Deep Commentary

This verse was taught by the Buddha at Mahavana near Vaisali and concerns the monks of the Vaggumudatiriya lineage. These monks often praised one another in front of laypeople, claiming one had attained fruit and another had attained fruit, in order to receive offerings of fine food. The Buddha, aware of this, asked them: 'O monks, is it truly only for the sake of your stomachs that you praise one another before laypeople to receive fine offerings?' They replied, 'Yes, Blessed One.' The Buddha then admonished them and taught the verse above. It is shameful to forget one's moral and personal duties merely for material gain. A monastic who is not truly practicing the path is unworthy of receiving offerings. In an illustrative story, a householder named Jittha had two sons, the elder named La-Hu-La-Diem, and the younger La-Hu-La-Da. One day, a strange mushroom grew in his garden, and he harvested it to eat; it was delicious. Only he and his younger son were able to pick and eat it. The father said to the younger son, 'Only we two may eat this mushroom; this must be extraordinary. I wish someone wise would explain it.' La-Hu-La-Da composed a verse expressing reverence and dedication to the Buddha's path. Soon, the Bodhisattva Deba visited their home, and father and son respectfully inquired about this. The Bodhisattva explained that a monk once visited the father when he was twenty, and although the monk had some precepts, his insight was not yet clear, and his mind did not fully grasp the Dharma. Nevertheless, he practiced just enough to avoid evil and thus caused the mushroom to grow as a karmic repayment to the father. Only the father and younger son had been sincere in offering, so only they were able to partake of the mushroom. The Bodhisattva further asked the father his age; at seventy-nine, he was told that when he reached eighty-one, the tree would no longer produce mushrooms. The Buddha said: 'Better to swallow a hot iron ball, burning your body with fire, than to consume offerings when one has broken precepts and has not practiced. For if one dies from swallowing the iron, it affects only this life; but if one consumes offerings without true practice, and benefits no one, one must endure countless lifetimes of suffering in repayment.' This story demonstrates that practicing merely for material gain without earnest effort to eliminate defilements and attain liberation inevitably leads to grave consequences. The past is a mirror to awaken oneself.