[^403]: When asked about sacrifice, the Buddha tells a story of how a king was persuaded to forgo cruelty and institute a constructive social policy of welfare instead.

[^404]: Khāṇumata is only mentioned here. It means "stumpy", perhaps indicating that it was, or had recently been, a rough out-of-the-way place.

[^405]: The commentary says this was similar to the Ambalaṭṭhikā of DN 1:1.2.1.

[^406]: Like the town Khāṇumata, the brahmin Kūṭadanta appears only here. His name means "pointy teeth", but there is no evidence that he was a vampire.

[^407]: At Snp 2.7:26.1, the sacrifice of cows in particular was said to be the nadir of decline for brahmins. When similar sacrifices are described elsewhere in the canon, the number is five hundred rather than seven hundred (SN 3.9:1.2, AN 7.47:1.2).

[^408]: News of the Buddha had spread in Brahmanical circles. In DN 3 we saw the Buddha use his rhetorical technique of adapting his teaching to reframe Brahmanical doctrines in order to establish a common ground. Here we see the downside to such techniques, as the details of the reframing have been lost.

[^409]: No such sacrifice has been identified in Brahmanical texts.

[^410]: Kūṭadanta's proposal that the Buddha advise him on the sacrifice of 700 animals is outrageous. Nonetheless, the Buddha responds politely since Kūṭadanta is being polite. While it is tempting to see the sacrifice of animals by supposedly virtuous priests as sheer hypocrisy, the fact of sacrifice remains one of the most widespread and mysterious of human religious practices. In an empathetic work that addresses this squarely, Roberto Calasso's Ardor sees the vast complex of Vedic ritual and theory as making plain the fact of killing so that the guilt may be contained, in contrast with our modern culture of killing on an industrial scale while hiding it out of sight.

[^411]: Mahāvijita means "Great Dominion". He seems to be only known from this story. The idiom bhūtapubbaṁ (literally "so it was in the past") introduces legendary narratives of usually dubious historicity, like the English idiom "once upon a time".

[^412]: In the Pali, meaningful thoughts often occur to people when withdrawn in seclusion. This doesn't necessary mean they were in formal meditation.

[^413]: The great sacrifices, especially the horse sacrifice, ensured royal authority. Their very scale and wastefulness showed off the wealth of the king.

[^414]: "High priest" is purohita. He was a family chaplain advising and consecrating the royal family. The closeness of the relationship is shown by the fact that the royal family would take the lineage name of the purohita.

[^415]: Then, as today, government policy was driven by the perception of rising crime rate. This whole passage is one of the Buddha's most important statements on public policy. It is expressed through storytelling, giving a good example of how myths were invoked---and subverted---as rationales for current policy.

[^416]: "Taxes" is bali. He would have had to press his people for the extra funds to hold the sacrifice.

[^417]: "Plague of savages" (dassukhīla) is the only occurrence of Sanskrit dasyu in early Pali. The dasyu were inveterate foes of the Aryans in the Vedic period. Bereft of civilizing rites, scriptures, and observances, they were no children of Manu (Rig Veda 10.22.8). Their wiles (māyā) made them a potent threat (Rig Veda 4.16.9, 8.14.14, 10.73.5). Indra was invoked to ensure their destruction (Rig Veda passim; Atharva Veda 2.14.5, 4.32.3, 20.21.4, 20.37.5, 20.42.2). Legend has it that Agni and Soma first supported the dasyu before being won over by Indra (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 1.6.3.13; see also 6.4.2.4). By the time of the Buddha the dasyu have vanished except as a legendary foe of the past. Where the Brahmanical texts advocate the pitiless destruction of the dasyu, the brahmin high priest in the Buddhist text advocates an inclusive policy of social welfare.

[^418]: The priest knows that the king will respond better to a pragmatic argument than a moral one.

[^419]: Effective social policy requires a forward-thinking plan, not just reacting to grievances.

[^420]: The king should spend his own resources to support his citizens in the various occupations.

[^421]: Here the priest identifies a fundamental cause of social unrest and disorder.

[^422]: The king spends out of pocket, but the economy flourishes, so tax revenues increase even though he has not raised taxes. This is the essence of Keynesian economic theory.

[^423]: Khema means a place of safety and sanctuary, where both humans and animals have no fear.

[^424]: A good leader listens to advice.

[^425]: Here the phrase "of both town and country" qualifies each group. At AN 4.70:1.3, however, "brahmins and householders" and "people of town and country" are separate groups of people. Elsewhere the context does not always decide between these two possibilities. Generally the idiom aims at inclusivity, as opposed to here where the king is consulting the rich and powerful, so I treat them as two separate groups, thus including the common folk.

[^426]: "Consenting factions" is anumatipakkhā. The king governs with the consent of his people, although only the landowning classes are considered.

[^427]: Royal authority is not based just on birth, conquest, ritual, or power, but on quality of character.

[^428]: Read sahati ("prevails") over the several variants.

[^429]: Showing the importance of comprehension over blind adherence to tradition.

[^430]: Meditators focus on the present, but that does not mean they cannot think about the past or future; it just means they are not trapped in useless thoughts.

[^431]: These are four of the five qualities that Soṇadaṇḍa identifies as the qualities of a brahmin at DN 4:13.2. Missing is appearance, which is the first factor that Soṇadaṇḍa admits is unnecessary.

[^432]: Compare the three factors of a donor's mind-state at AN 6.37:2.4.

[^433]: What a recipient does with a gift is beyond the donor's control.

[^434]: PTS edition acknowledges sajjata only as a variant reading, but it is in the commentary, so should be accepted in the text. It is from √sajj (relinquish).

[^435]: Another lesson in leadership: the importance of communication.

[^436]: Due to abbreviation, the text only mentions householders here, but clearly all are intended.

[^437]: A leader gets results through inspiration, not fear.

[^438]: These were regarded as valuable yet harmless products.

[^439]: The king's generosity and sincerity brings out the best in the others.

[^440]: Here ends the Buddha's legendary account of the past.

[^441]: The other brahmins are satisfied, but Kūṭadanta senses there is more to it.

[^442]: "So I have heard" (evaṁ me sutaṁ) is the standard opening for Buddhist suttas. This tag was used to indicate that the speaker was not present at the events, but "heard" about them. This is in contrast with the phrase "I heard and learned this in the presence" (sammukhā sutaṁ, sammukhā paṭiggahitaṁ), which is used when reporting a teaching heard directly from the Buddha, eg. SN 55.52:5.1, SN 22.90:9.1, MN 47:10.7, etc.

[^443]: This qualifies the story of Mahāvijita as an early canonical Jātaka. There are a small number of such stories in the early suttas, only some of which overlap with the later Jātaka collections, the story of Mahāvijita not being among them.

[^444]: Kūṭadanta is hoping for a better return on his investment. Throughout the suttas, we find a strain of what might be called "spiritual economics".

[^445]: Mentioned in a similar context at AN 4.40:2.2.

[^446]: This contradicts the description given above.

[^447]: This means that the dwelling could be used by any Saṅgha member, as opposed to being given to a particular monastic or group. The gift of a dwelling is regarded as the best kind of offering to the Saṅgha.

[^448]: Thus far the Buddha has described the regular practice of a Buddhist lay person.

[^449]: The entire path may be described as a "sacrifice".

[^450]: Releasing animals remains a Buddhist practice today.