Exploring the Path - Pāli Course

It seems worthwhile to remember this reminder the Buddha uttered to King Erakapatta.¹It is a unique ability amongst beings that human existence enriches humankind with the choice to opt for an honest, healthy, sincere and wholesome lifestyle. Based on this, they may further choose to also aim for spiritual growth.

Determined endeavor to use such ‘inherited’ means for communication, enhance the possibility of maintaining noble speech. Thus interaction with others sustains some basic principles of sammāsaṅkappo: reflecting on any harm done to oneself, avoiding any maltreatment of others so no negative effect for oneself or others can arise.²

Thus communication and cooperation can nurture harmony, support upright collaboration and foster participation in knowledge and achievement in wisdom. Then sammāvācā facilitates noble conduct and proper livelihood that promotes peace and nurtures welfare.

However, it remains the choice of each individual to choose a path to mental and physical wellbeing as has been highlighted by the Buddha.

Cattārome, bhikkhave, puggalā santo saṃvijjamānā lokasmiṃ. Tamo tamaparāyaṇo, tamo jotiparāyaṇo, joti tamaparāyaṇo, joti jotiparāyaṇo.

There are, Bhikkhus, four kinds of persons to be found in this world. There is one kind that is heading from darkness to darkness, another kind is heading from darkness towards brightness, the next kind is heading from brightness towards darkness and the other from brightness towards brightness.³

The chosen verses for this lesson, from the Pupphavaggo of the Dhammapada, are related to beings that during the time of the Buddha made that very honest choice. Both are connected to King Pasenadi of the Kosala country.

The first two verses refer to Queen Mallika⁴ and were uttered by the Buddha after Ananda had reported back about the different effect that the teaching had on the two chief queens of King Pasenadi: At one time Ānanda had been invited by the king to inspire the two queens Mallika and Vāsabhakhattiyā to learn the Dhamma instead of the householder Chattapāṇi. Chattapāṇi had refused a similar invitation as he felt that this should be the domain of Bhikkhus.⁵ While Queen Mallika absorbed attentively every discourse of Ānanda that was addressed to both in the royal chambers and tried to put the teaching into practice, Queen Vāsabhakhattiyā hardly applied the teaching.

The last verse relates to Vishākā, who was the daughter of the treasurer Dhanañjaya, also known as Migāramāta. It had been the case during those days that five extremely rich families lived in Maghada, while in Kosala not even one existed.

So her father Dhanañjaya had been asked by King Pasenadi, with permission of King Biṃbiṃsara, to move from his homeland Maghada to Kosala. So Dhanañjaya moved and settled with his family at a location that was later called Sāketa, a city especially established for him, which was seven leagues away from Sāvatti, the capital of the state.

There Vishāka was married to Puṇṇavaḍḍhanakumāro, the son of the treasurer Migāra from Sāvatthi and moved to her parent-in-laws’. Already in her early years, Vishāka had developed the wisdom of a sotāpanna and in the process of her life in Sāvatthi she managed slowly and wisely to inspire all the members of this family to adopt the teaching of the Buddha. Her father-in-law as well as her mother-in-law later attained the state of a sotāpanna. Harmony and peace prevailed in this family, with all members, particularly Vishāka, dedicating their lives and wealth to supporting the Saṅgha.

She initiated and donated to the construction of the Migāramātupāsāda monastery in the Pubbārāmapark at the western entrance to Sāvatthi, while the Jetavana monastery donated by Anāthapiṇdaka lay on the southern entrance of this ancient city.⁶