Some speak with malicious intent, while others speak set on truth. When disputes come up a sage does not get involved, which is why they’ve no barrenness at all.
How can you transcend your own view when you’re led by preference, dogmatic in belief? Inventing your own undertakings, you’d speak according to your notion.
Some personages, unasked, tell others of their own precepts and vows. They have an ignoble nature, say those who are skilled, since they speak on themselves of their own accord.
A mendicant, peaceful, quenched, never boasts “thus am I” of their precepts. They have a noble nature, say those who are skilled, who have no pretensions about anything in the world.
For one who formulates and creates teachings, and promotes them despite their defects, if they see an advantage for themselves, they become dependent on that, relying on unstable peace.
It’s not easy to get over dogmatic views adopted after judging among the teachings. That’s why, among all these dogmas, a person ditches one teaching and takes up another.
The cleansed one has no formulated view at all in the world about the different realms. Having given up illusion and conceit, by what path would they go? They are not involved.
For one who gets involved is embroiled in disputes about teachings—but how to dispute with the uninvolved? About what? For picking up and putting down is not what they do; they have shaken off all views in this very life.
Eight on Malice
Snp 4.3 · Duṭṭhaṭṭhakasutta
Connections
Collection & context
- Sutta NipātaThe collection containing this text
- The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
- Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
- The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting
Books
- The Buddha before Buddhism: Wisdom from the Early TeachingsGil Fronsdal (translator and commentator) · Translation & commentary
- Handful of Leaves: an Anthology from the Sutta PiṭakaEarly Buddhist discourses; Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (translator and compiler) · Included in anthology
About this edition
Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato · SuttaCentral · CC0
This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.
Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.
The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.