SN 1.77 Issara Sutta: Sovereignty

Where we gather to focus on a single discourse or thematic collection from the Sutta Piṭaka (new selection every two weeks)
Locked
User avatar
mikenz66
Posts: 19943
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:37 am
Location: Aotearoa, New Zealand

SN 1.77 Issara Sutta: Sovereignty

Post by mikenz66 »

SN 1.77 [SN i 43 <SN i 98>] Issara Sutta: Sovereignty
Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi


http://suttacentral.net/en/sn1.77

"What is sovereignty in the world?
What ranks as the best of goods?
What in the world is a rusty sword?
What in the world is considered a plague?

“Whom do they arrest when he takes away?
And who, when he takes away, is dear?
In whom do the wise take delight
When he returns again and again?”

“Mastery is sovereignty in the world;
A woman ranks as the best of goods; [136]
In the world anger is a rusty sword;
Thieves in the world are considered a plague. [137]

“They arrest a thief when he takes away,
But an ascetic who takes away is dear.
The wise take delight in an ascetic
When he returns again and again.”

Notes

[136] Spk: A woman is called the best of goods because a woman is an article that should not be given away (avissajjanīyabaṇḍattā ); or else she is so called because all bodhisattas and wheel-turning monarchs are conceived in a mother’s womb. Spk-pṭ: Even the most precious jewel is not called “the best of goods” because it still falls into the category of things that might be given away; but a woman who has not abandoned the family customs should not be relinquished to anyone, and hence she is called the best of goods. Further, a woman is the best of goods because she is a mine for the best of gems, that is, because (her body) is the place for the birth of the human thoroughbreds (i.e., Buddhas and arahants).

[137 ]Abbuda (“plague”) is glossed by Spk as vināsakāraṇa, a cause of destruction. The word also occurs in v. 591 [SN 6.9] as an extremely high number, in SN 6.10 as the name of a hell, and at v. 803 [SN 10.1] as a stage in the development of the fetus.
User avatar
mikenz66
Posts: 19943
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:37 am
Location: Aotearoa, New Zealand

Re: SN 1.77 Issara Sutta: Sovereignty

Post by mikenz66 »

A positive spin on women this time, unlike the previous sutta:
http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=20767

:anjali:
Mike
LXNDR
Posts: 697
Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 5:15 am

Re: SN 1.77 Issara Sutta: Sovereignty

Post by LXNDR »

mikenz66 wrote:A positive spin on women, unlike the previous sutta:
http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=20767
they're still categorized as a 'good'

and being a 'stain of the holy life' i'd consider less derogatory or not derogatory at all because in this definition women are used as personification of lust and passion

from the perspective of a woman leading a holy way of life a man can be perceived as a 'stain'
Locked