mangalasutta5

MANGALA SUTTA VANANA

20. Majjapana ca Sannamo

To Refrain From Indulging In Intoxicants Is Most Blissful.
An intoxicant that is of liquor and other spirits is a deadly enemy. It has to be checked in time to lessen the strength it might gain before it becomes deadly. This enemy operates from within and lies low for the right moment to strike. Keep a careful watch and do not for a moment relax, for however trifle it may be, once the habit gets a firm hold on the man, suffering is evident.
It is best to reflect on the consequences that a man when infatuated with intoxicants could cause himself to:-
1. Lose whatever wealth he possesses
2. Become quarrelsome
3. Be liable to disease
4. Lose his social status and be subject to evil reputation
5. Be prone to act in a shameful manner
6. Be weakened in intellect.
There is a tendency that in the excessive indulgence of intoxicants, a man may be driven to a semi-state of insanity.
He loses all sense of personal safety and well being. Like a mad bull, he looks for his kill and not conscious of his murderous act. He paints the path red by the blood of even his own parents or relatives, friends or strangers. By this violent act, he could cause injury to the Lord Buddha, the Pacceka Buddha or the Arahants - and in his waking state he would sigh with repentance but no retrieve could be made to set his folly right. The fires of hellish realms burn fiercely when death sweeps him off to begin in slow degrees, the mental torment which his folly has brought. While on his rebirths in this Samsara, his intellect would worsen to a state of insanity.

Illustration.

During the reign of king Brahmadatta, there lived a forester in the country of Kasi. He made a trip to the Himalayan forest in order to find something useful as a means to eke out his living. In the rich Himalayan forest, there was a large tree with a few big branches and creepers twined thickly on them and around its huge trunk, making festoons of dark green foliage. On top of this tree there was a large hole which formed a natural receptacle in which rain water collected.
Fruits of the yellow myrobalan trees and berries from the overhanging creepers, ripened and dropped into this natural receptacle on the tree-top. Birds hovered above carrying with them grains of paddy that grew wild on the wastelands. They perched at the edge of the receptacle to drink its water and also dropped their grains of paddy into it. During the dry weather, when the sun shone brightly, the little pool or receptacle with its mixed deposits of ripened fruits, berries, and paddy became warm and fermentation sets in. Birds and monkeys that drank its water became intoxicated and fell limply to the ground below. For awhile they remained lifeless, then they came to their senses and hurried away confused at the effect of the stimulant.
Sura, the forester, came to the scene. He was attracted by the number of birds that chirped gaily on the treetops. To his surprise, the birds fell one after another on the ground and they remained inert for some time. After tottering about as if under a magical spell, they took to their wings again. On investigating the treetop, Sura concluded that the crimson water collected in the hole could not be harmful as a drink. He collected some of the birds that remained on the ground and built a fire to roast them. He relished his simple dish of roasted birds and crimson beverage. Sura made the acquaintance of a hermit who lived in the forest. He was called Varuna. He offered him food prepared from the birds he roasted and the crimson beverage that he had collected from the tree-top. With joy he disclosed to Varuna the discovery of a wondrous stimulant which incidently was named after them.
Sura and Varuna conceived a plan to commercialise the stimulants which received a ready demand by the people of the city. Its popularity soon gained the interest of the king himself. Sura and Varuna found that they could not cope up with the demand of the King and his people for the constant supply of the stimulant. In order to solve their problem, they made a careful study of the process and in this crude way was the world’s first stimulants introduced from the treetop in the Himalayan region. The people in the city were jubilant since their wants were always satisfied by the big scale brewing of the stimulant in their own city. But their happiness was short-lived. They were more drunk than sober and as such, they wrecked their lives in utter ruin.
Sura and Varuna next moved on to the city of Savatthi and set up their business there. They made a roaring trade and King Sabbammitta quickly purchased five hundred jars. He set five hundred cats to keep away the rats from coming to the jars. The cats attracted by the smell of the stimulants, licked whatever that oozed out from the jars and as a result they were all laid to peaceful slumber. Rats came out in numbers and the five hundred cats were bitten all over their bodies.
The king was informed of the situation and he imposed the instant punishment of death on both Sura and Varuna for their intention to endanger his life. The five hundred jars of stimulants were ordered to be destroyed. But before anything could be done, the cats were found to be fully alive again. This eventually gained for the condemned men their reprieve from the king. The spirit had proved its worth not as a killer, but a truly remarkable stimulant. There upon the king desired to celebrate the great event. It turned out to be a big day for him with all the splendour in his court, where his ministers, officers and guests were all assembled and ready to give him a royal toast.
Sakkadevaraja the Buddha-elect, surveyed the universe to aid mankind in the performance of meritorious work. He saw king Sabbamitta and his men in the festive mood over the newly discovered stimulants. Sakkadevaraja knew that if the king were to propagate the extensive indulgence of the drinking habit it would cast the whole world in profound chaos and misery. He appeared as a brahmin sitting in mid-air facing the king and the assembly of men. He offered to sell the king the contents of the jar he had in his possession. The king thought it was strange for the brahmin to keep his ware secret and he demanded his right to be informed of it before he could be interested.
The brahmin with calmness and peace in his countenance addressed the king thus:- “O! king, it may tempt you to know the contents of this jar. It is neither fat nor oil nor honey but it is the stuff you can only know from the effect of its direct application. It would cause a man many an unsteady step and he would stumble as if over an obstacle. Confused, he would dance anywhere he set his foot or appearing like a runaway bull; he would pretend to attack any person at sight. It would even lull him to sleep long into the night or urge him to wander aimlessly like a lone wanderer without a home.
He would dance like a puppet, shooting out his legs, swinging his limbs and rolling his head. It would send him jerking fitfully from head to foot or he would be behaving in a mad way, not knowing the sense of justice nor of shame. His spirit would soar high in full fantasy, having come to own the whole world that would be his for ever. Within the next second, he would feign a weakling and lay his full length on the ground in the public place and babble words that are slanderous and abusive. If he is a modest man, he would turn to commit deeds that are shameful and detrimental to his good repute.
There are many ways whilst under its evil influence, for a man to commit wrongful deeds verbally, bodily and mentally. Can it be, that such a stimulant having done immense harm to human life, be considered helpful and useful?”
The king seeing his own folly and realising the truth in the wisdom of the brahmin, replied, “You, although you are not a parent nor a teacher, yet now you bestow on me the blessing derived from the doctrine you so render. As a token of my gratitude, it is my pleasure to impart to you my possession of five villages, the revenue from each of which would amount to one hundred thousand gold pieces and also one hundred slaves, seven hundred cows, and ten horse-carts.”
But now Sakkadevaraja appeared as he was, in his full glory and informed the king that he was no mere human being, but the king of gods and the material gifts though liberal in generosity, was of no significance to him. “Keep your vigilance day and night that you do not succumb, and be conscious of the ill it brings,” and so this ended the good mission of Sakkadevaraja. Thereafter, the king heedful of the doctrine of Sakkadevaraja, planned a saner life taking the precepts and giving away generously for the benefit of his people. After his death he was born in the realm of happiness.
Though this good king had completely destroyed the five hundred jars of wine, there was yet the evil done, for the brewing of wine was sought after and it began to spread to this day, causing at all times endless lives to be wrecked.

21. Appamado ca Dhammesu

To Be Heedful In Virtuous Deeds Is Most Blissful.
The last words of the Lord Buddha were, “All things are transient, work out your own deliverance with earnestness.” This is a definite good advice for all of us; the necessity that we work with earnestness. We are not to relax at any time in our encounter with the evil fetters of greed, hatred and ignorance, for these are the very fetters that keep us fast to our continued existence. It is our weakness that subjects every one of us to inactivity and so we become a constant slave to our senses. We become a ready victim to lust, hatred and illusion and lulled by their intoxication, we suffer in endless birth, decay and death.
Therefore, let us ponder well the words of the Lord Buddha. Let us strive with earnest intent. Every human being has a chance to live to the full realisation of his aim i.e. the deliverance from Samsara and its following trail of endless sufferings, for the Lord Buddha has said, that not only monks and nuns attained Nibbana but every layman and woman living a chaste life and free from the fetters of lust, hatred and ignorance could obtain deliverance.
Everyone has a ray of hope only if he wishes to accomplish it. As long as men strive after the highest wisdom i.e. enlightenment and Nibbana, they can reach the goal. The path of man is fraught with the allurements of the world that enraptures him with lust and delusion. With the advent of science and progress in the material welfare of the world today, it becomes an instant delusion that ensnares the mind of man. He is lost in his attraction like fireflies to the light; his craving for things mundane; for wealth, for power and fame; all the nightmare and the fire of his desires increases in greater degrees. Tossed in the ocean of Samsara, with no heedful purpose to steer clear of the course of lust, anger and delusion, he aims at his own ruin, to suffer in limitless rounds of rebirths.
This is not a picture of the gloomy aspect of life you are asked to look at. It is freshly alive with no danger of misrepresentation nor any facts misconstrued. The cause is that men do not walk on the path towards liberation, and that he does not desire to gain control over his thoughts, words and deeds. As a result, he founders, for his good is lost without the rudder of heedful diligence.
Life is but a brief span on this earth that will bear us off to attain the Goal of Nibbana. Then why squander away our lives in search of things mundane, to gratify our senses, to lull us to false security, and to cast us into permanent struggle for existence in the never-ending battle of life. We shudder seeing myriads and myriads of men marching towards their graves in utter wreck, under pain and torture on earth, and even carried on to hellish state the cruel torment.
Yet escape is all possible. Therefore, make haste, else the day closes without undoing our fetters. Make every moment the moment of exertion, of earnest striving towards perfection leading to Nibbana.

Illustration.

It was in the Jetavana Temple that two bhikkhus took their leave of the Lord Buddha, after he had instructed them in the subject of meditation. They left for the forest to meditate. Of the two bhikkhus, one was heedful; the other was heedless. The heedless bhikkhu made a collection of twigs and built a fire to keep himself warm, for the night was dark and cold. He had a company of novices, and he engaged them in conversation far into the night.
The heedful bhikkhu kept himself in seclusion and so sincere was his purpose, that he soon found himself deep in meditation. He took a rest as a break, to ease his peaceful mind and it was during this period, that the heedless bhikkhu turned to him and said, “I bid thee to keep constantly in check else you may lapse into heedlessness, for the door of hell is open to receive the heedless one. Heedfulness is our watch-word, since we received the subject of meditation from the Lord Buddha. We do not come here all the way to gladden the heart of the Blessed One; we are here on our fixed mission to put our purpose to real effort, that we may see Truth in our ultimate realisation. Therefore, strive on, my comrade.
The heedful bhikkhu remained silent. The heedless bhikkhu returned to warm himself by the fireside as the cold in the forest became more intense. He kept on striking the note of heedlessness from time to time, yet forsaking himself the task he was expected to perform. The diligent bhikkhu in deep silence, meditated till daybreak, his mind set to gain the knowledge of Truth. It was not long, that after a numerous days of earnest struggle, he came to the end of his quest - he attained Arahantship.
When the rainy season observance was over, the two bhikkhus returned to the Jetavana Temple. The Lord Buddha enquired as to the progress of their meditation and the achievement they had made. The heedless Bhikkhu said, “O! Lord, when we retired to the forest to keep ourselves in quiet meditation, this foolish bhikkhu found it opportune to sleep most of the time.” Then the Lord Buddha asked him, “And did you in your diligence make any progress in your meditation?”
The heedless bhikkhu replied, “O! Lord, I saw to my duty to collect wood for fire to keep ourselves warm in the dark cold night. I maintained the spirit of liveliness in the company where I conferred with the novices on the subject of interest that appealed to most of us.” The Lord Buddha said, “You have been heedless all the time when you think you are heedful and diligent. You have acted like a lame horse in the great course of strife. You have been overtaken by a more heedful bhikkhu, who, striving like a steady, swift horse, does indeed make strides towards achievement.”

22. Garavo ca

To Respect And Honour Those Who Deserve Them Is Most Blissful
This includes the proper veneration of the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha and the respect for parents and teachers, wise people, good persons and elders, in fact a general high regard for everyone. Even the Buddha after his Enlightenment surveyed the world to try to find a teacher to revere. When he realised that there were no teacher who had surpassed his own attainments, then he proclaimed that he would live revering the Dhamma.
The further one has gone along the Path of the Dhamma, the more reverence one has for it as well for others who have practised it correctly.
One shows respect and honour to those worthy ones by giving them a seat of honour, stands up to receive them, makes way for them and for religious teachers, one places one’s hand together and bows at their feet. Anyone who is respectful will in this present life be blessed and will be reborn in a better sphere of life. If they are born in the human world, they are sure to become members of respectable families.

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