SN 56.10 · Pali Canon (Tipiṭaka) – English & Pāli · Verses Across
Buddhism · Sutta Pitaka · Linked Discourses (Saṁyutta)
SN 56.10Low Talk · Tiracchānakathāsutta
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Buddhism · Sutta Pitaka · Linked Discourses (Saṁyutta)
SN 56.10
Low Talk · Tiracchānakathāsutta
EnglishEnglish
PāliPali
“Mendicants, don’t engage in all kinds of low talk, such as talk about kings, bandits, and chief ministers; talk about armies, threats, and wars; talk about food, drink, clothes, and beds; talk about garlands and fragrances; talk about family, vehicles, villages, towns, cities, and countries; talk about women and heroes; talk at the street market and the place for water pots; talk about the departed; motley talk; tales of land and sea; and talk about being reborn in this or that place. Why is that? Because those discussions aren’t beneficial or relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. They don’t lead to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment.
“Mā, bhikkhave, anekavihitaṁ tiracchānakathaṁ katheyyātha, seyyathidaṁ— rājakathaṁ corakathaṁ mahāmattakathaṁ senākathaṁ, bhayakathaṁ yuddhakathaṁ, annakathaṁ pānakathaṁ vatthakathaṁ sayanakathaṁ mālākathaṁ gandhakathaṁ, ñātikathaṁ yānakathaṁ gāmakathaṁ nigamakathaṁ nagarakathaṁ janapadakathaṁ itthikathaṁ sūrakathaṁ visikhākathaṁ kumbhaṭṭhānakathaṁ, pubbapetakathaṁ nānattakathaṁ, lokakkhāyikaṁ samuddakkhāyikaṁ itibhavābhavakathaṁ iti vā. Taṁ kissa hetu? Nesā, bhikkhave, kathā atthasaṁhitā nādibrahmacariyakā na nibbidāya na virāgāya na nirodhāya na upasamāya na abhiññāya na sambodhāya na nibbānāya saṁvattati.
When you discuss, you should discuss: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’. …
