Aṅguttara Nikāya 9.19
Translators: sujato
Numbered Discourses 9.19
2. Sīhanādavagga
2. The Lion’s Roar
Devatāsutta
A Deity
“Imañca, bhikkhave, rattiṁ sambahulā devatā abhikkantāya rattiyā abhikkantavaṇṇā kevalakappaṁ jetavanaṁ obhāsetvā yenāhaṁ tenupasaṅkamiṁsu; upasaṅkamitvā maṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhaṁsu. Ekamantaṁ ṭhitā kho, bhikkhave, tā devatā maṁ etadavocuṁ:
“Mendicants, tonight, several glorious deities, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, came to me, bowed, stood to one side, and said to me:
‘upasaṅkamiṁsu no, bhante, pubbe manussabhūtānaṁ pabbajitā agārāni.
‘Sir, formerly when we were human beings, renunciates came to our homes.
Te mayaṁ, bhante, paccuṭṭhimha, no ca kho abhivādimha.
We politely rose for them, but we didn’t bow.
Tā mayaṁ, bhante, aparipuṇṇakammantā vippaṭisāriniyo paccānutāpiniyo hīnaṁ kāyaṁ upapannā’ti.
And so, having not fulfilled our duty, full of remorse and regret, we were reborn in a lesser realm.’
Aparāpi maṁ, bhikkhave, sambahulā devatā upasaṅkamitvā etadavocuṁ:
Then several other deities came to me and said:
‘upasaṅkamiṁsu no, bhante, pubbe manussabhūtānaṁ pabbajitā agārāni.
‘Sir, formerly when we were human beings, renunciates came to our homes.
Te mayaṁ, bhante, paccuṭṭhimha abhivādimha, no ca tesaṁ āsanaṁ adamha.
We politely rose for them and bowed, but we didn’t offer a seat.
Tā mayaṁ, bhante, aparipuṇṇakammantā vippaṭisāriniyo paccānutāpiniyo hīnaṁ kāyaṁ upapannā’ti.
And so, having not fulfilled our duty, full of remorse and regret, we were reborn in a lesser realm.’
Aparāpi maṁ, bhikkhave, sambahulā devatā upasaṅkamitvā etadavocuṁ:
Then several other deities came to me and said:
‘upasaṅkamiṁsu no, bhante, pubbe manussabhūtānaṁ pabbajitā agārāni.
‘Sir, formerly when we were human beings, renunciates came to our homes.
Te mayaṁ, bhante, paccuṭṭhimha abhivādimha āsanaṁ adamha, no ca kho yathāsatti yathābalaṁ saṁvibhajimha …pe…
We politely rose for them, bowed, and offered a seat, but we didn’t share as best we could. …’
yathāsatti yathābalaṁ saṁvibhajimha, no ca kho upanisīdimha dhammassavanāya …pe…
‘… we didn’t sit nearby to listen to the teachings. …’
upanisīdimha dhammassavanāya, no ca kho ohitasotā dhammaṁ suṇimha …pe…
‘… we didn’t actively listen to the teachings. …’
ohitasotā ca dhammaṁ suṇimha, no ca kho sutvā dhammaṁ dhārayimha …pe…
‘… we didn’t memorize the teachings. …’
sutvā ca dhammaṁ dhārayimha, no ca kho dhātānaṁ dhammānaṁ atthaṁ upaparikkhimha …pe…
‘… we didn’t examine the meaning of teachings we’d memorized. …’
dhātānañca dhammānaṁ atthaṁ upaparikkhimha, no ca kho atthamaññāya dhammamaññāya dhammānudhammaṁ paṭipajjimha.
‘… having understood the meaning and the teaching, we didn’t practice accordingly.
Tā mayaṁ, bhante, aparipuṇṇakammantā vippaṭisāriniyo paccānutāpiniyo hīnaṁ kāyaṁ upapannā’ti.
And so, having not fulfilled our duty, full of remorse and regret, we were reborn in a lesser realm.’
Aparāpi maṁ, bhikkhave, sambahulā devatā upasaṅkamitvā etadavocuṁ:
Then several other deities came to me and said:
‘upasaṅkamiṁsu no, bhante, pubbe manussabhūtānaṁ pabbajitā agārāni.
‘Sir, formerly when we were human beings, renunciates came to our homes.
Te mayaṁ, bhante, paccuṭṭhimha abhivādimha, āsanaṁ adamha, yathāsatti yathābalaṁ saṁvibhajimha, upanisīdimha dhammassavanāya, ohitasotā ca dhammaṁ suṇimha, sutvā ca dhammaṁ dhārayimha, dhātānañca dhammānaṁ atthaṁ upaparikkhimha, atthamaññāya dhammamaññāya dhammānudhammaṁ paṭipajjimha.
We politely rose, bowed, and offered them a seat. We shared as best we could. We sat nearby to listen to the teachings, lent an ear, memorized them, and examined their meaning. Understanding the teaching and the meaning we practiced accordingly.
Tā mayaṁ, bhante, paripuṇṇakammantā avippaṭisāriniyo apaccānutāpiniyo paṇītaṁ kāyaṁ upapannā’ti.
And so, having fulfilled our duty, free of remorse and regret, we were reborn in a superior realm.’
Etāni, bhikkhave, rukkhamūlāni etāni suññāgārāni. Jhāyatha, bhikkhave, mā pamādattha, mā pacchā vippaṭisārino ahuvattha seyyathāpi tā purimikā devatā”ti.
Here, mendicants, are these roots of trees, and here are these empty huts. Practice absorption, mendicants! Don’t be negligent! Don’t regret it later, like those former deities.”
Navamaṁ.