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Āmagandhasutta

People are defiled, not by eating meat, but by engaging in evil conduct.

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

  • 0.1Sutta Nipāta 2.2Anthology of Discourses 2.2

0.2ĀmagandhasuttaPutrefaction

1.1“Sāmākaciṅgūlakacīnakāni ca,“The good eat properly obtained1.2Pattapphalaṁ mūlaphalaṁ gavipphalaṁ;millet, wild grains, broomcorn,1.3Dhammena laddhaṁ satamasnamānā,greens, tubers, and grapes.1.4Na kāmakāmā alikaṁ bhaṇanti.They don’t lie to get what they want.

2.1Yadasnamāno sukataṁ suniṭṭhitaṁ,But when you eat delicious food,2.2Parehi dinnaṁ payataṁ paṇītaṁ;nicely cooked and prepared, and offered by others,12.3Sālīnamannaṁ paribhuñjamāno,enjoying a dish of fine rice,2.4So bhuñjasī kassapa āmagandhaṁ.Kassapa, you eat putrefaction.2

3.1Na āmagandho mama kappatīti,‘Putrefaction is not appropriate for me’—3.2Icceva tvaṁ bhāsasi brahmabandhu;so you said, O brahmin only by kin.3.3Sālīnamannaṁ paribhuñjamāno,Yet here you are enjoying a dish of fine rice,3.4Sakuntamaṁsehi susaṅkhatehi;well prepared with the flesh of fowl.33.5Pucchāmi taṁ kassapa etamatthaṁ,I’m asking you this, Kassapa:3.6Kathaṁpakāro tava āmagandho”.what do you take to be putrefaction?”

4.1“Pāṇātipāto vadhachedabandhanaṁ,“Killing creatures, mutilation, murder, abduction;4.2Theyyaṁ musāvādo nikativañcanāni ca;stealing, lying, cheating and fraud,4.3Ajjhenakuttaṁ paradārasevanā,learning crooked spells, adultery:44.4Esāmagandho na hi maṁsabhojanaṁ.this is putrefaction, not eating meat.

5.1Ye idha kāmesu asaññatā janā,People here with unbridled sensuality,5.2Rasesu giddhā asucibhāvamassitā;greedy for tastes, mixed up in impurity,5.3Natthikadiṭṭhī visamā durannayā,nihilists, immoral, intractable:5.4Esāmagandho na hi maṁsabhojanaṁ.this is putrefaction, not eating meat.

6.1Ye lūkhasā dāruṇā piṭṭhimaṁsikā,Tough, callous calumniators,6.2Mittadduno nikkaruṇātimānino;pitiless and arrogant betrayers of friends,6.3Adānasīlā na ca denti kassaci,misers who never give anything:6.4Esāmagandho na hi maṁsabhojanaṁ.this is putrefaction, not eating meat.

7.1Kodho mado thambho paccupaṭṭhāpanā,Anger, vanity, obstinacy, contrariness,7.2Māyā usūyā bhassasamussayo ca;deceit, jealousy, boastfulness,7.3Mānātimāno ca asabbhi santhavo,haughtiness, intimacy with the wicked:57.4Esāmagandho na hi maṁsabhojanaṁ.this is putrefaction, not eating meat.

8.1Ye pāpasīlā iṇaghātasūcakā,The ill-behaved, debt-evaders, informants,8.2Vohārakūṭā idha pāṭirūpikā;business cheats and con-artists,8.3Narādhamā yedha karonti kibbisaṁ,vile men committing sin:8.4Esāmagandho na hi maṁsabhojanaṁ.this is putrefaction, not eating meat.

9.1Ye idha pāṇesu asaññatā janā,People here who can’t stop harming living creatures,9.2Paresamādāya vihesamuyyutā;taking from others, intent on hurting,9.3Dussīlaluddā pharusā anādarā,immoral, cruel, harsh, lacking regard for others:9.4Esāmagandho na hi maṁsabhojanaṁ.this is putrefaction, not eating meat.

10.1Etesu giddhā viruddhātipātino,Greedy, hostile, aggressive to others,10.2Niccuyyutā pecca tamaṁ vajanti ye;and addicted to evil—<j>those beings pass into darkness,10.3Patanti sattā nirayaṁ avaṁsirā,falling headlong into hell:10.4Esāmagandho na hi maṁsabhojanaṁ.this is putrefaction, not eating meat.

11.1Na macchamaṁsānamanāsakattaṁ,Not fish or flesh or fasting,11.2Na naggiyaṁ na muṇḍiyaṁ jaṭājallaṁ;nudity or baldness, or dreadlocks or dirt,11.3Kharājināni nāggihuttassupasevanā,not rough hides or serving the sacred flame,11.4Ye vāpi loke amarā bahū tapā;or the many endless mortifications in the world,611.5Mantāhutī yaññamutūpasevanā,not hymns or oblations, <j>sacrifices or seasonal observances,11.6Sodhenti maccaṁ avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṁ.will cleanse a mortal not free of doubt.

12.1Sotesu gutto viditindriyo care,Guarding the streams of sense impressions, <j>wander with faculties understood,712.2Dhamme ṭhito ajjavamaddave rato;standing on the teaching, delighting in integrity and tenderness.12.3Saṅgātigo sabbadukkhappahīno,The attentive have slipped their chains <j>and given up all suffering;12.4Na lippati diṭṭhasutesu dhīro”.they don’t cling to the seen and the heard.”

13.1Iccetamatthaṁ bhagavā punappunaṁ,The Buddha explained this matter to him <j>again and again,813.2Akkhāsi naṁ vedayi mantapāragū;until the master of hymns understood it.13.3Citrāhi gāthāhi munī pakāsayi,It was illustrated with colorful verses13.4Nirāmagandho asito durannayo.by the sage free of putrefaction, <j>unattached, hard to trace.

14.1Sutvāna buddhassa subhāsitaṁ padaṁ,Having heard the fine words of the Buddha,14.2Nirāmagandhaṁ sabbadukkhappanūdanaṁ;that are free of putrefaction, <j>casting aside all suffering;14.3Nīcamano vandi tathāgatassa,humbled, he bowed to the Realized One,14.4Tattheva pabbajjamarocayitthāti.and right away begged to go forth.

14.5Āmagandhasuttaṁ dutiyaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Dinnaṁ and payataṁ are synonyms.

    ↩ snp2.2:2.2

  2. “Putrefaction” (āmagandha) was to be shunned by Jain ascetics (Ācaraṅgasūtra 1.5.1.10.15: savv’ āmagandhaṁ parinnāya nirāmagandhe parivvae.)

    ↩ snp2.2:2.4

  3. (Su)saṅkhata is routinely employed by the Vedas for the food “prepared” for the sacrifice (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 1.1.4.10).

    ↩ snp2.2:3.4

  4. Read kujja.

    ↩ snp2.2:4.3

  5. Here asabbhi is instrumental of asanta, “wicked person”.

    ↩ snp2.2:7.3

  6. The split compound amaraṁ tapaṁ occurs at SN 4.1:5.2 and Thag 3.1:1.4, while here we have amarā bahū tapā. The commentary explains that amara here is “immortality”, and the phrase means “fervent mortification aimed at immortality”. However, I find this unconvincing, one reason being that amara is an adjective (and thus must be glossed with an abstract noun in dative, amarabhāvatthāya). It is simpler to assume Pali has an idiomatic sense of amara as “endless”, which occurs here, in the phrase amarāvikkhepa (DN 1:2.23.1), and in the Niddesa’s amarāvitakka (Cnd 12:6.1). Then amarā and bahū are synonyms. I cannot find any use in Sanskrit that parallels this, but amara is noted by Edgerton in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit as “a high number”.

    ↩ snp2.2:11.4

  7. Read vidita (“understood”), as variant vijita (“conquered”) is not supported by the commentary.

    ↩ snp2.2:12.1

  8. The concluding verses identify the “Kassapa” of the poem as the Buddha Kassapa of the past. The commentary says this was added at the Council.

    ↩ snp2.2:13.1