user120: I recall reading a sutta in which the Buddha rises from meditation and says that while he was meditating, it occurred to him: Is it possible for a king to rule righteously without killing? If anyone knows the text I am talking about, it would be much appreciated.

user8196: What you are referring to comes from the Discourses of the Sutta Pitaka, and can be found within the book The Connected Discourses of The Buddha; A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya by Bhikku Bodhi, Vol. 1, pg 209.
"On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Kosalans in a small forest hut in the Himalayan region.  Then when the Blessed One was alone in seclusion, a reflection arose in his mind thus: 'Is it possible to exercise rulership righteously: without killing and without instigating others to kill, without confiscating and without instigating others to confiscate, without sorrowing and without causing sorrow?' "
--SN 4.20

120: <p>I recall reading a <em>sutta</em> in which the Buddha rises from meditation and says that while he was meditating, it occurred to him: Is it possible for a king to rule righteously without killing? If anyone knows the text I am talking about, it would be much appreciated.</p>
 8196: <p>What you are referring to comes from the Discourses of the Sutta Pitaka, and can be found within the book <em>The Connected Discourses of The Buddha; A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya</em> by Bhikku Bodhi, Vol. 1, pg 209.</p>

<p>"On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Kosalans in a small forest hut in the Himalayan region.  Then when the Blessed One was alone in seclusion, a reflection arose in his mind thus: 'Is it possible to exercise rulership righteously: without killing and without instigating others to kill, without confiscating and without instigating others to confiscate, without sorrowing and without causing sorrow?' "</p>

<p>--<a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn04/sn04.020.than.html" rel="nofollow">SN 4.20</a></p>
