Seven Practices (SA-2.33)

Thus have I heard, once, the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī, in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park.

At that time the Buddha told the monks: “Steadfastly maintaining the seven practices one is bound to be reborn as a Sakka king of gods. Why so? In former times, when any Sakka was a human being, he set out to cultivate these beginner’s practices. He was obedient to his parents and respectful to the elders of the extended clan-family. His speech was gentle. He did not slander others. He was generous, not stingy. He always told the truth, never betrayed others. He did not let anger arise, and whenever hatred arose in him, he strove to extinguish it quickly.”

At that time the World-honored One spoke a verse:

“Whoever towards their parents /
displays filial obedience,
towards their elders /
heartfelt deep respect,
always speaks in a manner gentle and friendly, /
kindly and good,
abandoning slander, /
greed, and hatred,
of such a one the thirty-three gods /
have this to say:

Such a practitioner /
is our better.
He should dwell apart /
as king of the gods.”

When the Buddha had finished speaking, the monks, having heard what he had said, were happy and remembered it well.

Translation by Marcus Bingenheimer, 2005–8 (minor revisions 2009). First version published in Buddhist Studies Review vol. 23.1 (2006). The translations used here were revised by the translator and published in his Studies in Āgama Literature—with Special Reference to the Shorter Chinese Saṁyuktāgama, Dharma Drum Buddhist College, 2010.

Translated from the Taishō text of the CBETA-Database (Version Feb. 2006). All sutta titles added by the translator.

This series of translations were part of the project “A Digital Comparative Edition of the Bieyi za ahan jing” conducted at the Chung-hwa Institute for Buddhist Studies (中華佛學研究所) and the Dharma Drum Buddhist College (法鼓佛教研修學院), funded by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (蔣經國國際學術交流基金會). The full project, including parallel Chinese, Pali, and Sanskrit texts, is available online here.

Used with kind permission of the translator.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.