Dhammapada Verse 108 - Sariputtattherassa sahayaka brahmana Vatthu

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

Dhammapada Verse 108 - Sariputtattherassa sahayaka brahmana Vatthu
Yamkinci yittham va hutam va loke

samvaccharam yajetha punnapekkho

sabbampi tam na catubhagameti

abhivadana ujjugatesu seyyo.

Verse 108: In this world, one may make sacrificial offerings, great and small, all the year round, in order to gain merit; all these offerings are not worth a quarter of the merit gained by worshipping the Noble Ones (Ariyas) who walk the right path.

The Story of Thera Sariputta's Friend

While residing at the Veluvana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (108) of this book, with reference to a friend of Thera Sariputta.

On one occasion Thera Sariputta asked his friend, a brahmin, whether he was doing any meritorious deeds and he replied that he had been making sacrificial offerings on a big scale, hoping to get to the Brahma(Archangel) world in his next existence. Thera Sariputta told him that his teachers had given him false hopes and that they themselves did not know the way to the Brahma(Archangel) world. Then he took his friend to the Buddha, who showed him the way to the Brahma(Archangel) world. To the friend of Thera Sariputta, the Buddha said, "Brahmin, worshipping the Noble Ones (Ariyas) only for a moment is better than making sacrificial offerings, great and small, throughout the year."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 108: In this world, one may make sacrificial offerings, great and small, all the year round, in order to gain merit; all these offerings are not worth a quarter of the merit gained by worshipping the Noble Ones (Ariyas) who walk the right path.

At the end of the discourse the brahmin attained Sotapatti Fruition.

Credits
Translated by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.

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

Courtesy of Nibbana.com

For free distribution only, as a gift of dhamma.

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