SN 17.7PTS SN 2.2291 min read

A Poisoned Arrow

Diddhasutta

Material possessions, honor, and praise are terrible things, like a poison dart.

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

0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 17.7Linked Discourses 17.7
0.21. PaṭhamavaggaChapter One

0.3DiddhasuttaA Poisoned Arrow

1.1PTS 2.230Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.At Sāvatthī.

1.2“Dāruṇo, bhikkhave, lābhasakkārasiloko …pe… adhigamāya.“Possessions, honor, and popularity are grim …

1.3Kaṁ, bhikkhave, diddhagatena visallena sallena vijjhatu, sekhaṁ appattamānasaṁ lābhasakkārasiloko anupāpuṇātu.Let whom be pierced by a poisoned arrow? Let possessions, honor, and popularity come to a trainee who has not achieved their heart’s desire.¹

2.1Sallanti kho, bhikkhave, lābhasakkārasilokassetaṁ adhivacanaṁ.‘Arrow’ is a term for possessions, honor, and popularity.

2.2Evaṁ dāruṇo kho, bhikkhave, lābhasakkārasiloko …pe…So grim are possessions, honor, and popularity. …”2.3evañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabban”ti.

2.4Sattamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

The construction parallels the previous (except the opening sentence is passive). Again, I think the Buddha is quoting a well-known curse. Compare Atharva Veda 8.3.6, where Agni is called on to smear poison on his arrow-tip and loose it at the sorcerers. Pali salla = Sanskrit śalya (“arrow”), while Pali diddha = Sanskrit dih (“smear with poison”). Thus these two adjacent Suttas reinterpret curses in adjacent sections of the Atharva Veda that invoke Indra and Agni, the two most powerful Vedic gods.
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