Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Giving, ethical conduct, and meditation are the three grounds for making merit, and someone who practices only the first two — without reaching meditation — is reborn according to the degree of their practice: a little among disadvantaged humans, moderately among well-off humans, and at an extraordinary degree among any of six successive tiers of gods, ruled respectively by the four great kings, Sakka, Suyāma, Santusita, Sunimmita, and Vasavattī.
What's conspicuously missing from every case
Every single rebirth this discourse describes — from disadvantaged human through the Divinity's near approach — shares one explicit qualifier: the person has not reached meditation as a ground for making merit. The discourse implicitly leaves open, without stating, what becomes possible once meditation is added to giving and ethics.
Six god-kings, each surpassing their own realm
At the extraordinary-degree tier, the discourse names six named ruling gods in turn — the four great kings themselves, Sakka, the godling Suyāma, the godling Santusita, the godling Sunimmita, and the godling Vasavattī — each said to have practiced giving and ethical conduct to a greater degree than the other gods in their own realm, and each surpassing their fellow gods in the same ten respects: lifespan, beauty, happiness, glory, sovereignty, and the five sense objects.
Compressed by the source's own internal ellipsis
Having spelled out the first ruling god's ten-respect superiority in full, the source text compresses the same formula for the remaining five gods — Sakka, Suyāma, Santusita, Sunimmita, and Vasavattī — trusting the reader to supply the identical ten respects each time.
Key terms
The text
Three grounds for making merit
§1“Mendicants, there are these three grounds for making merit. What three? Giving, ethical conduct, and meditation are all grounds for making merit.
Human rebirths, by degree of practice
§2First, someone has practiced a little giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit, but they haven’t got as far as meditation as a ground for making merit. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn among disadvantaged humans. Next, someone has practiced a moderate amount of giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit, but they haven’t got as far as meditation as a ground for making merit. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn among well-off humans.
Six tiers of gods, each ruled by a named deity
§3Next, someone has practiced to an extraordinary degree giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit, but they haven’t got as far as meditation as a ground for making merit. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the gods of the four great kings. There, the four great kings themselves have practiced giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit to a greater degree than the other gods. So they surpass them in ten respects: heavenly lifespan, beauty, happiness, glory, sovereignty, sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches. Next, someone has practiced to an extraordinary degree giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit, but they haven’t got as far as meditation as a ground for making merit. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the gods of the thirty-three. There, Sakka, lord of gods, has practiced giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit to a greater degree than the other gods. So he surpasses them in ten respects … Next, someone has practiced to an extraordinary degree giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit, but they haven’t got as far as meditation as a ground for making merit. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the gods of Yama. There, the godling Suyāma has practiced giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit to a greater degree than the other gods. So he surpasses them in ten respects … Next, someone has practiced to an extraordinary degree giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit, but they haven’t got as far as meditation as a ground for making merit. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the joyful gods. There, the godling Santusita has practiced giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit to a greater degree than the other gods. So he surpasses them in ten respects … Next, someone has practiced to an extraordinary degree giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit, but they haven’t got as far as meditation as a ground for making merit. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the gods who love to create. There, the godling Sunimmita has practiced giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit to a greater degree than the other gods. So he surpasses them in ten respects … Next, someone has practiced to an extraordinary degree giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit, but they haven’t got as far as meditation as a ground for making merit. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the gods who control what is created by others. There, the godling Vasavattī has practiced giving and ethical conduct as grounds for making merit to a greater degree than the other gods. So he surpasses them in ten respects: heavenly lifespan, beauty, happiness, glory, sovereignty, sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches. These are the three grounds for making merit.”
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