Snp 3.3 - Sn 3:3 Well-spoken
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/StNp/StNp3_3.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: MN 21; MN 58; SN 11:5; AN 4:183; AN 5:198; AN 8:8; 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.

3:3 Well-spoken

(This sutta is identical with SN 8:5.)

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There he addressed the monks, “Monks!”

“Yes, lord,” the monks responded to him.

The Blessed One said: “Monks, speech endowed with four characteristics is well-spoken, not poorly spoken—faultless & not to be faulted by the observant. Which four? There is the case where a monk says only what is well-spoken, not what is poorly spoken; only what is just, not what is unjust; only what is endearing, not what is unendearing; only what is true, not what is false. Speech endowed with these four characteristics is well-spoken, not poorly spoken—faultless & not to be faulted by the observant.”

That is what the Blessed One said. Having said this, the One Well-Gone, the Teacher, said further:

The calm say that what is well-spoken is best;
second, that one should say
      what is just, not unjust;
third, what’s endearing, not unendearing;
fourth, what is true, not false.

Then Ven. Vaṅgīsa,1 rising from his seat, arranging his robe over one shoulder, faced the Blessed One with his hands palm-to-palm in front of his heart and said, “An inspiration has come to me, Blessed One! An inspiration has come to me, One Well-Gone!”

“Let the inspiration come to you, Vaṅgīsa,” the Blessed One said.

Then Ven. Vaṅgīsa praised the Blessed One to his face with these fitting verses:

“Speak only the speech
that neither torments self
nor does harm to others.
  That speech is truly well-spoken.

Speak only endearing speech,
speech that is welcomed.
Speech when it brings no evil
      to others
      is pleasant.

Truth, indeed, is deathless speech:
This is a primeval principle.
The goal and the Dhamma
      —so say the calm—
are firmly established on truth.

The speech the Awakened One speaks,
for attaining unbinding,
      rest,
for making an end
to the mass of stress:
      That is the speech unsurpassed.”

vv. 450–454

Note

1. See Sn 2:12, note 1.