Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c33.116

v2.c33.116

Raṭṭhapāla Sutta.—The eighty-second sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya. It contains an account of Raṭṭhapāla’s admission into the Order, his visits to his parents after attaining arahantship, and his conversation with the Kuru king in the latter’s Deer Park. This last conversation forms the chief theme. The king asks Raṭṭhapāla why he has left his home when he suffers neither from old age, failing health, poverty, nor death of kinsfolk. Raṭṭhapāla answers that his reason for leaving it was his conviction of the truth of the four propositions enunciated by the Buddha—that the world (1) is in a state of continual flux and change; (2) there is no protector or preserver; (3) in it, we own nothing, but must leave all behind us; (4) it lacks and hankers, being enslaved by craving.¹ He explains the meaning of these statements to the satisfaction of the king and summarizes his statements in a series of stanzas.²