{"id":9324,"date":"2026-05-22T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paliverse.org\/podcasts\/maha-sihanada-sutta-dn8-the-great-discourse-on-the-lions-roar-the-authentic-path-to-full-liberation\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T18:05:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T15:05:02","slug":"maha-sihanada-sutta-dn8-the-great-discourse-on-the-lions-roar-the-authentic-path-to-full-liberation","status":"publish","type":"pal_podcast","link":"https:\/\/www.paliverse.org\/el\/podcasts\/maha-sihanada-sutta-dn8-the-great-discourse-on-the-lions-roar-the-authentic-path-to-full-liberation\/","title":{"rendered":"Mah\u0101 S\u012bhan\u0101da Sutta ( DN8): The Great Discourse on the Lion\u2019s Roar \u2014 The Authentic Path to Full Liberation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What actually makes a life a spiritual life? In this episode we open the Mah\u0101 S\u012bhan\u0101da Sutta \u2014 the Great Discourse on the Lion&#8217;s Roar \u2014 the eighth discourse of the D\u012bgha Nik\u0101ya, and one of the P\u0101li Canon&#8217;s clearest statements of what genuinely constitutes the holy life.<\/p>\n<p>A naked ascetic named Kassapa approaches the Buddha with a rumour: that the Buddha condemns all austere asceticism. The Buddha denies it \u2014 but then turns the conversation inside out. He lays out the full catalogue of ancient Indian ascetic practice (the nakedness, the food restrictions, the hemp garments, the bed of thorns), agrees that such a life is difficult, and then makes a single devastating observation: a slave girl who brings water could do all of it. The real difficulty \u2014 the real asceticism \u2014 lies somewhere the outward eye cannot see.<\/p>\n<p>From there the Buddha unfolds the gradual training in morality, mind, and wisdom; sounds his fourfold &#8220;lion&#8217;s roar&#8221; of supremacy in the noble path; and meets Kassapa&#8217;s request for ordination with a four-year offer that the Buddha cuts short, seeing the readiness already there. Kassapa becomes an arahant before the discourse closes.<\/p>\n<p>We work through the sutta in its three traditional layers \u2014 the root text, the A\u1e6d\u1e6dhakath\u0101 commentary, and the \u1e6c\u012bk\u0101 sub-commentary \u2014 preserving the scholarly precision while keeping the language accessible. The commentaries supply the scene at Vulture&#8217;s Peak with Nigrodha and Sandhana, count the one hundred and ten distinct lion&#8217;s roars that give the sutta its name, and explain why the Buddha waived Kassapa&#8217;s probation.<\/p>\n<p>Read the full Mah\u0101 S\u012bhan\u0101da Sutta in all three layers \u2014 and put your own questions to the text \u2014 at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/paliverse.org\"><strong>paliverse.org<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What actually makes a life a spiritual life? In this episode we open the Mah\u0101 S\u012bhan\u0101da Sutta \u2014 the Great Discourse on the Lion&#8217;s Roar \u2014 the eighth discourse of the D\u012bgha Nik\u0101ya, and one of the P\u0101li Canon&#8217;s clearest statements of what genuinely constitutes&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"class_list":["post-9324","pal_podcast","type-pal_podcast","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paliverse.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal_podcast\/9324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paliverse.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal_podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paliverse.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/pal_podcast"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paliverse.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}