One discourse, several names
The Pāli word maṅgala means a blessing or auspicious sign: something people believe heralds good fortune. Ven. Thích Minh Châu's translation is headed «Kinh Điềm Lành» (the Discourse on Auspicious Signs) and uses «điềm lành» throughout the verses. «Kinh Hạnh Phúc» (the Discourse on Happiness) is the name many Vietnamese readers know, and also the title of the Kp 5 page in the library; the Snp 2.4 page is titled «Phước Lành Chân Thật» (in English, True Blessings).
It belongs to the Minor Collection (Khuddaka Nikāya), the fifth collection of the Pāli discourses, and appears twice: as the fifth text of the Khuddakapāṭha, the book of nine short texts that opens the collection, and as the fourth discourse of chapter 2 of the Sutta Nipāta. On the two pages the Vietnamese text is identical word for word; only the heading differs. In the Khuddakapāṭha it sits alongside the Three Refuges, the Ten Precepts, the Ratana Sutta (the Discourse on Jewels) and the Mettā Sutta (the Discourse on Loving-kindness).
The setting: a deity's question
The discourse opens at Sāvatthī, in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's park. As the night draws to a close, a deity of surpassing beauty, lighting up the whole grove, comes to the Buddha, bows, stands to one side and asks in verse: many gods and humans have thought about blessings, longing for a life of safety; please declare which blessing is the highest.
The Buddha's answer mentions no omen at all. Everything he names is something one does oneself or a quality one cultivates: choosing friends and a place to live, learning, working, caring for one's family, avoiding evil, training the mind. That is the heart of the discourse: the real blessing is the way one lives, not a sign from outside.
Eleven stanzas: from choosing friends to an unshaken mind
The stanzas move gradually from the outside inwards. First come one's surroundings: not keeping company with fools, keeping close to the wise, honouring those worthy of honour, living in a suitable place, having made merit in the past and directing oneself rightly. Next come learning and livelihood: much learning, skill in a craft, good training and well-spoken words.
Then come family and ethical life: supporting one's mother and father, caring for one's wife and children, work free from confusion; giving, living by the Dharma, looking after one's relatives, blameless action; ceasing and abstaining from evil, restraint from drink, heedfulness in the Dharma. After that come the virtues: respect and humility, contentment and gratitude, patience, gentle speech, visiting ascetics, hearing and discussing the Dharma at the proper time.
The two stanzas before the last speak of the highest life of practice: austerity and the holy life, seeing the noble truths, realising Nibbāna; and then a mind that does not waver, free of sorrow and stain, secure when touched by the ways of the world — usually understood as the eight worldly conditions, such as gain and loss, praise and blame. The final stanza says that whoever lives like this is undefeated everywhere and goes everywhere in safety. By the traditional count, the discourse names thirty-eight blessings.
Reading and chanting it
The discourse is very short: the reading page counts about 330 words, roughly one minute of silent reading. In the Theravāda tradition it is among the most often chanted discourses, together with the Ratana Sutta and the Mettā Sutta, all three of which are in the Khuddakapāṭha. On the text's page, press «Tụng» (Chant) so the text scrolls while a wooden fish keeps time; the even five-syllable lines of this translation are easy to chant to the beat. The «English» and «Cả 2» (both) tabs let you read it alongside the English version.
The library currently has the Vietnamese and English versions; there is no Pāli text for chanting in the original, no recording and no PDF yet. The Chinese canon has a counterpart: chapter 39, «Cát Tường» (Auspiciousness), at the end of scroll 2 of the Chinese Dharmapada (Pháp Cú Kinh), in nineteen verses, where a seeker of the Way asks what is most auspicious. Many points overlap with the Maṅgala Sutta — good friends, giving up drink, broad learning, devotion to parents, patience, hearing the Dharma — but it is a different text, with ideas of its own, such as not seeking luck from gods or humans and not worshipping spirits.
