Dhammapada Verse 355 - Aputtakasetthi Vatthu

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Source: Adapted from the original translation by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.

Dhammapada Verse 355 - Aputtakasetthi Vatthu
Hananti bhoga dummedham

no ca paragavesino

bhogatanhaya dummedho

hanti anneva attanam.

Verse 355: Wealth destroys the foolish; but it cannot destroy those who seek the other shore (i.e., Nibbana). By his craving for wealth the fool destroys himself, as he would destroy others.

The Story of a Childless Rich Man

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (355) of this book, with reference to a childless rich man.

On one occasion, King Pasenadi(Prasenjit) of Kosala came to pay homage to the Buddha. He explained to the Buddha that he was late because earlier that day a rich man had died in Savatthi without leaving any heirs, and so he had to confiscate all that man's property. Then, he proceeded to relate about the man, who, although very rich, was very stingy. While he lived, he did not give away anything in charity. He was reluctant to spend his money even on himself, and therefore, ate very sparingly and wore cheap, coarse clothes only. On hearing this the Buddha told the king and the audience about the man in a past existence. In that existence also he was a rich man.

One day, when a paccekabuddha came and stood for alms at his house, he told his wife to offer some thing to the paccekabuddha. His wife thought it was very rarely that her husband gave her permission to give anything to anybody. So, she filled up the alms-bowl with some choice food. The rich man again met the paccekabuddha on his way home and he had a look at the alms-bowl. Seeing that his wife had offered a substantial amount of good food, he thought, "Oh, this bhikkhu would only have a good sleep after a good meal. It would have been better if my servants were given such good food; at least, they would have given me better service." In other words, he regretted that he had asked his wife to offer food to the paccekabuddha. This same man had a brother who also was a rich man. His brother had an only son. Coveting his brother's wealth, he had killed his young nephew and had thus wrongfully inherited his brother's wealth on the latter's death.

Because the man had offered alms-food to the paccekabuddha he became a rich man in his present life; because he regretted having offered food to the paccekabuddha he had no wish to spend anything even on himself. Because he had killed his own nephew for the sake of his brother's wealth he had to suffer in niraya/hell for seven existences. His bad kamma having come to an end he was born into the human world but here also he had not gained any good kamma. The king then remarked, "Venerable Sir! Even though he had lived here in the lifetime of the Buddha himself, he had not made any offering of anything to the Buddha or to his disciples. Indeed, he had missed a very good opportunity; he had been very foolish."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 355: Wealth destroys the foolish; but it cannot destroy those who seek the other shore (i.e., Nibbana). By his craving for wealth the fool destroys himself, as he would destroy others.

Credits
Translated by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.

Edited by Editorial Committee, Burma Tipitaka Association Rangoon, Burma, 1986

Courtesy of Nibbana.com

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