AN 4.79 - Vanijja Sutta: Trade
Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.079.than.html
License: CC-BY-NC-4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Copyright: ©1999 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
License notice: The text of this page ("Vanijja Sutta: Trade", 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: ©1999 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page ("Vanijja Sutta: Trade", 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): "Vanijja Sutta: Trade" (AN 4.79), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.079.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.

Then Ven. Sariputta went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One, "What is the reason, lord, what is the cause why a certain trade, when engaged in by some people, turns out a failure? What is the reason, what is the cause why the same sort of trade, when engaged in by other people, turns out not as intended? What is the reason, what is the cause why the same sort of trade, when engaged in by other people, turns out as intended? What is the reason, what is the cause why the same sort of trade, when engaged in by other people, turns out better than intended?"

"There is the case, Sariputta, where a certain person, having gone to a brahman or contemplative, makes him an offer: 'Tell me, sir, what you need in terms of the [four] requisites.' But he doesn't give what he offered. If he passes away from there and comes here, then whatever trade he engages in, it turns out a failure.

"Then there is the case where a certain person, having gone to a brahman or contemplative, makes him an offer: 'Tell me, sir, what you need in terms of the [four] requisites.' But he gives him something other than what he intended by the offer. If he passes away from there and comes here, then whatever trade he engages in, it turns out not as intended.

"Then there is the case where a certain person, having gone to a brahman or contemplative, makes him an offer: 'Tell me, sir, what you need in terms of the [four] requisites.' He gives him what he intended by the offer. If he passes away from there and comes here, then whatever trade he engages in, it turns out as intended.

"Then there is the case where a certain person, having gone to a brahman or contemplative, makes him an offer: 'Tell me, sir, what you need in terms of the [four] requisites.' He gives him more than what he intended by the offer. If he passes away from there and comes here, then whatever trade he engages in, it turns out better than intended.

"This is the reason, Sariputta, this is the cause why a certain trade, when engaged in by some people, turns out a failure; why the same sort of trade, when engaged in by other people, turns out not as intended; why the same sort of trade, when engaged in by other people, turns out as intended; why the same sort of trade, when engaged in by other people, turns out better than intended."