A topic often appearing in Dhamma Talks from one of the kruba Ajahns in my tradition is that of “sacrifice”. I assume the Pali word that is getting translated from is “caga”. The context the word “sacrifice” is being used in, is that of how it is beautiful, or appropriate, or expected, or proper for monks to make some sort of personal sacrifice for the teacher, or the community.
I’m trying to find Canonical references to back this view up.
When I look up “caga” in the Digital Pali Reader, I get nothing:
When I search the Canonical Suttas for “caga”, I similarly turn up empty-handed:
When I do a web search for “caga”, I get a scant couple of results. Here’s one decent definition of caga, from “Aims of Buddhist Education” by Bhikkhu Bodhi:
They must also acquire the spirit of generosity and self-sacrifice (caga), so essential for overcoming selfishness, greed, and the narrow focus on self-advancement that dominates in present-day society.
Didn’t the Buddha ever talk about caga/self-sacrifice? Whenever I search for any mention of the word “sacrifice” in the english Pali Canon (ignoring the Jatakas), its context is always that of an old-school Brahminical sacrifice (as in killing a cow, goat, bullock, etc. as an offering to a Hindu deity), never of “generosity and self-sacrifice”.
There are two notable exceptions I did find:
- in DN 31, (From the Wisdom Publications Digha Nikaya, by Mauruce Walsh, page 465, verse 23):
The friend who is the same in happy and unhappy times can be seen to be a loyal friend in four ways: he tells you his secrets, he guards your secrets, he does not let you down in misfortune, he would even sacrifice his life for you.
- in DN 14, (From the Wisdom Publications Digha Nikaya, by Mauruce Walsh, page 219, verse 28)
And then the Lord Buddha Vipassi gave to the assembled monks the following precepts:
“Patient forbearance is the highest sacrifice,
Supreme is Nibbāna, so say the Buddhas.
He’s not ‘one gone forth’ who hurts others,
No ascetic he who harms another."
Can anyone else point out meaningful, Canonical references about caga or sacrifice, which would lead us to a definition, such as the one Bhikkhu Bodhi gave (above)?