1
Dhammadayada Sutta
(Heirs In Dhamma)
[BIONA Translation]
Thus Have I Heard:
On one occasion the Blessed One was living in Savatthi in Jeta’s Grove. There he addressed the monks thus: “Monks, be my heirs in Dhamma, not my heirs in material things. Out of compassion for you I have thought: how shall my disciples be my heirs in Dhamma, not my heirs in material things? If you are my heirs in material things, not my heirs in Dhamma; you will be reproached thus: ‘the Teachers disciples live as his heirs in material things, not as heirs in Dhamma;’ and I will be reproached thus: ‘the Teachers disciples live as his heirs in material things, not as his heirs in Dhamma.’
If you are my heirs in Dhamma, not my heirs in material things, you will not be reproached, as it will be said of you, ‘the Teachers disciples live as his heirs in Dhamma, not as his heirs in material things.’ Therefore, monks, be my heirs in Dhamma, not my heirs in material things. Out of compassion for you I have thought: ‘how shall my disciples be my heirs in Dhamma, not my heirs in material things?’
Now, monks, suppose that I had eaten, refused more food, had my fill, finished, had enough, had what I needed, and some alms-food was left over to be thrown away. Then two monks arrived hungry and weak, and I told them: ‘monks, I have eaten and have had all I needed, but there is this alms-food of mine left over to be thrown away. Eat it if you like; if you do not eat it then I shall throw it away where there is no greenery or drop it into water where there is no life.’ Then one monk thought: ‘the Blessed One has eaten and had what he needed, but there is this alms-food of the Blessed One left over to be thrown away; if we do not eat it the Blessed One will throw it away, but this has been said by the Blessed One: ‘monks, be my heirs in Dhamma, not my heirs in material things.’ Now this alms-food is one of the material things. Suppose that instead of eating this alms-food I pass the night and day hungry and weak.’
And instead of eating that alms-food he passed that night and day hungry and weak. Then the second monk thought: ‘the Blessed One has eaten and he has had all that he required, but there is this alms-food of the Blessed One left over to be thrown away. Suppose that I eat this alms-food and pass the night and day neither hungry nor weak.’ And after eating that alms-food he passed the night and day neither hungry nor weak. Now although that monk by eating that alms-food passed the night and day neither hungry nor weak, yet the first monk is more to respected and commended by me. Why, because the will power that he has demonstrated shall contribute to the fewness of his wishes, contentment, effacement, easy support and arousal of energy. Therefore, monks, be my heirs in Dhamma, not my heirs in material things. Out of compassion for you I have thought: ‘how shall my disciples be my heirs in Dhamma, not my heirs in material things?’”
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said this, the Sublime One rose from his seat and went into his dwelling. Soon after he had left, the venerable Shariputra addressed the monks thus: “Friends, in what way do disciples of the Teacher who lives secluded not train in seclusion?”
“Indeed, friend, we have come from far away to learn from the venerable Shariputra the meaning of this very statement. It would be good if the venerable Shariputra would explain the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him these monks will not forget it!”
“Then friends, listen and attend closely to what I shall say.” The venerable Shariputra continued: “friends, in what way do the disciples of the Teacher who lives secluded not train in seclusion? Here disciples of the teacher who lives secluded do not train in seclusion; they do not abandon what the Teacher tells them to abandon; they become luxurious and lack mindfulness, they become leaders in backsliding and neglectful of seclusion.
In this case the older monks are to blamed for three reasons. As disciples of the Teacher who lives secluded they do not train themselves to do likewise, and this the first reason that they are blamed.
They do not abandon what the Teacher tells them to abandon and this is the second reason that they are to be blamed. They are luxurious and do not live mindfully in the present moment, they become leaders in backsliding and become neglectful of seclusion.
The monks of middle rank and even the newest member of the Sangha are also to be blamed for the same reasons. It is in this way that disciples of the Teacher who lives secluded do not train in seclusion.”
“In what way, friends, do disciples of the Teacher who lives secluded train in seclusion? Here, disciples of the Teacher who lives secluded train themselves in seclusion; they abandon what the Teacher tells them to abandon; they are not luxurious and they live mindfully in the present moment, they are keen to avoid backsliding and thus become leaders in seclusion.
In this case the elder monks, as well as those of the middle rank and even the newest brethren are to be commended for three reasons. As disciples of the Teacher who lives secluded they train themselves in seclusion so they are to be commended for this, the first reason.
They abandon what the Teacher tells them to abandon so they should be commended for this, the second reason. They are not luxurious and they always dwell mindfully in the present moment, they are keen to avoid backsliding and thus become leaders in seclusion. This is the third reason they should be commended.”
“Friends, the evil within is greed and hate. There is a Middle Way for the abandoning of these sicknesses. This Middle Way gives vision and knowledge, which leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment and Nibbána. What is that Middle Way? It is the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. This the Middle Way giving vision, giving knowledge, which leads to peace, to direct realization, to enlightenment, to Nibbána.
The evil within is anger, revenge, contempt and the desire to dominate others; it is envy, cupidity, deceit, stubbornness, vanity and ignorance.
This very same Middle Way will free you from these afflictions as well!”
This is what the venerable Shariputra said and the monks were satisfied and delighted in the wisdom of his words.
Another Popular Translation of this same sutra:
To Inherit the Teaching
Dhammadaayaada Sutta
(Majjhima Nikáya I)
.
I heard thus:
At one time the Blessed One lived in the monastery offered by Anathapindika in Jeta’s grove in Savatthi. The Blessed One addressed the Bhikkhus from there. " Bhikkhus, be the inheritors of my Teaching and not the inheritors of my material. There’s my compassion towards you. Whatever it is, be the inheritors of my Teaching not the inheritors of my material. Bhikkhus, should you become the inheritors of my material not the inheritors of my Teaching by that you become the examples: The disciples of a Teacher abiding as inheritors of material and not as inheritors of the Teaching. By that I too become the Teacher who has inherited the disciples with my material and not my Teaching. Bhikkhus, be the inheritors of my Teaching and not the inheritors of my material, by that you become the example; The disciples of the Teacher abiding as inheritors of the Teaching not as inheritors of material, by that I too become an example as the Teacher abiding inheriting the disciples with the Teaching and not inheriting material. Therefore Bhikkhus abide as inheritors of the Teaching and not as inheritors of material.
There is my compassion towards you. Whatever it is be the inheritors of my Teaching and not the inheritors of my material.
Here, Bhikkhus, I have partaken of my meal, being satiated and not desiring any more, and there is some morsel food left over to be thrown away. Then two Bhikkhus overcome by hunger and weakness come along and I tell them: Bhikkhus, I have partaken of my meal, is satiated and do not desire any more, there is some morsel food left over to be thrown away, If you desire, partake of it, if you do not partake it I will throw it to some place where there is no green, or I will put it in some water where there are no living things. To one of those Bhikkhus, it occurs thus; The Blessed One has partaken of his meal, is satiated and does not desire any more of it. There is some morsel food left over to be thrown away. If we do not partake of it, he will throw it to some place where there is no green, or will put it in some water where there is no life. Yet it is told by the Blessed One this: Bhikkhus, be the heirs of my Teaching and not the heirs of my material. Morsel food is one of the materials, what if I spend this day and night bearing up this hunger and discomfort. He, not partaking that food spends that night and day bearing up that hunger and discomfort. To the other Bhikkhu it occurs thus: The Blessed One has partaken of his meal, is satiated and does not desire any more of it. There is some morsel food left over to be thrown away. If we do not partake of it the Blessed One will throw it to a place where there is no green or will put it in some water where there are no living things. What if I partake of that morsel food and put an end to my hunger and discomfort and spend the night and day in comfort. So he partakes of that morsel food puts an end to his hunger and discomfort and spends the night and day. Bhikkhus, whoever the Bhikkhu who partook of the morsel food, overcame the hunger and discomfort and spent the night and day is still my disciple, yet the earlier Bhikkhu is more reverential and praiseworthy. What is the reason? Because it conduces to that Bhikkhus few desires, satisfaction, purity, the nature of being supported easily, and for arousing of effort. Therefore, be the heirs of my Teaching and not the heirs of my material. Bhikkhus, there is my compassion to you. Any way my disciples should be heirs of the Teaching and not the heirs of my material. The Blessed One said that and then went into the monastery.
Soon after the Blessed One left, venerable Shariputra addressed the Bhikkhus: Friends, of a Teacher abiding in seclusion, how do the disciples of that Teacher not train in that seclusion. And of a Teacher abiding in seclusion how do the disciples train in that same seclusion. Friend, Shariputra, we came from afar to learn the meaning of these words from venerable Shariputra, good that it occurs to venerable Shariputra, and hearing it from you, the Bhikkhus will bear it in mind. Then listen friends, Bhikkhus: attend carefully. And venerable Shariputra said:
Here, friends, of a Teacher abiding in seclusion, the disciples do not train in that seclusion. The things the Teacher said dispel, they would not dispel, live in abundance and lethargy, missing the main aim, do not yoke themselves to seclusion. For this the elders have to be blamed for three things. Of a Teacher abiding in seclusion, the disciples do not train in that seclusion. This is the first blame that comes on the elders.
The things that the Teacher said dispel, they would not dispel. This is the second blame that comes on the elders. Living in abundance and lethargy, they miss the main aim and do not yoke themselves to seclusion. This is the third blame that comes on the elders. The elders have to be blamed for these three things.
The middling Bhikkhus too have to be blamed for these three things. The novice Bhikkhus too have to be blamed for these three things. Friends, it is in this manner, that of a Teacher abiding in seclusion, the disciples do not train in that seclusion.
Friends, of a Teacher abiding in seclusion how do the disciples of that Teacher train in that seclusion? Of a Teacher abiding in seclusion, the disciples train in that seclusion. The things the Teacher says dispel, they dispel. Not living in abundance and lethargy, they do not miss the main aim and yoke themselves to seclusion. For this the elders are to be praised for three things. Of a Teacher abiding in seclusion the disciples train in that seclusion this is the first praise that come to the elders. The things the Teacher said dispel, that they dispel. This is the second praise that comes to the elders. Not living in abundance and lethargy, they do not miss the main aim and yoke themselves to seclusion. This is the third praise that comes to the elders. The elders are praised for these three things. The middling Bhikkhus too have to be praised for these three. The novice Bhikkhus too have to be praised for these three. Friends, it is in this manner, that of a Teacher abiding in seclusion, the disciples train in that seclusion . . .
There friends, greed is an evil, anger is an evil. To dispel greed and anger, there is the middle path, which conduces to wisdom, knowledge enlightenment and extinction. It is this same noble eightfold path such as right view, right thoughts, right speech, right actions, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Friends, this is the middle path, which conduces to wisdom, knowledge, enlightenment and extinction. There friends, anger is an evil, ill will is an evil, hypocrisy is an evil, mercilessness is an evil, envy is an evil, selfishness is an evil, deceit is an evil, craftiness is an evil, obstinacy is an evil, haughty talk is an evil, measuring is an evil, conceit is an evil, intoxication is an evil, negligence is an evil, To dispel intoxication and negligence, there is the middle path which conduces to wisdom, knowledge, enlightenment and extinction. It is this same noble eightfold path such as right view, right thoughts, right speech, right actions, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Venerable Shariputra said those words and the Bhikkhus delighted in his words.