> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# SN 17:5 · The Dung Beetle (Kaṁsaḷakā Sutta)
- URL: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-17-5/
- Published: 2026-06-01T02:37:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-13T16:35:19.000Z
- Description: Saṁyutta Nikāya · SN 17:5. Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.
- Author: Ninth Heaven Literature & Arts Association (NHLAA)
- Tags: Buddhism, Sutta Piṭaka, Text, Indian, The Buddha, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Discourse, Pali, Early Buddhist, Library

Staying near Sāvatthī. “Monks, gains, offerings, & fame are a cruel thing, a harsh, bitter obstacle to the attainment of the unexcelled rest from bondage. Suppose there were a beetle, a dung-eater, full of dung, gorged with dung, with a huge pile of dung in front of him. He, because of that, would look down on other beetles: ‘Yes, sirree! I am a dung-eater, full of dung, gorged with dung, with a huge pile of dung in front of me!’ In the same way, there is the case where a certain monk—conquered by gains, offerings, & fame, his mind consumed—adjusts his lower robe and, taking his bowl & outer robe, goes into a village or town for alms. Having eaten there as much as he likes—full of almsfood & invited again for the next day—he goes to the monastery and, in the midst of a group of monks, boasts, ‘I have eaten as much as I like, I am full of almsfood & have been invited again for tomorrow. I am a recipient of robes, almsfood, lodgings, & medicinal requisites for curing illness. These other monks, though, have next to no merit, next to no influence. They aren’t recipients of robes, almsfood, lodgings, & medicinal requisites for curing illness.’ Conquered by gains, offerings, & fame, his mind consumed, he looks down on other well-behaved monks. That will be for this worthless man’s long-term suffering & harm. That’s how cruel gains, offerings, & fame are: a harsh, bitter obstacle to the attainment of the unexcelled rest from bondage.

“So you should train yourselves: ‘We will put aside any gains, offerings, & fame that have arisen; and we will not let any gains, offerings, & fame that have arisen keep our minds consumed.’ That’s how you should train yourselves.”

See also: [Iti 81](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/iti-81/); [Sn 4:14](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-4-14/); [Thag 18](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/thag-18/); [Thig 5:6](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/thig-5-6/)

---

*Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) licence, for free distribution only. Source: [dhammatalks.org](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN17%5F5.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) (Metta Forest Monastery).*