Reading guide
A king's own reasoning, not a question
Unlike this saṃyutta's other discourses so far, Pasenadi does not ask a question here; he reports a chain of reasoning he has already worked through alone in private retreat, arriving at his own conclusion before ever bringing it to the Buddha.
Self-love redefined through action, not declaration
The king's insight turns on a distinction between what people say and what their actions reveal: someone can say ‘I love myself’ while acting against their own good, and someone else can say ‘I don't love myself’ while consistently acting for their own genuine benefit — declared self-regard and actual self-regard treated as potentially opposite.
Treating oneself as enemy or as loved one
The reasoning's pivot is a single image applied two ways: bad conduct treats oneself ‘like an enemy’, good conduct treats oneself ‘like a loved one’ — making self-love a matter of how one is treated by one's own actions, not a feeling reported about oneself.
An elided repeat before the new verse
The Buddha's confirmation includes repeating the king's own statement, elided as blank segments in the source following this book's established convention, before adding new verses that were not part of the king's original reflection.
What goes with you like a shadow
The Buddha's added verses shift from the king's frame (self-love through conduct) to a related but distinct question: what does a person actually take with them at death? The answer — the good and bad they have done, ‘like a shadow that never leaves’ — extends the king's insight into this collection's broader concern with what follows a person beyond this life.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. Seated to one side, King Pasenadi said to the Buddha, “Just now, sir, as I was in private retreat this thought came to mind. ‘Who are those who love themselves? And who are those who don’t love themselves?’ Then it occurred to me: ‘Those who do bad things by way of body, speech, and mind don’t love themselves. Even though they may say: “I love myself”, they don’t really. Why is that? It’s because they treat themselves like an enemy. That’s why they don’t love themselves. Those who do good things by way of body, speech, and mind do love themselves. Even though they may say: “I don’t love myself”, they do really. Why is that? It’s because they treat themselves like a loved one. That’s why they do love themselves.’”
§2“That’s so true, great king! That’s so true!” said the Buddha. And he repeated the king’s statement, adding:
§3“If you knew your self as beloved, you’d not yoke yourself to wickedness. For happiness is not easy to find by someone who does bad deeds.
§4When you’re seized by the terminator as you give up your human life, what can you call your own? What do you take when you go? What goes with you, like a shadow that never leaves? Both the good and the bad that a mortal does in this life is what they can call their own. That’s what they take when they go. That’s what goes with them, like a shadow that never leaves.
§5That’s why you should do good, investing in the future life. The good deeds of sentient beings support them in the next world.”
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