SN 1.13There’s Nothing Like a Child
Pāli / Sanskrit:Natthiputtasamasutta
Like many of these discourses, here the Buddha repeats a god’s verses with a subtle twist towards the Dhamma.
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
– Chapter 1: Linked Discourses with Deities
– II: The Nandana Grove Chapter
1.13. None Dearer Than a Child
(Tạp 36.14, Đại 2,263b) (S.1,6) (Biệt Tạp 12.19, Đại 2,458c)
… Standing to one side, that deity recited this verse in the Blessed One's presence:
Who is as dear as one's child?
What wealth equals one's cattle?
What light equals the sun?
What body of water surpasses the sea?
(The Blessed One):
No one is dearer than oneself;
No wealth equals rice and grain;
No light equals wisdom;
No body of water surpasses rain.
This collection was translated into Vietnamese by Venerable Thích Minh Châu and published by Vạn Hạnh Monastery in the early 1980s. Later, as part of the project to translate and publish the Vietnamese Buddhist Canon, it was republished in 1993 and assigned serial numbers from 12 to 16.
Prepared for SuttaCentral by Blake Walsh .
The “…” is an abbreviation carried over from the Pāli original itself, called peyyāla. The early canon was memorized and recited, so passages repeated verbatim from a preceding discourse were commonly contracted to an elision mark rather than written out in full. Venerable Thích Minh Châu's translation preserves this convention. Some texts therefore look short — but that is the canonical form, not missing content or a truncated translation. The elided passages can be read in full in the preceding discourses of the same chapter.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.