Dighanikaya 31.242_3

31.242_3

Tena kho pana samayenāti yasmiṃ samaye bhagavā rājagahaṃ gocaragāmaṃ katvā veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe viharati, tena samayena. Siṅgālako gahapatiputtoti siṅgālakoti tassa nāmaṃ. Gahapatiputtoti gahapatissa putto gahapatiputto. Tassa kira pitā gahapatimahāsālo, nidahitvā ṭhapitā cassa gehe cattālīsa dhanakoṭiyo atthi. So bhagavati niṭṭhaṅgato upāsako sotāpanno, bhariyāpissa sotāpannāyeva. Putto panassa assaddho appasanno. Atha naṃ mātāpitaro abhikkhaṇaṃ evaṃ ovadanti – ‘‘tāta satthāraṃ upasaṅkama, dhammasenāpatiṃ mahāmoggallānaṃ mahākassapaṃ asītimahāsāvake upasaṅkamā’’ti. So evamāha – ‘‘natthi mama tumhākaṃ samaṇānaṃ upasaṅkamanakiccaṃ, samaṇānaṃ santikaṃ gantvā vanditabbaṃ hoti, onamitvā vandantassa piṭṭhi rujjati, jāṇukāni kharāni honti, bhūmiyaṃ nisīditabbaṃ hoti, tattha nisinnassa vatthāni kilissanti jīranti, samīpe nisinnakālato paṭṭhāya kathāsallāpo hoti, tasmiṃ sati vissāso uppajjati, tato nimantetvā cīvarapiṇḍapātādīni dātabbāni honti. Evaṃ sante attho parihāyati, natthi mayhaṃ tumhākaṃ samaṇānaṃ upasaṅkamanakicca’’nti. Iti naṃ yāvajīvaṃ ovadantāpi mātāpitaro sāsane upanetuṃ nāsakkhiṃsu.

"Now at that time" means at the time when the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrels' Feeding Ground, having made Rājagaha his resort for alms. "Siṅgālaka the householder's son": Siṅgālaka was his name. "The householder's son" means the son of a householder is a householder's son. His father, it is said, was a wealthy householder of great property, and in his house forty crores of wealth were buried and stored away. He was a lay follower who had reached certainty regarding the Blessed One, a stream-enterer, and his wife too was a stream-enterer. But his son was devoid of faith, lacking devotion. Then his parents repeatedly exhorted him thus: "Dear boy, approach the Teacher; approach the General of the Dhamma, Mahāmoggallāna, Mahākassapa, and the eighty great disciples." He spoke thus: "I have no business approaching your recluses. If one goes into the presence of recluses, one has to pay homage; for one paying homage by bending down, the back aches, the knees become rough, and one has to sit on the ground. When one sits there, one's clothes become soiled and worn out. From the time one sits nearby, conversation takes place; when that happens, familiarity arises; then having invited them, robes, almsfood, and the like must be given. When this is the case, one's wealth dwindles. I have no business approaching your recluses." Thus, even though they exhorted him for as long as they lived, his parents were unable to bring him into the Dispensation.