6.
Connected Discourses on Gains and Honour
1.
The First Chapter
1.
Commentary on the Dāruṇa Sutta
157.
In the first discourse of the Lābhasakkāra Saṃyutta, "severe" means obstinate.
"Material gain, honour and fame": here "material gain" means the gain of the four requisites.
"Honour" means the gain of those very same well prepared and well arranged.
"Fame" means the sound of praise.
"Painful" means sharp.
"Harsh" means rough.
"Forming an impediment" means creating an obstacle.
The first.
2.
Commentary on the Baḷisa Sutta
158.
In the second, "fisherman" means a fish-killer who goes about having taken a hook.
"Baited" means smeared with bait.
"With an eye for bait" means one who has vision, seeing towards bait - thus "with an eye for bait."
"Having swallowed the hook" means one whose hook has been swallowed.
"Fallen into calamity" means arrived at suffering.
"Fallen into disaster" means arrived at destruction.
"Subject to be done with as wished" means according to one's wish, according to one's preference, just as the fisherman wishes him to be, so it is to be done to him - this is the meaning.
"Subject to be done with as wished by the Evil One" means as is the wish of the Māra of mental defilements, so it is to be done to him; he is to be brought to hell or the animal realm or the sphere of ghosts.
The second.
3-4.
Commentary on the Kumma Sutta and Others
159-160.
In the third, "a great family of tortoises" means a great family of bone-shelled tortoises.
"Went" means he went with the perception "There is surely something edible here; being stingy about it, this one is preventing me."
"With a harpoon" means a harpoon is called an iron barbed hook, shaped like an ear-piercing dart, having inserted a stick into an iron-tipped sheath bound with a long cord; when it falls with force and becomes stuck in the shell, the stick comes out, and the cord, being bound as one, just goes along.
"That tortoise" means that pierced tortoise.
"Towards that tortoise" means having heard the sound of water, thinking "it will be a dangerous place," having turned back, towards that tortoise who wished him well.
"You are no longer one of us" means now you have gone into the hand of an enemy, you are not our own - this is the meaning.
And even while they were thus conversing, the huntsman standing in the boat, having pulled the cord, having seized the tortoise, did as he wished.
The remainder here and in the next discourse from this is clear in itself.
The third and fourth.
5.
Commentary on the Mīḷhaka Sutta
161.
In the fifth, "dung beetle" means an insect living on excrement.
"Dung-eater" means feeding on dung.
"Full of dung" means filled with dung inside.
"Stuffed with dung" - this is merely an explanation of the meaning of the former.
"Might despise" means having placed the hind legs on the ground and having raised the front legs up on top of the dung, standing and saying "I am a dung-eater," it might despise.
"And his almsfood is full" means moreover, he would have a bowl-full of superior almsfood.
The fifth.
6.
Commentary on the Asani Sutta
162.
In the sixth, "let a thunderbolt wheel come upon whom it may, monks" means let a bright thunderbolt wheel come, monks, having fallen upon the head of whatever person, crushing him.
"Who has not attained the goal" means who has not attained arahantship.
Thus the Blessed One said this not out of desire for the suffering of beings, but in order to show the danger.
For a thunderbolt wheel fallen on the head removes only one single individual existence, but one whose mind is consumed by material gain, honour and fame experiences endless suffering in hell and so on.
The sixth.
7.
Commentary on the Diddha Sutta
163.
In the seventh, "smeared with poison" means gone-smeared, that is, smeared with poison.
"Visallena" means smeared with poison.
"Sallena" means with a spear.
The seventh.
8.
Commentary on the Siṅgāla Sutta
164.
In the eighth, "jackal" means an old jackal.
Just as indeed even a body of golden colour is but a putrid body, and even urine that has just flowed out at that very moment is called but "cattle-urine," so too even a jackal born that very day is called but an "old jackal."
"Called mange" means by a disease of such a name.
That, it is said, arises in the cold season.
When it has arisen, hairs fall from the entire body, the entire body having become hairless, cracks all around, and the wounds struck by the wind are painful.
Just as a man bitten by a mad dog wanders about unsettled, so when it has arisen, he has to wander about, and it is not evident that there will be safety at such and such a place.
The eighth.
9.
Commentary on the Verambha Sutta
165.
In the ninth, "verambha winds" means great winds of that name.
But in what kind of place do those winds blow?
Where, for one standing there, the four continents appear as mere water-lily leaves.
"Whatever bird goes" means the wind-bird, crying out when the sky has newly rained, goes there; with reference to that, this was said.
In the passage beginning with "with body unguarded": swinging the hands and feet or bending the shoulder-bone, one does not guard the body; speaking various kinds of gross talk, one does not guard speech; thinking sensual thoughts and so on, one does not guard the mind.
"With mindfulness not established" means not having established mindfulness of the body.
The ninth.
10.
Commentary on the Discourse with Verses
166.
In the tenth, "by dishonour and both" means by dishonour and by both.
"Concentration" means the concentration of the fruition of arahantship.
For that does not waver by it.
"Of one dwelling in the limitless" means of one dwelling in the limitless fruition concentration.
"Acting continuously" means one who acts constantly.
"Subtle, one who sees with insight into views" means one gifted with introspection, because of having come by way of having established insight for the purpose of the fruition attainment of subtle view through the view of the path of arahantship.
"Delighting in the elimination of clinging" means delighting in Nibbāna, which is termed the elimination of clinging.
"They call a good person thus" means they say "a good person."
The tenth.
The first chapter.
2.
The Second Chapter
1-2.
Commentary on the Discourse on the Golden Bowl, Etc.
167-168.
In the first discourse of the second chapter, "speaking a conscious lie" means speaking a conscious lie even for a trifling reason.
A monk who has resolved "I shall fulfil morality" - even a heap of requisites the size of Sineru is not able to shake him.
But when, having abandoned morality, he becomes dependent on honour, then even for the sake of a handful of rice-powder he speaks a conscious lie, or does other what should not be done.
The second is clear in itself.
The first and second.
3-10.
Commentary on the Discourse on the Gold Coin, Etc.
169.
In the third and so on, "of a gold coin" means of one gold coin.
"Of a gold ingot" means of a gold ingot made of refined gold.
"Of the earth" means of the great earth within the world-circle.
"For the sake of some trifling material gain" means for the sake of whatever material gain, at least even a handful of rice bran.
"For the sake of life" means for the sake of even that, when having been seized by thieves in the forest, one is being deprived of life.
"Of the most beautiful girl in the country" means of the finest woman in the province.
The third etc.
The second chapter.
3.
The Third Chapter
1-2.
Commentary on the Discourse on Womankind, Etc.
170-171.
In the first discourse of the third chapter, "for him, monks, not a woman" means not even a woman desirous of that quality is able to exhaust the mind of one sitting alone in a secret place, for whom material gain, honour and fame is able to exhaust the mind - this is the meaning.
The second is clear in itself.
The first and second.
3-6.
Commentary on the Discourse on the Only Son, Etc.
172-175.
In the third, "faithful" means a stream-enterer.
The remainder here is clear in itself.
Likewise in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
The third etc.
7.
Commentary on the Third Discourse on Ascetics and Brahmins
176.
In the seventh, regarding "origin" and so on, individual existence together with former action, being of good family, beauty of complexion, pleasant speech, declaration of the virtues of ascetic practice, robe-wearing, success of retinue - such and so on is called the origin of material gain and honour; one does not understand that by way of the truth of origin; and cessation and practice should be understood by way of the truth of cessation and the truth of the path respectively.
The seventh.
8.
Commentary on the Discourse on Skin
177.
In the eighth, because material gain, honour and fame, when producing rebirth in hell and so on, removes even this entire individual existence, and even here brings death and suffering like death, therefore "cuts the skin" and so on was said.
The eighth.
9.
Commentary on the Discourse on the Rope
178.
In the ninth, "with a horse-hair rope" means a rope made of thread and so on is soft, but a horse-hair rope is rough and harsh, therefore this itself was taken.
The ninth.
10.
Commentary on the Discourse on the Monk
179.
In the tenth, "pleasant abidings in the present life" means pleasant abidings of fruition attainment.
"For those I say for him" means "for those, I would say for him."
For one who has eliminated the mental corruptions, being an obtainer, accomplished in merit, having taken rice gruel, sweet-meats and so on, giving thanksgiving to those who come and go, teaching the Teaching, answering questions, does not obtain the opportunity to sit down having attained fruition attainment; this was said with reference to that.
The tenth.
The third chapter.
4.
The Fourth Chapter
1-4.
Commentary on the Discourse on Bhindi, Etc.
180-183.
The first discourse of the Fourth Chapter is clear in itself.
In the second and so on, "wholesome root" means the threefold wholesome mental state beginning with non-greed.
"Bright quality" is an alternative exposition of that same thing.
Now here this is the meaning in brief -
Because of the non-eradication of the blameless quality reckoned as the wholesome root and so on, Devadatta would have been reborn in heaven or would have attained the paths and fruitions; but that went to eradication for him, altogether eradicated and destroyed.
The first and so on.
5.
Commentary on the Discourse on the Recently Departed
184.
In the fifth, "for ruin" means for decline, for destruction.
"A mule" means one born from a donkey in the womb of a mare.
"Conceives an embryo for its own destruction" means they mate her together with a horse; she, having conceived an embryo, when the time has arrived, is not able to give birth, and stands striking the ground with her feet; then, having tied her four feet to four stakes, having split open her belly, they take out the young; she dies right there.
Therefore this was said.
The fifth.
6.
Commentary on the Discourse on Five Hundred Chariots
185.
In the sixth, "food offering" means food that is to be brought.
But in order to show its measure, "five hundred pots of boiled rice" is said.
Therein, one pot of boiled rice takes the food of ten men.
"They were to break bile into the nose" means they would put bear bile or fish bile into its nostrils.
The sixth.
7-13.
Commentary on the Mātu Sutta and Others
186-187.
In the seventh, "even for the sake of his mother" means "If you speak a lie, we will release your mother.
If you do not speak, we will not release her" - being thus questioned by thieves in the forest, he would not speak a conscious lie even for the sake of that mother who has fallen into the hands of thieves - this is the meaning.
The same method applies to the subsequent ones from here as well.
The seventh and so on.
The commentary on the Lābhasakkāra Connected Discourses is concluded.