In the Buddha's Words - Bhikkhu Bodhi [62]
IV. THE HAPPINESS VISIBLE IN THIS PRESENT LIFE
1. UPHOLDING THE DHAMMA IN SOCIETY
(1) The King of the Dhamma
The Blessed One said: “Monks, even a wheel-turning monarch, a just and righteous king, does not govern his realm without a co-regent.”
When he had spoken, a certain monk addressed the Blessed One thus: “But who, venerable sir, is the co-regent of the wheel-turning monarch, the just and righteous king?”
“It is the Dhamma, the law of righteousness, O monk,” replied the Blessed One.1
“In this case, the wheel-turning monarch, the just and righteous king, relying on the Dhamma, honoring the Dhamma, esteeming and respecting it, with the Dhamma as his standard, banner, and sovereign, provides lawful protection, shelter, and safety for his own dependents. He provides lawful protection, shelter, and safety for the khattiyas attending on him; for his army, for the brahmins and householders, for the inhabitants of town and countryside, for ascetics and brahmins, for the beasts and birds.
“A wheel-turning monarch, a just and righteous king, who thus provides lawful protection, shelter, and safety for all, is the one who rules by Dhamma only. And that rule cannot be overthrown by any hostile human being.
“Even so, O monk, the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the just and righteous king of the Dhamma, relying on the Dhamma, honoring the Dhamma, esteeming and respecting it, with the Dhamma as his standard, banner, and sovereign, provides lawful protection, shelter, and safety in regard to action by body, speech, and mind. [He teaches thus:] ‘Such bodily action should be undertaken and such should not be undertaken. Such verbal action should be undertaken and such should not be undertaken. Such mental action should be undertaken and such should not be undertaken.’
“The Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One, the just and righteous king of the Dhamma, who thus provides lawful protection, shelter, and safety in regard to action by body, speech, and mind, is the one who turns the incomparable wheel of the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma only. And that wheel of the Dhamma cannot be turned back by any ascetic or brahmin, by any deva or Māra or Brahmā or by anyone in the world.”2
(AN 3:14; I 109–10)
(2) Worshipping the Six Directions
1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha, at the Bamboo Grove, in the Squirrels’ Sanctuary. Then Sigālaka the householder’s son, having got up early and gone out of Rājagaha, was paying homage, with wet clothes and hair and with joined palms, to the different directions: to the east, the south, the west, the north, the nadir, and the zenith.
2. And the Blessed One, having risen early and dressed, took his robe and bowl and went to Rājagaha for alms. And seeing Sigālaka paying homage to the different directions, he said: “Householder’s son, why have you got up early to pay homage to the different directions?”
“Venerable sir, my father, when he was dying, told me to do so. And so, out of respect for my father’s words, which I revere, honor, and hold sacred, I have got up early to pay homage in this way to the six directions.”
“But, householder’s son, that is not the right way to pay homage to the six directions according to the Noble One’s discipline.”
“Well, venerable sir, how should one pay homage to the six directions according to the Noble One’s discipline? It would be good if the Blessed One would teach me the proper way to pay homage to the six directions according to the Noble One’s discipline.”
“Then listen and attend carefully, householder’s son, I will speak.”
“Yes, venerable sir,” Sigālaka said. The Blessed One said this: ...
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