Reading guide
A silence broken from an earlier discourse
In SN 11.8, the Buddha remained entirely silent while Sakka and Verocana traded competing verses in his presence; here, faced with a verse offered specifically in his own honor, he speaks up directly to correct it.
Praise that isn't rejected as false, only as incomplete
The Buddha doesn't say Sakka's original verse is wrong about anything — his mind genuinely is fully liberated — the correction isn't about accuracy but about what proper homage should actually accomplish.
A minimal edit carrying the discourse's entire weight
The two verses share their first two lines nearly word for word; the substance of the Buddha's correction lives entirely in the final two lines, where admiration for his liberated mind is replaced with a direct request that he teach.
Homage redirected from the giver's benefit outward
Sakka's original version centers entirely on the Buddha's own accomplished state; the corrected version reframes homage as something that should produce a benefit for others — those who will come to understand through his teaching.
Two visitors present, but only one speaks
Brahmā Sahampati stands at the Buddha's side throughout this exchange without a single recorded word, present as a witness to Sakka's correction rather than a participant in it.
Key terms
The text
§1Near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove. Now at that time the Buddha had gone into retreat for the day’s meditation. Then Sakka, lord of gods, and the divinity Sahampati approached the Buddha and stationed themselves one by each door-post. Then Sakka spoke this verse in the Buddha’s presence:
§2“Rise, hero! Victor in battle, with burden put down, wander the world free of debt. Your mind is fully liberated, like the moon on the fifteenth night.”
§3“Lord of gods, that’s not how to pay homage to the Realized Ones. This is how it should be done:
§4‘Rise, hero! Victor in battle, caravan leader, wander the world free of debt. Let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma! There will be those who understand!’”
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