Sigālovāda Sutta is the 31st Sutta described in the Digha Nikaya ("Long Discourses of Buddha").[1] It is also known as the Sīgāla Sutta,[2] the Sīgālaka Sutta,[3] the Siṅgālovāda Sutta, the Siṅgāla Sutta,[4] and the Sigālovāda Suttanta ("The Sigāla Homily").[5]
Buddhaghosa has referred to this sutta as "the Vinaya [Buddhist code of discipline] of the householder."[6]
In modern times, Bhikkhu Bodhi has identified this sutta as the "most comprehensive Nikāya text" which pertains "to the happiness directly visible in this present life."[7]
Sutta summary
Sigala's honoring his father
The Sigalovada Sutta takes place when Buddha encountered a youth called Sigala in his morning stroll. The young man, in drenched attire, prostrated and worshipped the four compass directions (East, South, West, and North), plus the Earth (Down) and the Sky (Up). When asked by Buddha why he did so, the youth Sigala replied that he had been told by his late father to do so and he thought that it was right to uphold his father's wishes. Buddha then, based on Sigala's point of view, taught him how a noble one (Pali: ariya) should worship the Six directions.
Avoid evil ways
The Buddha first describes fourteen evil ways that should be avoided by a householder. The Buddha enumerates these evil ways to be avoided as:
The Buddha then elaborated on the importance of having and being a true friend, as he described what true friends are; and what true friends are not; and, how true friends will aid in attaining a blissful life.
Protect close relationships
Finally, returning to the topic of the six directions, the Buddha described the Four Compass Direction as: parents (East), teachers (South), spouse[10] (West), and friends and colleagues (North), and the two vertical directions as: ascetics (Up) and the Servants (Down). He elaborated on how to respect and support them, and how in turn the Six will return the kindness and support.
The householder's commitments and the reciprocal acts of those he honors, as identified by the Buddha, are represented below in accordance with the four directions on the horizontal plane (east, south, west and north):
North FRIENDS
commitments
reciprocal acts
generosity kind words helpfulness impartiality integrity
supportiveness protect your wealth provide shelter loyalty honor your family
West SPOUSES
commitments
reciprocal acts
honor her respect her fidelity share authority provide gifts
organize duties hospitality fidelity wise budgeting skillfulness
East PARENTS
commitments
reciprocal acts
support them fulfill their duties honor traditions deserve inheritance honor their passing
restrain from evil nurture goodness teach skills arrange marriage provide inheritance
South TEACHERS
commitments
reciprocal acts
rise to greet them attend to them eager receptivity serve them master their teaching
thoroughly instruct ensure comprehension provide well-roundedness provide referrals ensure safety
Nadir WORKERS
commitments
reciprocal acts
apt work just wages health care perks leave time
rise early stay late no stealing work well allegiance
To the left are shown the householder's commitments to and the reciprocal acts of employees and servants (representing the nadir, below the practitioner's body).
To the right are shown the householder's commitments to and the reciprocal acts of religious guides (representing the zenith, above the practitioner's body).
Zenith ASCETICS
commitments
reciprocal acts
loving acts loving speech loving thoughts hospitality material support
restrain from evil nurture goodness lovingkindness enlighten clarify teach goodness
Contemporary commentaries
Bhikkhu Bodhi has contrasted the Buddha's responsibility-reciprocity statements[11] with modern-day social theory, stating:
"This practice of 'worshipping the six directions,' as explained by the Buddha, presupposes that society is sustained by a network of interlocking relationships that bring coherence to the social order when its members fulfill their reciprocal duties and responsibilities in a spirit of kindness, sympathy, and good will.... Thus, for Early Buddhism, the social stability and security necessary for human happiness and fulfillment are achieved, not through aggressive and potentially disruptive demands for 'rights' posed by competing groups, but by the renunciation of self-interest and the development of a sincere, large-hearted concern for the welfare of others and the good of the greater whole."[12]
^Complete English translations of this sutta include Kelly, Sawyer & Yareham (2005), Narada (1996) and Walshe (1995), pp. 461-69. Bodhi (2005), pp. 116-18, provides an excerpted English translation excluding the Buddha's teaching on the "fourteen evil ways" and on friends. A romanized Pali version of the complete sutta can be found at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/1Digha-Nikaya/Digha3/31-sigala-p.html or in print at D.iii.180ff.
^Walshe (1995), p. 612, n. 972. Walshe notes that this alternate title was used by Rhys Davids.
^This epithet, "the Vinaya of the Householder" (gihi-vinaya) is attributed to Buddhaghosa in Narada (1995). This epithet is also mentioned in Bodhi (2005), p. 109, Hinüber (2000), p. 31, and Law (1932-33), p. 85, n. 1, without being attributed.
^Bodhi (2005), p. 109. Bodhi (2005), pp. 108-09, maintains that the Pali commentaries identify three benefits to the Buddha's teaching: (1) present-life happiness; (2) next-life happiness; and, (3) Nibbana. He goes on to write that Western Buddhist scholars have emphasized the third benefit while all three are needed to fairly represent the Buddha's teachings.
^Note that these are the first four of the Five Precepts. The fifth precept (abstaining from the use of liquor, spirits or intoxicants causing heedlessness) is mentioned later in the sutta.
^Soon after the initial verse identifying the four defilements, the four defilements are reiterated with "sexual misconduct" (kamesu micchacaro) being replaced by the more specific evil action of "adultery" (paradaragamananceva ).
^In canonical Buddhism, "householder" refers to a male and thus, in terms of a marital relationship, this sutta directly addresses husbands. For a sutta directly addressing wives, see AN 8:49 (an English translation of which can be found in Bodhi, 2005, pp. 128-30).
^The Buddha's characterizing social interaction in a responsibility-reciprocity sequence in a sense echoes his central phenomenological insight of Dependent Origination.
Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (2005), In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications. ISBN0-86171-491-1.
Hinüber, Oskar von (2000). A Handbook on Pāli Literature. Berlin: de Gruyter. ISBN3-11-016738-7.
Law, Bimala Churn (1932–33), "Nirvana and Buddhist Laymen" in the Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 14, 1932-1933, pp. 80–86. Available on-line at: http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/lawn.htm.
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