11.21. Having Slain (SN11.21)

At Savatthī in Jeta’s Grove. Then Sakka, lord of the devas, approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, and stood to one side. Standing to one side, Sakka, lord of the devas, addressed the Blessed One in verse:

“Having slain what does one sleep soundly?
Having slain what does one not sorrow?
What is the one thing, O Gotama,
Whose killing you approve?”

The Blessed One:

“Having slain anger, one sleeps soundly;
Having slain anger, one does not sorrow;
The killing of anger, O Vasava,
With its poisoned root and honeyed tip:
This is the killing the noble ones praise,
For having slain that, one does not sorrow.”

© Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)

This excerpt from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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