The Dhammika Sutta is part of the

Sutta Nipata The ' () is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. Sections The ''Sutta Nipāta'' is divided into five sections: Uraga Vagga ("The Chapter on the Serpent") Cūla Vagg ...

(Sn 2.14). In this sutta, the Buddha instructs a lay disciple named Dhammika on rules for monks and on the "layman's rule of conduct" (''gahatthavatta'').

Dhammika asks of virtue

In the sutta, Dhammika, along with 500 other lay followers (

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

: ''pancahi upasake-satehi''), approaches the Buddha and his monks (Pali: '' bhikkhavo'') and Dhammika asks the Buddha how should a

disciple A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

(Pali: ''sāvako'') be virtuous (Pali: ''sādhu'') — both a disciple who has gone from home to homeless (Pali: ''agārā anagārameti'') and a disciple from a household (Pali: ''agārino ... panupāsakāse''). Dhammika then proceeds to extol the Buddha's compassion and wisdom.

Monastic virtue

In response to Dhammika's question, the Buddha first addresses his monks and advises them as follows: * do alms rounds at the appropriate time * be rid of interest in the five senses * return from alms rounds, sit alone and turn inward * do not slander or blame others or seek out disputation * care for your food, dwelling and robes but do not become attached to them

Lay virtue

The Buddha notes that a householder's obligations prevent a householder from fully pursuing a monk's path.Ireland (1983b) compares the Buddha's comment here to the Buddha's last verse in the "Muni Sutta" ("The Sage," Sn 1.12) which Ireland translates as: "As a peacock never approaches the swiftness of a swan, so a householder cannot imitate a bhikkhu, a hermit meditating in the forest." Thus, the Buddha articulates "the layman's duty" (Pali: ''gahatthavatta''), what are essentially the

Five Precepts The Five precepts ( sa, pañcaśīla, italic=yes; pi, pañcasīla, italic=yes) or five rules of training ( sa, pañcaśikṣapada, italic=yes; pi, pañcasikkhapada, italic=yes) is the most important system of morality for Buddhist lay peo ...

, as follows: # Do not kill or hurt living things or incite others to kill # Avoid taking what is not given or inciting others to do so # Observe celibacy or at least do not have sex with another's wife # Do not lie or incite others to lie # Do not drink or incite others to drink intoxicants For the

Uposatha The Uposatha ( sa, Upavasatha) is a Buddhist day of observance, in existence from the Buddha's time (600 BCE), and still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners. The Buddha taught that the Uposatha day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind ...

, the Buddha extols the practice of the Eight Precepts, which involve the aforementioned Five Precepts (with celibacy alone identified for the third precept) and the following three precepts added: * Do not eat at inappropriate times (traditionally meaning, one meal before noon) * Do not wear garlands or perfumes * Sleep at floor level The Buddha further stated that, when celebrating the Uposatha, with a purified heart (Pali: ''pasanna citto'') and rejoicing mind (Pali: ''anumodamāno''), the wise (Pali: ''viññu'') share their food and drink with monks of the

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

. In the sutta's last verse, the Buddha advises that, if a lay person supports their parents and engaging in fair trading, they will be reborn among self-radiant

deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

Notes

Bibliography

*Ireland, John D. (trans.) (1983a). ''Dhammika Sutta: Dhammika (excerpt)''

n 2.14 N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...

Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.2.14.irel.html. (In regards to this being an "excerpt," Ireland translates the entire sutta except for Dhammika's extensive celebratory homage to the Buddha in the sutta's beginning.) *Ireland, John D. (1983b). ''The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata''. Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/ireland/wheel082.html. *

Pali Text Society The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...

(PTS) (1921–25). ''The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary'' (PED). London:Chipstead. The entry on "gaha-tta-vatta" is available on-line a

A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/. *www.metta.lk (Mettanet-Lanka) (''undated'' . ''Dhammikasutta: The disciple Dhammika'' nglish Available on-line at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/5Khuddaka-Nikaya/05Suttanipata/2-cula-vagga-e.html#Dhammikasutta. The so-called "layman's rule of conduct" (here referred to as "the behaviour of disciples from a household ") starts at verse 393. *www.metta.lk (Mettanet-Lanka) (''undated'' . ''Dhammikasuttam'' omanized Pali Available on-line at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/5Khuddaka-Nikaya/05Suttanipata/2-culla-vagga-p.html#Dhammikasutta. The so-called "layman's rule of conduct" (''Gahatthavattam'') starts at verse 395.

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