Mahāli doubts (SA-2.34)

Thus have I heard, once, the Buddha was staying in the great hall on the shore of the Monkey-lake near Vesāli. There was a Licchavi, by the name of Mahāli, who came to the Buddha, paid homage to his feet and addressed him: “World-honored One, have you seen Sakka?”

The Buddha said: “I have seen him.”

The Licchavi addressed him: “There are yakkhas who look like Sakka. Might it be that the World-honored One saw such a yakkha instead?”

The Buddha told the Licchavi: “I am well acquainted with Sakka’s appearance. I also know that there are yakkhas who look like Sakka. I also fully know his deeds in previous lives. When Sakka was a human being, he was obedient to his parents, he respected his elders, his speech was gentle, without slander, he had done away with avarice, he always loved to give, he always spoke truthfully, he had done away with anger, and he did not give rise to hatred.”

At that time the Buddha 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, the monks, having listened to 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.