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Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.1 Linked Discourses 19.1
1. Paṭhamavagga Chapter One
Aṭṭhisutta A Skeleton
Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard. In this collection, a monk with psychic power sees beings invisible to the normal eye who are suffering due to their bad deeds in past lives. The Buddha confirms the vision, and explains the reason why they are experiencing that particular form of suffering. In each case the punishment fits the crime, although it is not always obvious how, so I note the connections.
ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground.
Tena kho pana samayena āyasmā ca lakkhaṇo āyasmā ca mahāmoggallāno gijjhakūṭe pabbate viharanti. Now at that time Venerable Mark and Venerable Mahāmoggallāna were staying on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain. Lakkhaṇa (“Mark”) appears only here and in the corresponding passage at Bu Pj 4:9.1.1. He sees the “marks” by which the results of deeds are manifest, a topic elsewhere treated under the “marks” of a Great Man (DN 30). I translate the name to emphasize its artifice.
Atha kho āyasmā mahāmoggallāno pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya yenāyasmā lakkhaṇo tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā āyasmantaṁ lakkhaṇaṁ etadavoca: Then Mahāmoggallāna robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, went to Mark and said to him,
“āyāmāvuso lakkhaṇa, rājagahaṁ piṇḍāya pavisissāmā”ti. “Come, Reverend Mark, let’s enter Rājagaha for alms.”
“Evamāvuso”ti kho āyasmā lakkhaṇo āyasmato mahāmoggallānassa paccassosi. “Yes, reverend,” Mark replied.
Atha kho āyasmā mahāmoggallāno gijjhakūṭā pabbatā orohanto aññatarasmiṁ padese sitaṁ pātvākāsi. As Mahāmoggallāna was descending from Vulture’s Peak Mountain he smiled at a certain spot.
Atha kho āyasmā lakkhaṇo āyasmantaṁ mahāmoggallānaṁ etadavoca: So Mark said to Mahāmoggallāna,
“ko nu kho, āvuso moggallāna, hetu ko paccayo sitassa pātukammāyā”ti? “What is the cause, Reverend Moggallāna, what is the reason you smiled?”
“Akālo kho, āvuso lakkhaṇa, etassa pañhassa. “Reverend Mark, it’s the wrong time for this question.
Bhagavato maṁ santike etaṁ pañhaṁ pucchā”ti. Ask me when we’re in the Buddha’s presence.”
Atha kho āyasmā ca lakkhaṇo āyasmā ca mahāmoggallāno rājagahe piṇḍāya caritvā pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkantā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamiṁsu; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdiṁsu. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā lakkhaṇo āyasmantaṁ mahāmoggallānaṁ etadavoca: Then Mark and Mahāmoggallāna wandered for alms in Rājagaha. After the meal, on their return from almsround, they went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. Mark said to Mahāmoggallāna:
“idhāyasmā mahāmoggallāno gijjhakūṭā pabbatā orohanto aññatarasmiṁ padese sitaṁ pātvākāsi. “Just now, as Mahāmoggallāna was descending from Vulture’s Peak Mountain he smiled at a certain spot.
Ko nu kho, āvuso moggallāna, hetu ko paccayo sitassa pātukammāyā”ti? What is the cause, Reverend Moggallāna, what is the reason you smiled?”
“Idhāhaṁ, āvuso, gijjhakūṭā pabbatā orohanto addasaṁ aṭṭhikasaṅkhalikaṁ vehāsaṁ gacchantiṁ. “Just now, reverend, as I was descending from Vulture’s Peak Mountain I saw a skeleton flying through the air.
Tamenaṁ gijjhāpi kākāpi kulalāpi anupatitvā anupatitvā phāsuḷantarikāhi vitudenti vitacchenti virājenti. Vultures, crows, and hawks kept chasing it, pecking, clawing, and stabbing it in the ribs The verbs here are uncertain and readings vary considerably. See MN 54:16.1, and compare Rig Veda 6.46.14 where horse-racers compete “like birds over raw flesh”.
Sā sudaṁ aṭṭassaraṁ karoti. as it screeched in pain.
Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, etadahosi: It occurred to me:
‘acchariyaṁ vata bho, abbhutaṁ vata bho. ‘Oh lord, how incredible, how amazing!
Evarūpopi nāma satto bhavissati. That there can be such a sentient being,
Evarūpopi nāma yakkho bhavissati. such a spirit, Here yakkha is used as a generic term for “spirit”, “entity”.
Evarūpopi nāma attabhāvapaṭilābho bhavissatī’”ti. such an incarnation!’”
Atha kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: Then the Buddha said to the mendicants:
“cakkhubhūtā vata, bhikkhave, sāvakā viharanti; “Mendicants, there are disciples who live full of vision and knowledge,
ñāṇabhūtā vata, bhikkhave, sāvakā viharanti, yatra hi nāma sāvako evarūpaṁ ñassati vā dakkhati vā sakkhiṁ vā karissati. since a disciple knows, sees, and witnesses such a thing.
Pubbeva me so, bhikkhave, satto diṭṭho ahosi, api cāhaṁ na byākāsiṁ. Formerly, I too saw that being, but I did not speak of it.
Ahañcetaṁ byākareyyaṁ, pare ca me na saddaheyyuṁ. For if I had spoken of it others would not have believed me,
Ye me na saddaheyyuṁ, tesaṁ taṁ assa dīgharattaṁ ahitāya dukkhāya. which would be for their lasting harm and suffering.
Eso, bhikkhave, satto imasmiṁyeva rājagahe goghātako ahosi. That being used to be a cattle butcher right here in Rājagaha. As a butcher, he is treated like a piece of meat (MN 54:16.1). The same applies to the next three discourses.
So tassa kammassa vipākena bahūni vassāni bahūni vassasatāni bahūni vassasahassāni bahūni vassasatasahassāni niraye paccitvā tasseva kammassa vipākāvasesena evarūpaṁ attabhāvapaṭilābhaṁ paṭisaṁvedayatī”ti. As a result of that deed he burned in hell for many years, many hundreds, many thousands, many hundreds of thousands of years. Now he experiences the residual result of that deed in such an incarnation.”
(Sabbesaṁ suttantānaṁ eseva peyyālo.) (Tell all these discourses in full like this.)
Paṭhamaṁ.