Snp 1.6 - Sn 1:6 Decline
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/StNp/StNp1_6.html
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Publisher references (not part of the sutta): See also: AN 5:129; AN 5:175; AN 8:54; AN 10:165
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.

1:6 Decline

I have heard that at one time the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then a certain deva, in the far extreme of the night, her extreme radiance lighting up the entirety of Jeta’s Grove, went to the Blessed One. On arrival, having bowed down to him, she stood to one side. As she was standing there, she addressed him with a verse:

About the man in decline
we ask Gotama,
having come to question the Blessed One:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
Easily known is the one of good prospects;
easily known,1 the one in decline.
The one of good prospects
            loves the Dhamma,
the one in decline
            detests it.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the first one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the second:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
The wicked are dear to him,
the good he doesn’t hold dear.
He approves of the ideas of the wicked:
  That is the way leading to decline.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the second one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the third:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
Prone to sleep, prone to company,
the man with no initiative,
lazy & known for his anger:
  That is the way leading to decline.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the third one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the fourth:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
Though capable, one doesn’t support
one’s mother or father
—old, their youth over & done:
  That is the way leading to decline.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the fourth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the fifth:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
Whoever deceives with a lie
a brahman, contemplative,
or other mendicant:
  That is the way leading to decline.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the fifth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the sixth:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
The man of great wealth,
with gold & food,
enjoys his luxuries alone:
  That is the way leading to decline.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the sixth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the seventh:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
The man proud of his birth,
proud of his wealth,
proud of his clan,
despises his own relatives:
  That is the way leading to decline.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the seventh one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the eighth:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
The man debauched with women,
debauched in drink,
debauched in gambling,
squanders his earnings:
  That is the way leading to decline.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the eighth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the ninth:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
One uncontent with his own wives,
misbehaves with prostitutes
& the wives of others2:
  That is the way leading to decline.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the ninth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the tenth:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
His youth past,
a man takes a young woman
with timbara-fruit breasts,
and, jealous of her, doesn’t sleep:
  That is the way leading to decline.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the tenth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the eleventh:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
To place in authority
a woman given to drink & squandering
or a man of that sort:
  That is the way leading to decline.

The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the eleventh one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the twelfth:
What is the way leading to decline?

The Buddha:
One of meager means
but great craving,
born into a noble family,
who aspires to kingship:
  That is the way leading to decline.

Contemplating
  these ones in decline
  in the world,
the wise one,
consummate in noble view,
  heads to a world
  auspicious.

vv. 91–115

Notes

1. Suvijāno. The Thai edition reads, duvijāno, “hard to know,” which doesn’t fit with the meaning or with SnA’s explanation of the verse.

2. Reading padussati and dussati with the Thai edition. The PTS and Sri Lankan editions read padissati/dissati, “he is seen.”