Non-Decline for Mendicants (1st)Paṭhamasattakasutta

So I have heard.Evaṁ me sutaṁ— At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain.ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati gijjhakūṭe pabbate. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants:Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:

“Mendicants, I will teach you these seven principles that prevent decline.“satta vo, bhikkhave, aparihāniye dhamme desessāmi. Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.”Taṁ suṇātha, sādhukaṁ manasi karotha, bhāsissāmī”ti.

“Yes, sir,” they replied.“Evaṁ, bhante”ti kho te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. The Buddha said this:Bhagavā etadavoca:

“What are the seven principles that prevent decline?“Katame ca, bhikkhave, satta aparihāniyā dhammā? As long as the mendicants meet frequently and have many meetings, they can expect growth, not decline.Yāvakīvañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhū abhiṇhaṁ sannipātā bhavissanti sannipātabahulā; vuddhiyeva, bhikkhave, bhikkhūnaṁ pāṭikaṅkhā, no parihāni.

As long as the mendicants meet in harmony, leave in harmony, and carry on their business in harmony, they can expect growth, not decline.Yāvakīvañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhū samaggā sannipatissanti, samaggā vuṭṭhahissanti, samaggā saṅghakaraṇīyāni karissanti; vuddhiyeva, bhikkhave, bhikkhūnaṁ pāṭikaṅkhā, no parihāni.

As long as the mendicants don’t make new decrees or abolish existing decrees, but proceed having undertaken the training rules as they have been decreed, they can expect growth, not decline.Yāvakīvañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhū apaññattaṁ na paññāpessanti, paññattaṁ na samucchindissanti, yathāpaññattesu sikkhāpadesu samādāya vattissanti; vuddhiyeva, bhikkhave, bhikkhūnaṁ pāṭikaṅkhā, no parihāni.

As long as the mendicants honor, respect, esteem, and venerate the senior mendicants—of long standing, long gone forth, fathers and leaders of the Saṅgha—and think them worth listening to, they can expect growth, not decline.Yāvakīvañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhū ye te bhikkhū therā rattaññū cirapabbajitā saṅghapitaro saṅghapariṇāyakā te sakkarissanti garuṁ karissanti mānessanti pūjessanti, tesañca sotabbaṁ maññissanti; vuddhiyeva, bhikkhave, bhikkhūnaṁ pāṭikaṅkhā, no parihāni.

As long as the mendicants don’t fall under the sway of arisen craving for future lives, they can expect growth, not decline.Yāvakīvañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhū uppannāya taṇhāya ponobhavikāya na vasaṁ gacchissanti; vuddhiyeva, bhikkhave, bhikkhūnaṁ pāṭikaṅkhā, no parihāni.

As long as the mendicants take care to live in wilderness lodgings, they can expect growth, not decline.Yāvakīvañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhū āraññakesu senāsanesu sāpekkhā bhavissanti; vuddhiyeva, bhikkhave, bhikkhūnaṁ pāṭikaṅkhā, no parihāni.

As long as the mendicants individually establish mindfulness, so that more good-hearted spiritual companions might come, and those that have already come may live comfortably, they can expect growth, not decline.Yāvakīvañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhū paccattaññeva satiṁ upaṭṭhāpessanti: ‘kinti anāgatā ca pesalā sabrahmacārī āgaccheyyuṁ, āgatā ca pesalā sabrahmacārī phāsuṁ vihareyyun’ti; vuddhiyeva, bhikkhave, bhikkhūnaṁ pāṭikaṅkhā, no parihāni.

As long as these seven principles that prevent decline last among the mendicants, and as long as the mendicants are seen following them, they can expect growth, not decline.”Yāvakīvañca, bhikkhave, ime satta aparihāniyā dhammā bhikkhūsu ṭhassanti, imesu ca sattasu aparihāniyesu dhammesu bhikkhū sandississanti; vuddhiyeva, bhikkhave, bhikkhūnaṁ pāṭikaṅkhā, no parihānī”ti.