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SN 2.3PTS (1st ed) SN 1.471 min read

With Māgha

Māghasutta

The god Māgha asks the Buddha about what one should slay in order to sleep well and be without sorrow.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 2.3Linked Discourses 2.3
  • 0.21. PaṭhamavaggaChapter One

0.3MāghasuttaWith Māgha

1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Atha kho māgho devaputto abhikkantāya rattiyā abhikkantavaṇṇo kevalakappaṁ jetavanaṁ obhāsetvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhāsi.Then, late at night, the glorious godling Māgha, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the Buddha, bowed, stood to one side,11.3Ekamantaṁ ṭhito kho māgho devaputto bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:and addressed the Buddha in verse:

2.1“Kiṁsu chetvā sukhaṁ seti,“When what is slain do you sleep at ease?22.2kiṁsu chetvā na socati;When what is slain is there no sorrow?2.3Kissassu ekadhammassa,What is the one thing2.4vadhaṁ rocesi gotamā”ti.whose killing you approve?”

3.1“Kodhaṁ chetvā sukhaṁ seti,“When anger’s slain you sleep at ease.3.2kodhaṁ chetvā na socati;When anger’s slain there is no sorrow.3.3Kodhassa visamūlassa,Anger has a poisonous root3.4madhuraggassa vatrabhū;and a sweet tip, O Smiter of the Constrictor.33.5Vadhaṁ ariyā pasaṁsanti,The noble ones praise its killing,3.6tañhi chetvā na socatī”ti.for when it’s slain there is no sorrow.”

Translator’s notes

  1. Māgha is one of the many names of Sakka. It’s a taddhita construction from magha in possessive sense meaning “bounteous one”, and is thus a synonym of Maghavā (SN 11.12:1.3).

    ↩ sn2.3:1.2

  2. The same question is at SN 11.21 under the name Sakka and epithet Vāsava.

    ↩ sn2.3:2.1

  3. Vatrabhū is the Pali spelling of Sanskrit vṛtrahan, “slayer of the Constrictor”. This is the only time it appears in Pali. Vṛtra was a massive cobra whose defeat at the hands of Indra/Sakka was a primordial Vedic myth (eg. Rig Veda 1.32). Vṛtra, who was identified with wickedness (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 11.1.5.7), held the waters imprisoned. The release of the waters for the good of all is the primary symbol of Indra’s bounty.

    ↩ sn2.3:3.4