On dāna, yiṭṭha, huta & puja

Venerables & friends,

In MN117, where mundane right view is described, we read:

There is meaning in giving, sacrifice, and offerings.
Atthi dinnaṁ, atthi yiṭṭhaṁ, atthi hutaṁ

My first question is: why puja is not mentioned in the description of mundane right view?

In MN142, we read:

Now, Ānanda, gifts to the following persons may be expected to yield the following returns. To an animal, a hundred times. To an unethical ordinary person, a thousand. To an ethical ordinary person, a hundred thousand. To an outsider free of sensual desire, 10,000,000,000. But a gift to someone practicing to realize the fruit of stream-entry may be expected to yield incalculable, immeasurable returns. How much more so a gift to a stream-enterer, someone practicing to realize the fruit of once-return, a once-returner, someone practicing to realize the fruit of non-return, a non-returner, someone practicing to realize the fruit of perfection, a perfected one, or an independent Buddha? How much more so a Realized One, a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha?

Tatrānanda, tiracchānagate dānaṁ datvā sataguṇā dakkhiṇā pāṭikaṅkhitabbā, puthujjanadussīle dānaṁ datvā sahassaguṇā dakkhiṇā pāṭikaṅkhitabbā, puthujjanasīlavante dānaṁ datvā satasahassaguṇā dakkhiṇā pāṭikaṅkhitabbā, bāhirake kāmesu vītarāge dānaṁ datvā koṭisatasahassaguṇā dakkhiṇā pāṭikaṅkhitabbā, sotāpattiphalasacchikiriyāya paṭipanne dānaṁ datvā asaṅkheyyā appameyyā dakkhiṇā pāṭikaṅkhitabbā, ko pana vādo sotāpanne, ko pana vādo sakadāgāmiphalasacchikiriyāya paṭipanne, ko pana vādo sakadāgāmissa, ko pana vādo anāgāmiphalasacchikiriyāya paṭipanne, ko pana vādo anāgāmissa, ko pana vādo arahattaphalasacchikiriyāya paṭipanne, ko pana vādo arahante, ko pana vādo paccekasambuddhe, ko pana vādo tathāgate arahante sammāsambuddhe.

My second question is: what warrants such great returns to gifts made towards Bahira? and what would describe his main ritual - is it dāna, yiṭṭha, huta or puja?

Thank you :pray:

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By puja do you mean, lighting a candle and a stick of incense and doing some chanting? I’m going to assume that’s what you mean, because I can’t think of any other meaning of puja, but if you do, then please elaborate.

If you compare puja to say, offering (giving or ‘sacrifice’) a cooked meal to a monastic. There’s a reasonable amount of effort involved.

  1. Go to the store and buy the ingredients.
  2. Prepare and cook the food.
  3. Take/transport that food to them and offer it.

There’s a lot of effort in that compared to just doing puja. Also there’s the old (or still current??) practice in Brahmanism were you would sacrifice animals as an offering. So the Buddha reframes the meaning of ‘sacrifice’ in much more wholesome way. This is my understanding.

Being generous is something that is part of the gradual training, as well as ethical conduct. So when you give to someone(anyone), that’s a very wholesome thing to do, whether it’s to a fellow buddhist or not, or even an animal.

“Now, Ānanda, gifts to the following persons may be expected to yield the following returns. To an animal, a hundred times.”

[quote=“AdrianMagno, post:2, topic:37596, full:true”]
By puja do you mean, lighting a candle and a stick of incense and doing some chanting? I’m going to assume that’s what you mean, because I can’t think of any other meaning of puja, but if you do, then please elaborate.

If you compare puja to say, offering (giving or ‘sacrifice’) a cooked meal to a monastic. There’s a reasonable amount of effort involved.

  1. Go to the store and buy the ingredients.
  2. Prepare and cook the food.
  3. Take/transport that food to them and offer it.

There’s a lot of effort in that compared to just doing puja. Also there’s the old (or still current??) practice in Brahmanism were you would sacrifice animals as an offering. So the Buddha reframes the meaning of ‘sacrifice’ in much more wholesome way. This is my understanding. [/quote]

If puja is reduced to burning incense and chanting, then this should be mundane as it is performed by other religions. On the other hand, the events that the Buddhist puja comes to commemorate are far from mundane, such as the birth of the Bodhisatta, his awakening under the Bodhi tree, and his passing into parinibbana. All of these happened in full moon nights, linking them to the Buddhist uposatha.

Other kinds of offering are mentioned in the Sahassavagga chapter of the dhammapada. Verse 106 refers to Venerable Sāriputta’s Uncle making offering to naked ascetics. Verse 107 refers to Venerable Sāriputta’s nephew making offering to the sacrificial fire. Verse 108 refers to Venerable Sāriputta’s friend making animal sacrifices. In all these verses, the aim is to gain the world of Brahama - where the people in question are reminded that worshiping the noble ones is far superior. The term puja, however, can still be used - as in verse 106 & 107.

Being generous is something that is part of the gradual training, as well as ethical conduct. So when you give to someone(anyone), that’s a very wholesome thing to do, whether it’s to a fellow buddhist or not, or even an animal.

“Now, Ānanda, gifts to the following persons may be expected to yield the following returns. To an animal, a hundred times.”

I am more interested in dana as one of the paramis that is to be perfected by the Bodhisatta. For this purpose, investigating the difference between different offerings could help understand the third fetter - sīlabbata-parāmāsa. In that context, the Bahira presents a peculiar case as it is not mentioned in MN1 as part of the Mūlapariyāya taught by the Buddha. In SN55.40, he is distuiguished from ariya sāvaka by stating he takes the side of the puthujjana, and in MN142 he is distguished from the two types of the puthujjana and the sekha, and yet, offerings to him yields numerous returns. If a correct understanding of sīlabbata-parāmāsa is to be attained, i thought understanding the peculiar case of the Bahira is due.

Thanks for the new (to me) information, I didn’t realise how often this word is used in the canon. I hope you the find the answer you’re looking for.

I don’t see the connection to be honest. My understanding of silabbata-paramasa is that this is something that is given up naturally as a consequence of reaching stream-entry. It’s not something you necessarily try to practice actively, as I understand. Again, I hope you find the answer you’re looking for :anjal:

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Thank you for your kindness Adrian. Your input resurfaced my question and hopefully made it more visible, so many thanks for your generosity. :pray:

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