Sāleyyakasutta

Majjhima Nikāya 41

The People of Sālā · Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral

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Evaṁ dhammacariyāsamacariyāhetu kho, gahapatayo, evam’idhekacce sattā kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā sugatiṁ saggaṁ lokaṁ upapajjanti.

This is how principled and moral conduct is the reason why some sentient beings, when their body breaks up, after death, are reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.

Ākaṅkheyya ce, gahapatayo, dhammacārī samacārī:
‘aho vatāhaṁ kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā khattiyamahāsālānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjeyyan’ti;
ṭhānaṁ kho panetaṁ vijjati, yaṁ so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā khattiyamahāsālānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjeyya.
Taṁ kissa hetu?
Tathā hi so dhammacārī samacārī.

Someone of principled and moral conduct might wish: ‘If only, when my body breaks up, after death, I would be reborn in the company of well-to-do aristocrats!’ It’s possible that this might happen. Why is that? Because they have principled and moral conduct.

Ākaṅkheyya ce, gahapatayo, dhammacārī samacārī:
‘aho vatāhaṁ kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā brāhmaṇamahāsālānaṁ …pe…
gahapatimahāsālānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjeyyan’ti;
ṭhānaṁ kho panetaṁ vijjati, yaṁ so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā gahapatimahāsālānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjeyya.
Taṁ kissa hetu?
Tathā hi so dhammacārī samacārī.

Someone of principled and moral conduct might wish: ‘If only, when my body breaks up, after death, I would be reborn in the company of well-to-do brahmins … well-to-do householders …

Ākaṅkheyya ce, gahapatayo, dhammacārī samacārī:
‘aho vatāhaṁ kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā cātumahārājikānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjeyyan’ti;
ṭhānaṁ kho panetaṁ vijjati, yaṁ so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā cātumahārājikānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjeyya.
Taṁ kissa hetu?
Tathā hi so dhammacārī samacārī.
Ākaṅkheyya ce, gahapatayo, dhammacārī samacārī:
‘aho vatāhaṁ kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā tāvatiṁsānaṁ devānaṁ …pe…
yāmānaṁ devānaṁ …
tusitānaṁ devānaṁ …
nimmānaratīnaṁ devānaṁ …
paranimmitavasavattīnaṁ devānaṁ …
brahmakāyikānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjeyyan’ti;
ṭhānaṁ kho panetaṁ vijjati, yaṁ so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā brahmakāyikānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjeyya.
Taṁ kissa hetu?
Tathā hi so dhammacārī samacārī.
Ākaṅkheyya ce, gahapatayo, dhammacārī samacārī:

the gods of the four great kings … the gods of the thirty-three … the gods of Yama … the joyful gods … the gods who love to create … the gods who control what is created by others … the gods of the Divinity’s host …

the luminous gods … the gods of limited luminosity … the gods of limitless luminosity … the gods of sublime luminosity … the gods of limited beauty … the gods of limitless beauty … the gods of universal beauty … the gods of abundant fruit … the gods of Aviha … the gods of Atappa … the gods fair to see … the fair seeing gods … the gods of Akaniṭṭha … the gods of the dimension of infinite space … the gods of the dimension of infinite consciousness … the gods of the dimension of nothingness … the gods of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.’

ṭhānaṁ kho panetaṁ vijjati, yaṁ so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā nevasaññānāsaññāyatanūpagānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjeyya.
Taṁ kissa hetu?
Tathā hi so dhammacārī samacārī.

It’s possible that this might happen. Why is that? Because they have principled and moral conduct.

Ākaṅkheyya ce, gahapatayo, dhammacārī samacārī:
‘aho vatāhaṁ āsavānaṁ khayā anāsavaṁ cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja vihareyyan’ti;
ṭhānaṁ kho panetaṁ vijjati, yaṁ so āsavānaṁ khayā anāsavaṁ cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja vihareyya.
Taṁ kissa hetu?
Tathā hi so dhammacārī samacārī”ti.

Someone of principled and moral conduct might wish: ‘If only I might realize the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom, and live having realized it with my own insight in this very life due to the ending of defilements.’ It’s possible that this might happen. Why is that? Because they have principled and moral conduct.”

Evaṁ vutte, sāleyyakā brāhmaṇagahapatikā bhagavantaṁ etadavocuṁ:
“abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama, abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama.
Seyyathāpi, bho gotama, nikkujjitaṁ vā ukkujjeyya, paṭicchannaṁ vā vivareyya, mūḷhassa vā maggaṁ ācikkheyya, andhakāre vā telapajjotaṁ dhāreyya: ‘cakkhumanto rūpāni dakkhantī’ti; evamevaṁ bhotā gotamena anekapariyāyena dhammo pakāsito.
Ete mayaṁ bhavantaṁ gotamaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāma dhammañca bhikkhusaṅghañca.
Upāsake no bhavaṁ gotamo dhāretu ajjatagge pāṇupete saraṇaṁ gate”ti.
Sāleyyakasuttaṁ niṭṭhitaṁ paṭhamaṁ.

When he had spoken, the brahmins and householders of Sālā said to the Buddha, “Excellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what’s there, worthy Gotama has made the teaching clear in many ways. We go for refuge to the worthy Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Saṅgha. From this day forth, may the worthy Gotama remember us as lay followers who have gone for refuge for life.”

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