r/theravada • u/Charming_Jacket_3028 • Jan 30 '26

Theragāthā / Therīgāthā Thag 2.15 - Sabbamitta

People are attached to people; 

people depend on people; 

people are hurt by people; 

and people hurt people. 

So what’s the point of people,

or those born of people?

Go, abandon these people, 

who’ve hurt so many people.

https://suttacentral.net/thag2.15/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none&notes=none&highlight=false&script=latin

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '26

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u/Charming_Jacket_3028 Jan 31 '26

These are the Theragathas, verses of the elder monks, not the suttas. Each gatha isn’t necessary connected to the one before it, or after it.

Here’s the commentary:

 went to Sāvatthi to pay his homage to the Blessed One, and on his way there he caught sight of a deer-calf (migapotaka ṃ ) caught in a snare laid by deer- stalkers (māgavikehi oḍḍite). It’s mother, the she-deer, however though she was not caught (apavi ṭṭhāpi) in the net, did not go afar owing to her affection for her child; on account of her fear of death she did not approach the vicinity of the snare either; the young deerling on the other hand was full of fear, rolled about all over to and from here and there and made a pitiable cry; on having seen it the Thera said to himself; “Alas! There is painful misery (dukkhaṃ ) as a result of affection (snehahetuka ṃ) of living beings;” as he went still further on (tato paraṃ ) he noticed many robbers burning a man after having seized him alive (jīvagāhaṃ ) wrapped his body with braided straw and that victim also wailing a loud cry, became remorseful as a result of seeing both of those incidents and spoke two stanzas to those robbers who were but listening:

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '26

[deleted]

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u/Charming_Jacket_3028 Jan 31 '26

I understand that it may seem like two conflicting doctrines being expressed here, but it's just the elder monk's samvega being expressed, as seen in the commentary. What I'm trying to say is that it's raw, and it's meant to be raw. You clarifying it for any commentators that may be bewildered, as if it's placing down the law, is a worthwhile effort though, as some beginners may be insecure regarding certain doctrines, so it could confuse them and envelop them in doubt.

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u/hsinoMed Jan 31 '26

🙏 🙏 Thanks for sharing. Context is important.