[205] 7. This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:
"Bhikkhus, whatever bases of meritorious action (puññakiriyāvatthu) there are that are productive of acquisition (opadhika), all of them are not worth a sixteenth part of the liberation of mind (cetovimutti) by loving-kindness (mettā). The liberation of mind by loving-kindness alone, surpassing them, shines and blazes and radiates.
"Just as, bhikkhus, whatever radiance there is of the stars, all of it is not worth a sixteenth part of the radiance of the moon, and the radiance of the moon alone, surpassing them, shines and blazes and radiates — even so, bhikkhus, whatever bases of meritorious action there are that are productive of acquisition, all of them are not worth a sixteenth part of the liberation of mind by loving-kindness; the liberation of mind by loving-kindness alone, surpassing them, shines and blazes and radiates.
"Just as, bhikkhus, in the last month of the rains, in the season of autumn, when the sky is clear and free of clouds, the sun, ascending the firmament, having dispelled all darkness from the sky, shines and blazes and radiates — even so, bhikkhus, whatever bases of meritorious action there are that are productive of acquisition, all of them are not worth a sixteenth part of the liberation of mind by loving-kindness; the liberation of mind by loving-kindness alone, surpassing them, shines and blazes and radiates.
"Just as, bhikkhus, in the night, at the hour of dawn, the morning star shines and blazes and radiates — even so, bhikkhus, whatever bases of meritorious action there are that are productive of acquisition, all of them are not worth a sixteenth part of the liberation of mind by loving-kindness; the liberation of mind by loving-kindness alone, surpassing them, shines and blazes and radiates."
The Blessed One spoke this meaning. In that connection it is said:
For one who, ever mindful, develops
boundless loving-kindness,
the fetters (saṃyojana) wear thin
as he sees the destruction of acquisition (upadhi).
If, with a mind free of hate,
one extends loving-kindness to even a single living being,
one becomes wholesome thereby;
but sympathizing in heart with all living beings,
the noble one makes merit in abundance.
Those royal seers who conquered the earth
teeming with beings
went about offering sacrifices —
(the horse sacrifice (assamedha), the human sacrifice (purisamedha),
the peg-thrown site sacrifice (sammāpāsa), the drink-of-victory sacrifice (vājapeyya),
and the unbarred sacrifice (niraggaḷa)) —
yet these do not partake of even a sixteenth part
of a mind of loving-kindness well developed
(even as all the hosts of stars
beside the radiance of the moon).
One who neither kills nor causes to kill,
who neither conquers nor causes others to conquer,
with a heart of loving-kindness toward all beings —
he has enmity with none.
This meaning too was spoken by the Blessed One; so I have heard.
The seventh.
The Third Chapter is concluded.
The summary thereof (uddāna):
The mind, the meditator; both benefits; merit; Mount Vepulla;
deliberate false speech; giving; and the cultivation of loving-kindness —
these seven discourses, together with the preceding twenty:
the discourses on single dhammas are gathered as twenty-seven.
The Section of the Ones (Ekanipāta) is finished.
__________
In the Itivuttaka: the First Chapter of the Section of the Twos (Dukanipāta).
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.