AN 10.15 - Appamada Sutta: Heedfulness
Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.015.than.html
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Copyright: ©2000 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
License notice: The text of this page ("Appamada Sutta: Heedfulness", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions.
Attribution: ©2000 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page ("Appamada Sutta: Heedfulness", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Transcribed from a file provided by the translator. Last revised for Access to Insight on 30 November 2013. How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Appamada Sutta: Heedfulness" (AN 10.15), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.015.than.html .
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

"To the extent that there are animals — footless, two-footed, four-footed, many footed; with form or formless; percipient, non-percipient, or neither percipient nor non-percipient — the Tathagata, worthy & rightly self-awakened, is reckoned the foremost among them. In the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them.

"Just as the footprints of all legged animals are encompassed by the footprint of the elephant, and the elephant's footprint is reckoned the foremost among them in terms of size; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them.

"Just as the rafters in a peak-roofed house all go to the roof-peak, incline to the roof-peak, converge at the roof-peak, and the roof-peak is reckoned the foremost among them; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them.

"Just as, of all root fragrances, black aloes-root is reckoned the foremost; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them.

"Just as, of all wood fragrances, red sandalwood is reckoned the foremost; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them.

"Just as, of all flower fragrances, jasmine is reckoned the foremost; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them.

"Just as all wattle-and-daub-town princes fall subject to a wheel-turning emperor, and the wheel-turning emperor is reckoned the foremost among them; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them.

"Just as all the light of the constellations does not equal one sixteenth of the light of the moon, and the light of the moon is reckoned the foremost among them; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them.

"Just as in the last month of the rains, in autumn, when the sky is clear & cloudless, the sun, on ascending the sky, overpowers the space immersed in darkness, shines, blazes, & dazzles; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them.

"Just as the great rivers — such as the Ganges, the Yamuna, the Aciravati, the Sarabhu, & the Mahi — all go to the ocean, incline to the ocean, slope to the ocean, tend toward the ocean, and the ocean is reckoned the foremost among them; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them."