Aṅguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka-Nipāta
11. Phāsu-Vihāra Vagga

The book of the Fives

Chapter XI: The Abodes of Comfort

Sutta 103

Mahā Cora Suttaṃ

The Robber

[98]

Thus have I heard:

Once the Exalted One dwelt near Sāvatthī;
and there he addressed the monks, saying:

"Monks."

'Yes, lord,' they replied; and the Exalted One said:

"Monks,¹ a robber chief,
pursuing five courses,
breaks into houses,
makes off with plunder,
makes for lonely houses²
or lies in wait in the highway.

What five?

Herein, monks, a robber chief
relies on the roughness of the way,
the entanglements,
and the powerful,
he is a briber³
and works alone.

And how, monks, does the robber chief
rely on the roughness of the way?

He relies on the rivers being unfordable
and on the roughness of the mountains.

Thus, monks, a robber chief
relies on the roughness of the way.

■

And how does he rely on the entanglements?

He relies [99] on the entanglement of the grass,
the trees,
the thickets⁴
and the great forest-wilderness.

Thus, monks, a robber chief
relies on the entanglements.

■

And how does he rely on the powerful?

He relies on rajahs and their ministers.

He thinks:

'If any question me,
these rajahs or their ministers
will tell a tale in my defence' —

and if any do question him,
they speak up for him.

Thus, monks, a robber chief
relies on the powerful.

■

And how is he a briber?

He is rich with great wealth and property;
and he thinks:

'Should anyone question me,
I'll make him friendly from now on
by a bribe' —

and if anyone does question him,
he acts in this way.

Thus, monks, a robber chief is a briber.

■

And how, monks, does a robber chief work alone?

Herein, monks, a robber chief
deals with his loot⁵ alone.

Any why is that?

He thinks:

'Let none plan the hiding place with me⁶
and then embroil me!

Thus, monks, a robber chief works alone.

Monks, pursuing these five courses
a robber chief breaks into houses,
makes off with plunder,
makes for lonely houses
or lies in wait in the highway.

Monks, in just the same way
an evil monk,
following five courses,
goes about to dig⁷ a pit
to hurt himself;
and he is blamed
and censured by the wise
and begets demerit.

What five?

Herein, monks, the evil monk
relies on roughness,
relies on entanglements,
relies on the powerful,
and he is a briber
and works alone.

And how, monks,
does the evil monk
rely on roughness?

He is possessed of roughness in body-working,
of roughness in word-working
and of roughness in mind-working.

Thus, monks, the evil monk
relies on roughness.

■

[100] And how, monks, does he rely on entanglements?

He is one of wrong views
and he follows the views of the extremist.⁸

Thus, monks, the evil monk relies on entanglements.

■

And how, monks, does he rely on the powerful?

He relies on rajahs
or their ministers;
he thinks:

'If any question me,
these rajahs
or their ministers
will tell a tale in my defence' -
and if any do question him,
they speak up for him.

Thuss, monks, the evil monk
relies on the powerful.

■

And how, monks, is he a briber?

The evil monk is a receiver of the requisites:
the robe,
alms,
lodging
and medicaments;
and he thinks:

'Should anyone question me,
I will make him friendly from now on
by a good turn' —
and if anyone does question him,
he acts in this way.

Thus, monks, the evil monk is a briber.

■

And how, monks,
does the evil monk work alone?

Herein, monks, he has a house built for himself
alone in the country outskirts,
and from there visits the families
and gets gain.

Thus, monks, the evil monk works alone.

Monks, following these five courses
an evil monk
goes about to dig a pit to hurt himself;
and he is blamed
and censured by the wise
and begets demerit.'

¹ Cf. A. i, 153 (G.S. I, 137) for the first three items of this sutta, Vin. ii, 89 for other five.

² Ekāgārikaṃ karoti. Comy. on A. i: rounding on a lonely house for plunder; ekāgārika has quite a different meaning at D. i, 166; see Dial. i, 229. The whole set is stock; Cf. D. i, 62; M. ii, 88; S. iii, 208.

³ Bhogacāgī

⁴ The text reads rodhaṃ, but S.e. with v.l. gedhaṃ; see G.S. i, 137 n.

⁵ Niggahaṇāni. Comy. parasantakānaṃ bhaṇḍānaṃ gahaṇāni. I suppose the prefix here is ni; P.E.D. only gives the form with nis (nir).

⁶ Guyhamantā. Comy. guhitabbamantā.

⁷ Khataṃ upahataṃ attānaṃ pariharati. Comy. on A. i: guṇakhaṇanena khataṃ; Cf. Job vi, 27; Psalm lvii, 6; more literally, possessed of five conditions, be carries himself round, dug, hurt. Cf. below, p. 274 text.