18.7 The Story about Five Hundred Lay Disciples
Pañcasata-Upāsakavatthu
Dhp 246-248
CST4: Pañcaupāsakavatthu
Burlingame: All of the Precepts are Hard to Keep
Some laymen were arguing as to which of the precepts is the hardest to keep; the Buddha told them they are all hard to keep, and explained the matter further with some verses.
Keywords: Precepts
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“The one who kills living beings,” this Dhamma teaching was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Jetavana with reference to five lay disciples. AJ: PTS reads 500, which does not fit the story.
For one kept only the precept of abstinence from the taking of life; another, another precept, and so on. One day they fell into a dispute, each of them saying: “It is a hard thing I have to do; it is a hard precept I have to keep.” And going to the Teacher, they saluted him and referred the whole matter to him.
The Teacher listened to what they had to say, and then, without naming a single precept as of lesser importance, said: “All of the precepts are hard to keep.” So saying, he pronounced the following verses:
246. Yo pāṇam-atipāteti, musāvādañ-ca bhāsati,
loke adinnaṁ ādiyati, paradārañ-ca gacchati,
The one who kills living beings,
and speaks a word that is not true,
who takes what is not given here,
and who goes to another’s wife,
247. surāmerayapānañ-ca yo naro anuyuñjati,
idhevam-eso lokasmiṁ mūlaṁ khaṇati attano.
that person who is devoted
to a drink of liquor, beer and wine,
digs up his own root in the world.
248. Evaṁ bho purisa jānāhi, pāpadhammā asaññatā,
mā taṁ lobho adhammo ca ciraṁ dukkhāya randhayuṁ.
Know it thus, dear sir, a lack of
restraint is a bad thing, let not
greed and corruption oppress you
with suffering for a long time.
At the end of the teaching the five hundred lay disciples were established in the fruition of Stream-entry, and those who had assembled also had benefit from the teaching.