Dighanikaya 22.373_43

22.373_43

Apica vaṇṇabhaṇanametaṃ ekāyanamaggassa. Yatheva hi bhagavā – ‘‘dhammaṃ vo, bhikkhave, desessāmi ādikalyāṇaṃ majjhekalyāṇaṃ pariyosānakalyāṇaṃ sātthaṃ sabyañjanaṃ kevalaparipuṇṇaṃ parisuddhaṃ brahmacariyaṃ pakāsessāmi yadidaṃ chachakkānī’’ti (ma. ni. 3.420) chachakkadesanāya aṭṭhahi padehi vaṇṇaṃ abhāsi. Yathā ca ariyavaṃsadesanāya ‘‘cattārome, bhikkhave, ariyavaṃsā aggaññā rattaññā vaṃsaññā porāṇā asaṃkiṇṇā asaṃkiṇṇapubbā na saṅkīyanti na saṅkīyissanti, appaṭikuṭṭhā samaṇehi brāhmaṇehi viññūhī’’ti (a. ni. 4.28) navahi padehi vaṇṇaṃ abhāsi; evaṃ imassāpi ekāyanamaggassa sattānaṃ visuddhiyātiādīhi sattahi padehi vaṇṇaṃ abhāsi. Kasmāti ce, tesaṃ bhikkhūnaṃ ussāhajananatthaṃ. Vaṇṇabhāsanañhi sutvā te bhikkhū ‘‘ayaṃ kira maggo hadayasantāpabhūtaṃ sokaṃ, vācāvippalāpabhūtaṃ paridevaṃ, kāyikaasātabhūtaṃ dukkhaṃ, cetasikaasātabhūtaṃ domanassanti cattāro upaddave hanati, visuddhiṃ ñāyaṃ nibbānanti tayo visese āvahatī’’ti ussāhajātā imaṃ dhammadesanaṃ uggahetabbaṃ pariyāpuṇitabbaṃ dhāretabbaṃ, vācetabbaṃ, imañca maggaṃ bhāvetabbaṃ maññissanti. Iti tesaṃ bhikkhūnaṃ ussāhajananatthaṃ vaṇṇaṃ abhāsi. Kambalavāṇijādayo kambalādīnaṃ vaṇṇaṃ viya.

Moreover, this is the praise of the direct path. For just as the Blessed One—[saying,] "Monks, I will teach you the Dhamma good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end, with the right meaning and phrasing; I will proclaim the spiritual life, utterly complete and purified, that is, the six sets of six" (MN 3.420)—spoke praise of the teaching on the six sets of six with eight phrases; and just as in the teaching on the noble lineages—[saying,] "Monks, there are these four noble lineages, primal, of long standing, traditional, ancient, unadulterated, formerly unadulterated, not being adulterated, which will not be adulterated, not disparaged by wise recluses and brahmins" (AN 4.28)—he spoke praise with nine phrases; so too, he spoke praise of this direct path with seven phrases beginning with "for the purification of beings." If it is asked why: in order to arouse enthusiasm in those monks. For having heard the utterance of praise, those monks, filled with enthusiasm—thinking, "This path, it is said, destroys the four perils consisting of sorrow, which is anguish of the heart; lamentation, which is verbal rambling; suffering, which is bodily disagreeableness; and grief, which is mental disagreeableness; and brings the three distinctions of purification, the true method, and Nibbāna"—will consider that this teaching of Dhamma is to be learned, mastered, remembered, and recited, and that this path is to be developed. Thus he spoke praise in order to arouse enthusiasm in those monks, like blanket merchants praising blankets and the like.