AN 8.1

Mettāsutta

Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: “bhikkhavo”ti. “Bhadante”ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. Bhagavā etadavoca:

The Benefits of Love

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:

“Mettāya, bhikkhave, cetovimuttiyā āsevitāya bhāvitāya bahulīkatāya yānīkatāya vatthukatāya anuṭṭhitāya paricitāya susamāraddhāya aṭṭhānisaṁsā pāṭikaṅkhā. Katame aṭṭha? Sukhaṁ supati, sukhaṁ paṭibujjhati, na pāpakaṁ supinaṁ passati, manussānaṁ piyo hoti, amanussānaṁ piyo hoti, devatā rakkhanti, nāssa aggi vā visaṁ vā satthaṁ vā kamati, uttariṁ appaṭivijjhanto brahmalokūpago hoti. Mettāya, bhikkhave, cetovimuttiyā āsevitāya bhāvitāya bahulīkatāya yānīkatāya vatthukatāya anuṭṭhitāya paricitāya susamāraddhāya ime aṭṭhānisaṁsā pāṭikaṅkhāti.

“Mendicants, you can expect eight benefits when the heart’s release by love has been cultivated, developed, and practiced, made a vehicle and a basis, kept up, consolidated, and properly implemented. What eight? You sleep at ease. You wake happily. You don’t have bad dreams. Humans love you. Non-humans love you. Deities protect you. You can’t be harmed by fire, poison, or blade. If you don’t penetrate any higher, you’ll be reborn in a realm of divinity. You can expect these eight benefits when the heart’s release by love has been cultivated, developed, and practiced, made a vehicle and a basis, kept up, consolidated, and properly implemented.

Yo ca mettaṁ bhāvayati, appamāṇaṁ paṭissato; Tanū saṁyojanā honti, passato upadhikkhayaṁ.

A mindful one who develops limitless love weakens the fetters, seeing the ending of attachments.

Ekampi ce pāṇamaduṭṭhacitto, Mettāyati kusalī tena hoti; Sabbe ca pāṇe manasānukampī, Pahūtamariyo pakaroti puññaṁ.

Loving just one creature with a hateless heart makes you a true person. Sympathetic for all creatures, a noble one creates abundant merit.

Ye sattasaṇḍaṁ pathaviṁ vijetvā, Rājisayo yajamānā anupariyagā; Assamedhaṁ purisamedhaṁ, Sammāpāsaṁ vājapeyyaṁ niraggaḷaṁ.

The royal potentates conquered this land and traveled around sponsoring sacrifices— horse sacrifice, human sacrifice, the sacrifices of the ‘casting of the yoke-pin’, the ‘royal soma drinking’, and the ‘unimpeded’.

Mettassa cittassa subhāvitassa, Kalampi te nānubhavanti soḷasiṁ; Candappabhā tāragaṇāva sabbe, Yathā na agghanti kalampi soḷasiṁ.

These are not worth a sixteenth part of the mind developed with love, as all the constellations of stars aren’t worth a sixteenth part of the moon’s light.

Yo na hanti na ghāteti, na jināti na jāpaye; Mettaṁso sabbabhūtānaṁ, veraṁ tassa na kenacī”ti.

Don’t kill or cause others to kill, don’t conquer or encourage others to conquer, with love for all sentient beings, you’ll have no enmity for anyone.”