Aṅguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka Nipāta
V: Muṇḍa-Rāja Vagga

The Book of the Fives

V. Rajah Muṇḍa

Sutta 45

Yields in Merit

 

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[51] [42]

Thus have I heard:

Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī,
at Jeta Grove,
in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.

There the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:

"Monks."

"Yes, lord," they replied, and the Exalted One said:

"Monks,¹ there are these five yields in merit,
yields in goodness,
the food of happiness,
heavenly,
ripening to happiness,
leading heavenward,
conducive to what is welcome,
sought after,
to the lovely,
to good
and to happiness.

What five?

Monks, whose robe a monk enjoys the use of,
while entering [43] and abiding in limitless mind-concentration -
unto him shall come
unlimited yield in merit,
yields in goodness,
the food of happiness,
heavenly,
ripening to happiness,
leading heavenward,
conducive to what is welcome,
sought after,
to the lovely,
to good
and to happiness.

■

Monks, whose alms a monk enjoys the use of,
while entering and abiding in limitless mind-concentration -
unto him shall come
unlimited yield in merit,
yields in goodness,
the food of happiness,
heavenly,
ripening to happiness,
leading heavenward,
conducive to what is welcome,
sought after,
to the lovely,
to good
and to happiness.

■

Monks, whose lodging a monk enjoys the use of,
while entering and abiding in limitless mind-concentration -
unto him shall come
unlimited yield in merit,
yields in goodness,
the food of happiness,
heavenly,
ripening to happiness,
leading heavenward,
conducive to what is welcome,
sought after,
to the lovely,
to good
and to happiness.

■

Monks, whose bed and bench a monk enjoys the use of,
while entering and abiding in limitless mind-concentration -
unto him shall come
unlimited yield in merit,
yields in goodness,
the food of happiness,
heavenly,
ripening to happiness,
leading heavenward,
conducive to what is welcome,
sought after,
to the lovely,
to good
and to happiness.

■

Monks, whose medicaments for sickness a monk enjoys the use of,
while entering and abiding in limitless mind-concentration -
unto him shall come
unlimited yield in merit,
yields in goodness,
the food of happiness,
heavenly,
ripening to happiness,
leading heavenward,
conducive to what is welcome,
sought after,
to the lovely,
to good
and to happiness.

■

Monks, these are the five yields in merit,
yields in goodness,
the food of happiness,
heavenly,
ripening to happiness,
leading heavenward,
conducive to what is welcome,
sought after,
to the lovely,
to good
and to happiness.

 

§

 

Monks, of the Ariyan disciple,
endowed with these five yields in merit,
yields in goodness,
the food of happiness,
heavenly,
ripening to happiness,
leading heavenward,
conducive to what is welcome,
sought after,
to the lovely,
to good
and to happiness,
it is not easy to grasp the measure of merit
and to say:

Thus much is the yield in merit,
yields in goodness,
the food of happiness,
heavenly,
ripening to happiness,
leading heavenward,
conducive to what is welcome,
sought after,
to the lovely,
to good
and to happiness,
but this great mass of merit is reckoned incalculable,
immeasurable.

■

Monks, just as it is not easy to grasp² the amount of water in the mighty ocean and to say:

There are so many³ pailfuls of water,
or hundreds of pailfuls,
or thousands of pailfuls,
or hundreds of thousands of pailfuls of water,
but the great mass of water
is just reckoned incalculable,
immeasurable;
even so, monks, it is not easy to grasp the measure of merit
of the Ariyan disciple
endowed with these five yields of merit and goodness,
and to say:

Thus much is the yield in merit,
yields in goodness,
the food of happiness,
heavenly,
ripening to happiness,
leading heavenward,
conducive to what is welcome,
sought after,
to the lovely,
to good
and to happiness,
but this great mass of merit is reckoned incalculable,
immeasurable.

Vast deeps immeasurable, fearsome pool,
The oozy home of sumless treasuries⁴-
There flow the rivers, there to meet the sea,
[44] Serving the needs of countless hosts of men:⁵ -
And to that man, wise almoner, who gives
Food, drink, clothes, bed, seat, mat, comes meed in torrents,
As rivers, bringing water, to the sea.'

 

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¹ Comy. refers to A. ii, 54; [AN 4.51 Woodward] where the whole sutta occurs, except that here lodging (senāsana) is expanded into lodging (vihāra) and bed and chair (mañcapīthaṃ), thus making the five heads required. Cf. also A. iv, 245 [AN 8.39 Hare]; S. v, 391; [SN 5.55.31 Woodward].

² Our text and S.e. gahetuṃ; S. v, 400 gaṇetuṃ.

³ Our text should read udakālhakānī ti; see Rhys Davids' Coins and Measures of Ceylon, p. 19 f. S. v, trsl. gallon, but it seems to be more than that. For the simile see below VI, § 37.

⁴ Ratanagaṇanaṃ ālayaṃ (from √li, to stick); cf. Henry V, I, ii, 165.

⁵ Our text reads maccha-, fish, but all other texts nara.