What is the Sigālovāda Sutta?
The library page titles the discourse «Kinh Giáo Giới Sigālaka» (DN 31); Ven. Thích Minh Châu's translation is headed «Kinh Giáo thọ Thi-ca-la-việt». The Pāli name on the page is Siṅgālasutta, and it is widely known as the Sigālovāda Sutta, «the advice to Sigālaka». The Vietnamese name Kinh Thiện Sinh comes from the Chinese Āgama translations, where the young man is called Thiện Sinh (or Thiện Sanh).
The Vietnamese text runs to about four thousand words, some 16 minutes of reading, and almost all of it concerns the life of a lay follower: avoiding evil, looking after one's wealth, choosing friends, and conduct in the family and in society. The Pāli commentarial tradition calls it «the discipline of the householder» (gihi-vinaya).
The setting: worshipping the six directions as a father asked
The discourse opens at Rājagaha (Vương Xá), while the Buddha is staying in the Bamboo Grove (Veluvana). Early one morning the young Sigālaka, a householder's son, leaves the city with his clothes and hair still wet and, palms joined, worships every direction: east, south, west, north, below and above. The translation spells his name Singàlaka, transcribed as Thi-ca-la-việt.
On his alms round the Buddha asks why he does this. Sigālaka replies that it was his father's instruction when close to death. The Buddha answers that in the discipline of the noble ones the six directions are not worshipped like that, and teaches another way: still the six directions the young man knew, but each one stands for people we live with every day.
Before the six directions: evil, wealth and friends
First the Buddha lists what a disciple of the noble ones has given up: the four defilements of action (killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying), the four motives for doing evil (desire, hatred, delusion, fear) and six channels that drain away wealth, such as drinking, roaming the streets at the wrong hours, keeping bad company and laziness. The lazy man always has an excuse not to work: too cold, too hot, too early, too late, too hungry, too full. One who has given up all fourteen, the discourse says, protects the six directions.
The discourse then sets four false friends — the one who only takes, the one who only talks, the flatterer, and the companion only in drinking and carousing — against four true friends: the one who helps when you are careless or afraid, the one who stays the same in hardship and in happiness, the one who gives good counsel and the one who truly cares for you. The verses that follow advise dividing one's wealth into four parts: one to live on, two for one's work, and the last kept in reserve against misfortune.
The six directions are six relationships
The heart of the discourse makes it plain: the east is one's parents, the south one's teachers, the west one's wife and children, the north one's friends, below are those who serve and work for us, and above are ascetics and brahmins. For each direction it describes how one side should treat the other and how the other responds with care; when both keep their part, that direction is protected and safe.
The duties are close to daily life. Children support their parents in return and keep up the family and its traditions; parents keep their children from evil, encourage the good, teach them a skill, see to their marriage and hand over the inheritance at the right time. Pupils respect their teachers and study eagerly; teachers train them thoroughly. A husband honours his wife, is faithful and hands authority over to her; a wife does her work well, is faithful and looks after the family's wealth. An employer gives work according to strength, provides food and wages and cares for workers when they are ill.
Towards friends one practises giving, kind speech, helpful conduct, treating them as equals and honesty. The first four are also the four means of gathering people (Tứ nhiếp pháp), which the closing verses compare to the axle that keeps a wheel turning. Having heard this, Sigālaka goes for refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma and the community of monks for life.
Reading it in the library
On the DN 31 page, choose «Tiếng Việt», «English» or «Cả 2» (both) to read the two versions side by side; the small numbers at the start of paragraphs (SC, PTS) are reference numbers, not part of the text. Press «Tụng» (Chant) to keep the screen on while the text scrolls and a wooden fish keeps the beat. The discourse is fairly long and can be read in three sittings: the opening, then friends and wealth, then the six directions. The Chinese-canon versions listed above tell the same story with different details. The library has no PDF, recording or Pāli text yet.
