0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 20.3Linked Discourses 20.3
0.21. Opammavagga1. Similes

0.3KulasuttaFamilies

1.1PTS 2.264Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.At Sāvatthī.

1.2“Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, yāni kānici kulāni bahutthikāni appapurisāni tāni suppadhaṁsiyāni honti corehi kumbhatthenakehi;“Mendicants, those families with many women and few men are easy prey for bandits and grain-jar thieves.¹1.3evameva kho, bhikkhave, yassa kassaci bhikkhuno mettācetovimutti abhāvitā abahulīkatā so suppadhaṁsiyo hoti amanussehi.In the same way any mendicant who has not developed and cultivated the heart’s release by love is easy prey for non-humans.1.4Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, yāni kānici kulāni appitthikāni bahupurisāni tāni duppadhaṁsiyāni honti corehi kumbhatthenakehi;Those families with few women and many men are hard prey for bandits and grain-jar thieves.1.5evameva kho, bhikkhave, yassa kassaci bhikkhuno mettācetovimutti bhāvitā bahulīkatā so duppadhaṁsiyo hoti amanussehi.In the same way a mendicant who has developed and cultivated the heart’s release by love is hard prey for non-humans.

1.6Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, evaṁ sikkhitabbaṁ:So you should train like this:1.7‘mettā no cetovimutti bhāvitā bhavissati bahulīkatā yānīkatā vatthukatā anuṭṭhitā paricitā susamāraddhā’ti.‘We will develop the heart’s release by love. We’ll cultivate it, make it our vehicle and our basis, keep it up, consolidate it, and properly implement it.’1.8Evañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabban”ti.That’s how you should train.”

1.9Tatiyaṁ.

Translator’s notes

AN 8.51:27.1, Kd 20:1.6.7.

Few men and many women is said to be a sign of the end of the world (Harivaṁśa 116.23, Brahma Purāṇa 231.24, Liṅga Purāṇa 1.40.19, Narasiṁha Purāṇa 54.22).

The kumbha (“jar”) was a measure of grain by which the severity of theft was measured (Manu 8.320). Perhaps the implication is that these are house-thieves plundering domestic goods, rather than highway robbers.

↩ sn20.3:1.2