A Comparison of the Pali and Chinese versions of the Kosala Samyutta, early Buddhist discourse of King Pasenadi of Kosala

The Buddha spent most of his teaching life in Jetavana (Jeta's Park) in Sravasti, capital of Kosala. The king of Kosala, Pasenadi, was deeply devoted to the Buddha and often sought his counsel. The discourses comprising the Kosala Samyutta, in the Sagatha Vagga of Samyutta-nikaya, are an early textual record on how the Buddha responded to the concerns of King Pasenadi, a busy lay person faced with the challenge of living a moral life among the world's temptations. Topics they address include ethical values for wealth, position, and power; reflections on war and peace; and criteria for spiritual nobility in ethics and wisdom, governed by the law of karma.