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Saį¹yutta NikÄya 19.14 Linked Discourses 19.14
2. Dutiyavagga Chapter Two
Maį¹
gulitthisutta A Fishwife
āIdhÄhaį¹, Ävuso, gijjhakÅ«į¹Ä pabbatÄ orohanto addasaį¹ itthiį¹ duggandhaį¹ maį¹
guliį¹ vehÄsaį¹ gacchantiį¹. āJust now, reverend, as I was descending from Vultureās Peak Mountain I saw a woman stinking and dingy as a catfish flying through the air. Maį¹
guli is probably related to maį¹
gura (cf. Sanskrit maį¹
gura, madgura), a skin color, neither black nor brown, said by the commentary to be that of the common catfish clarias magur (MN 36:29.3). It has a dingy mud-green color for hiding in the mud on the riverbed. It is a pun: she is a seer of maį¹
galÄ (āauspiciesā), hence she is reborn ugly as a maį¹
guli (ācatfishā). Like the catfish, she has to disguise her true nature. The idea approaches the modern sense of ācatfishingā, both usages stemming from the idea of camouflage.
Tamenaį¹ gijjhÄpi kÄkÄpi kulalÄpi anupatitvÄ anupatitvÄ vitacchenti virÄjenti. Vultures, crows, and hawks kept chasing her, pecking and clawing
SÄ sudaį¹ aį¹į¹assaraį¹ karoti ā¦peā¦ as she screamed in pain. ā¦ā ā¦
esÄ, bhikkhave, itthÄ« imasmiį¹yeva rÄjagahe ikkhaį¹ikÄ ahosi ā¦peā¦. āThat woman used to be a sorceress right here in RÄjagaha. ā¦ā Ikkhaį¹ikÄ (Sanskrit Ä«kį¹£aį¹ikÄ) is literally a āseeressā, but her putative powers extend beyond mere visions of the future. Such sorceresses were considered a āthornā to society alongside dissemblers, cheats, gamblers, and palmists (Manu 9.258). MedhÄtithi comments that they would con wealthy men out of money by promising them the favors of the gods or casting spells. Jain texts say a sorceress would jingle a small bell under her ear, at the sound of which her familiar, a malevolent entity, would approach and whisper secrets. The Pali commentary concurs: āIt seems they do the work of an enslaved spirit, saying, āWhen such and such an offering ritual is performed, you will certainly prosperā.ā Perhaps it was this spirit who caused her foul smell (Atharva Veda 8.6.12, ChÄndogya Upaniį¹£ad 1.2.2). The background story to Ja 126 tells how such a sorceress was enlisted by a prince to ensure he would end up with his princess, who was also his cousin. Her powersāall fakeāincluded divination of possession, exorcism, and revivifying a corpse with a malevolent spirit. Kauį¹ilya, ever the pragmatist, is not above enlisting sorceresses in the services of the state for the dissemination of fake news (ArthaÅÄstra 13.1.7).
Catutthaį¹.