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# Mahagovindasutta 46.1-23

Mahāgovindasutta 46.1-23

- **Language:** Pāli

### [46.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.1)

“‘Hitvā mamattan’ti ahaṃ, bhoto, ājānāmi.

> “Sir, I understand what ‘giving up possessiveness’ means.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.2)

Idhekacco appaṃ vā bhogakkhandhaṃ pahāya mahantaṃ vā bhogakkhandhaṃ pahāya appaṃ vā ñātiparivaṭṭaṃ pahāya mahantaṃ vā ñātiparivaṭṭaṃ pahāya kesamassuṃ ohāretvā kāsāyāni vatthāni acchādetvā agārasmā anagāriyaṃ pabbajati,

> It’s when someone gives up a large or small fortune, and a large or small family circle. They shave off hair and beard, dress in ocher robes, and go forth from the lay life to homelessness.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.3)

iti ‘hitvā mamattan’ti ahaṃ, bhoto, ājānāmi.

> That’s how I understand ‘giving up possessiveness’.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.4)

‘Ekodibhūto’ti ahaṃ, bhoto, ājānāmi.

> Sir, I understand what ‘at one’ means.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.5)

Idhekacco vivittaṃ senāsanaṃ bhajati araññaṃ rukkhamūlaṃ pabbataṃ kandaraṃ giriguhaṃ susānaṃ vanapatthaṃ abbhokāsaṃ palālapuñjaṃ,

> It’s when someone frequents a secluded lodging—a wilderness, the root of a tree, a hill, a ravine, a mountain cave, a charnel ground, a forest, the open air, a heap of straw.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.6)

iti ‘ekodibhūto’ti ahaṃ, bhoto, ājānāmi.

> That’s how I understand ‘at one’.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.7)

‘Karuṇedhimutto’ti ahaṃ, bhoto, ājānāmi.

> Sir, I understand what ‘compassionate’ means.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.8)

Idhekacco karuṇāsahagatena cetasā ekaṃ disaṃ pharitvā viharati, tathā dutiyaṃ, tathā tatiyaṃ, tathā catutthaṃ. Iti uddhamadhotiriyaṃ sabbadhi sabbattatāya sabbāvantaṃ lokaṃ karuṇāsahagatena cetasā vipulena mahaggatena appamāṇena averena abyāpajjena pharitvā viharati.

> It’s when someone meditates spreading a heart full of compassion to one direction, and to the second, and to the third, and to the fourth. In the same way above, below, across, everywhere, all around, they spread a heart full of compassion to the whole world—abundant, expansive, limitless, free of enmity and ill will.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.9)

Iti ‘karuṇedhimutto’ti ahaṃ, bhoto, ājānāmi.

> That’s how I understand ‘compassionate’.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.10)

Āmagandhe ca kho ahaṃ, bhoto, bhāsamānassa na ājānāmi.

> But I don’t understand what you say about putrefaction.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.11)

Ke āmagandhā manujesu brahme,

> What among mankind, O the Divinity, is putrefaction?  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.12)

Ete avidvā idha brūhi dhīra;

> I don’t understand, so tell me, attentive one:  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.13)

Kenāvaṭā vāti pajā kurutu,

> wrapped in what do people stink,  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.14)

Āpāyikā nivutabrahmalokā”ti.

> headed for hell, shut out of the realm of divinity?”  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.15)

“Kodho mosavajjaṃ nikati ca dubbho,

> “Anger, lies, cheating, and treachery,  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.16)

Kadariyatā atimāno usūyā;

> miserliness, vanity, jealousy,  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.17)

Icchā vivicchā paraheṭhanā ca,

> desire, stinginess, harassing others,  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.18)

Lobho ca doso ca mado ca moho;

> greed, hate, vanity, and delusion—  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.19)

Etesu yuttā anirāmagandhā,

> those bound to such things  
> are not devoid of putrefaction;  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.20)

Āpāyikā nivutabrahmalokā”ti.

> they’re headed for hell,  
> shut out of the realm of divinity.”  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.21](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.21)

“Yathā kho ahaṃ, bhoto, āmagandhe bhāsamānassa ājānāmi. Te na sunimmadayā agāraṃ ajjhāvasatā.

> “As I understand what you say about putrefaction, it’s not easy to quell while living at home.  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.22)

Pabbajissāmahaṃ, bho, agārasmā anagāriyan”ti.

> I shall go forth from the lay life to homelessness!”  
> — The Great Steward

### [46.23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.23)

“Yassadāni bhavaṃ govindo kālaṃ maññatī”ti.

> “Please do so, Steward, at your convenience.”  
> — The Great Steward

## Translations (3)

- [Mahāgovinda](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19~sr-brankokovacevic.46.1) — sr
- [Der Große Verwalter](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19~de-sabbamitta.46.1) — German
- [The Great Steward](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19~en-sujato.46.1) — English

## Commentaries (1)

- [Sumaṅgalavilāsinī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha!sumangalavilasini.19.320) — Buddhaghosa, Pāli

## Linked texts (2)

- [長阿含經](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.dirghagama*zh-buddhayasas.3.38) — Classical Chinese
- [大堅固婆羅門緣起經](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.dirgha.mahagovindiyasutra*zh-danapala.2.20) — Classical Chinese

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Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.1-23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.digha.19.46.1-23) · Pramāṇa