Vandanāsutta — Maṅgalavagga — the fifteenth chapter of the Threes
Setting
None stated; the discourse continues from AN 3.1, whose setting at Sāvatthī is understood to hold
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A bare list of three, the same threefold channel used throughout this vagga
Length
≈15 seconds to read
Northern parallel
Homage or veneration by body, speech, and mind as a threefold gesture is common across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the briefest discourse in the vagga, and one of the briefest anywhere in this collection
Why this discourse
Three kinds of homage: by body, speech, and mind. Nine words in Sujato’s translation, closing eight discourses about broken and unbroken conduct with a discourse about the single positive gesture that uses the identical three channels.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Homage, like the deeds examined all through this vagga, comes by exactly three channels: body, speech, and mind.
The same three channels, turned toward respect
Every discourse in this vagga so far has used kāya, vācā, mano to sort unskillful and skillful, blameworthy and blameless, broken and intact conduct. This discourse applies the identical three-part division to something entirely positive: the act of showing homage, vandanā, to a teacher, an elder, or the Triple Gem.
Bodily, verbal, mental homage, distinguished
Bodily homage is the physical gesture — a bow, prostration, or the folded-hands greeting still used throughout Buddhist Asia. Verbal homage is spoken respect, words of praise or a formal recitation. Mental homage is the least visible and, by the logic this collection applies elsewhere to conduct in general, arguably the one that determines whether the other two are genuine or merely performed.
Why the discourse doesn't rank the three
Unlike some triads in this collection that build toward a culmination, this list gives no indication that mental homage outranks the bodily gesture, or that the physical bow is a lesser form of the same thing. All three are named together, without any of the “and this is the best of the three” language other discourses use.
A quiet counterweight to the vagga's harsher material
Positioned after eight discourses built on hell, heaven, breakage, and blame, this bare, gentle entry works as a deliberate change of register: not everything the body, speech, and mind produce needs to be measured against a threat of damage. Sometimes the same three channels are simply used to show respect.
Setting up the vagga's closing verse
AN 3.155, immediately next and the vagga's final discourse, will use these same three channels one more time — not for homage specifically, but for good conduct generally, at each of the day’s three watches, closing the chapter on a note of blessing rather than warning.
Key terms
vandanā — “homage, veneration” — the discourse’s subject, the positive gesture this short list describes.
kāya — “body” — the physical gesture of homage: a bow, prostration, or folded-hands greeting.
mano — “mind” — mental homage, the least visible of the three and, by this collection’s usual logic, what determines whether the other two are genuine.
tisso vandanā — “three kinds of homage” — the discourse’s own closing summary, naming nothing further.
The text
The discourse in full, a single sentence. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Three kinds of homage
§1“Mendicants, there are three kinds of homage. What three? By way of body, speech, and mind. These are the three kinds of homage.”
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Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What three kinds of homage does the discourse name?
Correct: B. The same threefold channel used throughout this vagga.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's use of body/speech/mind compare to the rest of the vagga?
Correct: B. The same three channels, applied to homage rather than to hell-bound or heaven-bound deeds.
Question 3 of 10
What is bodily homage, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The visible, physical component of the threefold gesture.
Question 4 of 10
What does the guide suggest about mental homage relative to the other two?
Correct: B. Not stated directly by the discourse, but consistent with this collection's usual logic about conduct.
Question 5 of 10
Does the discourse rank the three kinds of homage?
Correct: B. No "this is the best of the three" language appears here.
Question 6 of 10
How does the guide characterize this discourse's placement in the vagga?
Correct: B. A quiet, gentle entry showing the same three channels used for something other than a threat of damage.
Question 7 of 10
What does AN 3.155, immediately following, do with the same three channels?
Correct: B. The vagga's final discourse, closing on blessing rather than warning.
Question 8 of 10
What is "vandanā"?
Correct: B. The positive gesture this short list describes.
Question 9 of 10
How long does this discourse take to read?
Correct: B. The briefest discourse in the vagga.
Question 10 of 10
What does the discourse's brevity, paired with the guide's reading, suggest about its role in the vagga?
Correct: B. A deliberate shift in tone before the vagga's closing verse.
