3PTS (1st ed) SN 1.2182 min read

The Banner’s Crest

Dhajaggasutta

Sakka rallies his troops with the sight of his banner. But the Buddha points out that the deities, powerful as they are, are not free of fear, but he is. He encourages the mendicants to recollect the Triple Gem to abandon fear.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 11.3Linked Discourses 11.3
  • 0.21. PaṭhamavaggaChapter One

0.3DhajaggasuttaThe Banner’s Crest

1.1Sāvatthiyaṁ.At Sāvatthī.1

1.2Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:There the Buddha addressed the mendicants,1.3“bhikkhavo”ti.“Mendicants!”

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

2.1“Bhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, devāsurasaṅgāmo samupabyūḷho ahosi.“Once upon a time, mendicants, a battle was fought between the gods and the titans.2.2Atha kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo deve tāvatiṁse āmantesi:Then Sakka, lord of gods, addressed the gods of the thirty-three:

3.1‘Sace, mārisā, devānaṁ saṅgāmagatānaṁ uppajjeyya bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā lomahaṁso vā, mameva tasmiṁ samaye dhajaggaṁ ullokeyyātha.‘Good fellows, when the gods are fighting, if you get scared or terrified, just look up at my banner’s crest.23.2Mamañhi vo dhajaggaṁ ullokayataṁ yaṁ bhavissati bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā lomahaṁso vā, so pahīyissati.Then your fear and terror will go away.

4.1No ce me dhajaggaṁ ullokeyyātha, atha pajāpatissa devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokeyyātha.If you can’t see my banner’s crest, then look up at the banner’s crest of the Progenitor, king of gods.34.2Pajāpatissa hi vo devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokayataṁ yaṁ bhavissati bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā lomahaṁso vā, so pahīyissati.Then your fear and terror will go away.

5.1No ce pajāpatissa devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokeyyātha, atha varuṇassa devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokeyyātha.If you can’t see his banner’s crest, then look up at the banner’s crest of Varuṇa, king of gods.45.2Varuṇassa hi vo devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokayataṁ yaṁ bhavissati bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā lomahaṁso vā, so pahīyissati.Then your fear and terror will go away.

6.1No ce varuṇassa devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokeyyātha, atha īsānassa devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokeyyātha.If you can’t see his banner’s crest, then look up at the banner’s crest of Īsāna, king of gods.56.2Īsānassa hi vo devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokayataṁ yaṁ bhavissati bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā lomahaṁso vā, so pahīyissatī’ti.Then your fear and terror will go away.’

7.1Taṁ kho pana, bhikkhave, sakkassa vā devānamindassa dhajaggaṁ ullokayataṁ, pajāpatissa vā devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokayataṁ, varuṇassa vā devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokayataṁ, īsānassa vā devarājassa dhajaggaṁ ullokayataṁ yaṁ bhavissati bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā lomahaṁso vā, so pahīyethāpi nopi pahīyetha.However, when they look up at those banner’s crests their fear and terror might go away or it might not.

8.1Taṁ kissa hetu?Why is that?8.2Sakko hi, bhikkhave, devānamindo avītarāgo avītadoso avītamoho bhīru chambhī utrāsī palāyīti.Because Sakka is not free of greed, hate, and delusion. He is fearful, scared, nervous, quick to flee.

9.1Ahañca kho, bhikkhave, evaṁ vadāmi:But, mendicants, I say this:9.2‘sace tumhākaṁ, bhikkhave, araññagatānaṁ vā rukkhamūlagatānaṁ vā suññāgāragatānaṁ vā uppajjeyya bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā lomahaṁso vā, mameva tasmiṁ samaye anussareyyātha:If you’ve gone to a wilderness, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut and you get scared or terrified, just recollect me:9.3“itipi so bhagavā arahaṁ sammāsambuddho vijjācaraṇasampanno sugato lokavidū anuttaro purisadammasārathi satthā devamanussānaṁ buddho bhagavā”ti.‘That Blessed One is perfected, a fully awakened Buddha, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, holy, knower of the world, supreme guide for those fit for training, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed.’9.4Mamañhi vo, bhikkhave, anussarataṁ yaṁ bhavissati bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā lomahaṁso vā, so pahīyissati.Then your fear and terror will go away.

10.1No ce maṁ anussareyyātha, atha dhammaṁ anussareyyātha:If you can’t recollect me, then recollect the teaching:10.2“svākkhāto bhagavatā dhammo sandiṭṭhiko akāliko ehipassiko opaneyyiko paccattaṁ veditabbo viññūhī”ti.‘The teaching is well explained by the Buddha—apparent in the present life, immediately effective, inviting inspection, relevant, so that sensible people can know it for themselves.’10.3Dhammañhi vo, bhikkhave, anussarataṁ yaṁ bhavissati bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā lomahaṁso vā, so pahīyissati.Then your fear and terror will go away.

11.1No ce dhammaṁ anussareyyātha, atha saṅghaṁ anussareyyātha:If you can’t recollect the teaching, then recollect the Saṅgha:11.2“suppaṭipanno bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho ujuppaṭipanno bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho ñāyappaṭipanno bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho sāmīcippaṭipanno bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho, yadidaṁ cattāri purisayugāni aṭṭha purisapuggalā esa bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho, āhuneyyo pāhuneyyo dakkhiṇeyyo añjalikaraṇīyo anuttaraṁ puññakkhettaṁ lokassā”ti.‘The Saṅgha of the Buddha’s disciples is practicing the way that’s good, direct, systematic, and proper. It consists of the four pairs, the eight individual persons. This is the Saṅgha of the Buddha’s disciples that is worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods, worthy of hospitality, worthy of a religious donation, worthy of greeting with cupped palms, and is the supreme field of merit for the world.’11.3Saṅghañhi vo, bhikkhave, anussarataṁ yaṁ bhavissati bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā lomahaṁso vā, so pahīyissati.Then your fear and terror will go away.

12.1Taṁ kissa hetu?Why is that?12.2Tathāgato hi, bhikkhave, arahaṁ sammāsambuddho vītarāgo vītadoso vītamoho abhīru acchambhī anutrāsī apalāyī’”ti.Because the Realized One is free of greed, hate, and delusion. He is fearless, brave, bold, and stands his ground.”

12.3Idamavoca bhagavā.That is what the Buddha said.12.4Idaṁ vatvāna sugato athāparaṁ etadavoca satthā:Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:

13.1“Araññe rukkhamūle vā,“In the wilderness, at a tree’s root,13.2suññāgāreva bhikkhavo;or an empty hut, O mendicants,13.3Anussaretha sambuddhaṁ,recollect the Buddha,13.4bhayaṁ tumhāka no siyā.and no fear will come to you.

14.1No ce buddhaṁ sareyyātha,If you can’t recollect the Buddha—14.2lokajeṭṭhaṁ narāsabhaṁ;the eldest in the world, the captain of men—614.3Atha dhammaṁ sareyyātha,then recollect the teaching,14.4niyyānikaṁ sudesitaṁ.emancipating, well taught.

15.1No ce dhammaṁ sareyyātha,If you can’t recollect the teaching—15.2niyyānikaṁ sudesitaṁ;emancipating, well taught—15.3Atha saṅghaṁ sareyyātha,then recollect the Saṅgha,15.4puññakkhettaṁ anuttaraṁ.the supreme field of merit.

16.1Evaṁ buddhaṁ sarantānaṁ,Thus recollecting the Buddha,16.2Dhammaṁ saṅghañca bhikkhavo;the teaching, and the Saṅgha, mendicants,16.3Bhayaṁ vā chambhitattaṁ vā,fear and terror16.4Lomahaṁso na hessatī”ti.and goosebumps will be no more.”

Translator’s notes

  1. This discourse invokes several major Vedic deities invoked as martial deities, gods of war. Compare their mention at DN 13:25.2, where these deities, though aristocrat warriors, are invoked by brahmins. In Theravada it is a popular protection chant (paritta) included in the Maha Pirit Potha.

    ↩ sn11.3:1.1

  2. Compare the martial exhortation at Rig Veda 10.103.11: “Ours is Indra when the banners clash.” Varāhamihira tells the full story of Indra’s banner at Bṛhatsaṁhitā 42.

    ↩ sn11.3:3.1

  3. Pajāpati (“progenitor”) was the lonely and “undefined” (anirukta) god of creation (“Let Prajāpati generate progeny for us”, Rig Veda 10.85.3). The heat of his fervent exertions (tapas) created the world and all things in it (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 6).

    ↩ sn11.3:4.1

  4. Varuṇa is invoked frequently in the Vedas, and in the suttas he is associated with other leading deities such as Indra and Soma (DN 13:25.2, DN 20:13.3,DN 32:10.2). As one of the twelve children of Aditi he stood for a calendar month, and grew a wide and sometimes baffling array of associations—the oceans, water, the sky (at night), and justice. Vedic Varuṇa was the god of command, the king of tough rule. He was identified with the aristocrats, his partner Mitra with the brahmins (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 4.1.4).

    ↩ sn11.3:5.1

  5. Īsāna (Sanskrit Īśāna) was created by Pajāpati as “president”, said to be the sun (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 6.1.3). He was also identified with Rudra and Śiva.

    ↩ sn11.3:6.1

  6. Narāsabha is literally “a bull of a man”, but the predominant sense is “chief, lord, captain” rather than “bull”. Vṛṣabha was widely used in this sense as far back as the Rig Veda. The same is true of its synonyms janavasabha and purisanisabha, but not purisūsabha at Bu Pj 1:10.21.4.

    ↩ sn11.3:14.2