Buddhist Scriptures

by Donald Lopez

  And since such severe torment by burning continues without interruption, therefore it is known in this world here as ‘Tāpana’ – the Burning Hell. (17)

  The nihilist who asserts perversely that the dhamma is non-dhamma [that is, that the truth is untruth] and whoever torments beings is consumed by fire in Patāpana; (18)

  Because it burns those beings there with fierce fire, greater than that of Tāpana, this is said to be ‘Patāpana’. (19)

  Those beings showing enmity to those of greater virtue, slaying disciples and also mother, father, teacher – they are reborn in Avīci; (20)

  Even bones melt there because of the heat of terrible fire; since there is no intermission for comfort, it is considered to ‘Avīci’ – the Hell without Intermission. (21)

  Here end the Eight Great Narakas Secondary Nirayas [Hells]

  There are four secondary nirayas for each and every niraya: the [cesspool of] Miḷhakūpa, the [embers of] Kukkula, [the trees of] the Asipattavana and the Nadī [river]. (22)

  Those beings issuing from the great niraya fall into the cesspit; they are pierced with horrible hordes of worms; (23)

  And, issuing from the Miḷhakūpa, they fall in the Kukkula; fallen there, those beings are cooked like mustard seeds; (24)

  And, on issuing from the embers, they see trees shining, green and abounding in leaves – desiring comfort, they draw near; (25)

  There crows and vultures, dogs, owls and boars, terrible herons, crows and so on, metal-beaked and very fearsome, (26)

  Surrounding everybody, devour their flesh – flesh grown back again, the victims rise up, [are devoured] and fall back. (27)

  And [those] who assail each other in battle to destroy [each other], because of this wrongdoing are reborn with swords for nails and have suffering for their lot. (28)

  Their nails are swords indeed, made of iron, ablaze and sharp; since they cut each other to pieces with them so they are thought of as ‘Those Having Swords for Nails’. (29)

  By force they make the adulterer climb that simbali tree of metal, flaming, sharp-pointed and with thorns sixteen finger-lengths long. (30)

  Metal-toothed, huge bodies, blazing fearsome females, embracing him, feed on the one who steals another’s wife. (31)

  Torn up in the Asipattavana [forest], men who are traitors wail – while dogs, vultures, owls and crows devour [them]. (32)

  Those who steal others’ property again and again feed on red-hot iron balls; they drink molten copper. (33)

  Dogs with fearsome iron teeth violently devour those men, though they cry out [like] bellowing cattle, [those men] who are always partial to hunting. (34)

  Those who kill [creatures] born in water, such as fish, go to the terrible river Vetaraṇi whose running water is like blazing copper; [there] one is consumed by fire for a long time. (35)

  Whoever, full of moha [delusion], goes to law contrary to the dhamma because of his greed for bribes, weeping is struck with the discus in naraka [hell]. (36)

  For a long time red-hot hammers like mechanical mountains crush those who in this world have caused crushing to creatures in various ways. (37)

  Those breakers of the dhamma-bridges and those who preached the wrong path weep as they follow a [real] path fitted with sharp blades. (38)

  Men who crush lice and so on between their nails weep for a long time and are crushed again and again between rams as big [-bodied] as mountains. (39)

  And, whoever undertakes right conduct, but does not maintain it correctly is broiled for a long time in Kukkula with flesh and bones dissolving. (40)

  Anyone who lives even a little by a wrong means of livelihood is plunged in dung and urine and is eaten by hordes of worms. (41)

  Those who crush on sight the insects that appear in the midst of their rice are crushed again and again by iron pestles there indeed. (42)

  Men who are cruel, exceedingly wrathful, always intent on killing and gladdened by the suffering of others are reborn as Yama’s rakkhasas [demons of the Lord of Death]. (43)

  Once the seeds of absolutely all suffering have been distinguished, beginning with the first, [as to] any wrongdoing of body, speech and so on – one should not indulge in that [wrongdoing] even minutely. (44)

  Naraka – the first section [is concluded]

  Animal Section

  Because of passion, they are reborn in the womb of geese, doves and the like, [in the womb] of rhinoceroses, [in the womb of those] exceedingly influenced by passion; [and] because of [their] moha [delusion], in the wombs of insects and so on. (45)

  Because of anger and ill-will, they become snakes, because of pride and obduracy, lions; some are reborn, on account of their excessive conceit, in the wombs of donkeys and dogs. (46)

  He who is avaricious [or] discontented gets birth as a monkey; the foul-mouthed, the fickle and the shameless are reborn in the wombs of crows. (47)

  Those flogging, fettering and injuring elephants, horses, buffalo and the like become spiders of cruel character, stinging insects and scorpions. (48)

  Men who are flesh-eating, angry and avaricious are reborn after death as tigers, cats, jackals, bears, vultures, wolves and so on. (49)

  Men who are generous givers yet angry and cruel [become] nāgas [serpent deities] of great iddhi-power [magical power]; though charitable they become garuḍa-lords [mythical birds of prey] because of anger and haughtiness. (50)

  If any wrongdoing in thought and so on has been done by themselves, they are reborn in the realms of animals; therefore one should shun that [wrongdoing]. (51)

  Animals – the second section [is concluded]

  Peta Section Petas [Ghosts]

  Those who steal what can be chewed and eaten and who lack energy [for good deeds] become corpse-eating petas, kaṭapūtanas [rotten bodied]. (52)

  Those who oppress the young and cheat them because of greed are themselves reborn kaṭapūtanas to feed on birth-impurities. (53)

  Whatsoever men are engaged in low practices, the mean, the avaricious and the constantly greedy are reborn after death as goitrous petas. (54)

  Whoever prevents others from giving and does not himself give anything becomes a hungry, thirsty peta, needle-mouthed and big-bellied. (55)

  Whoever preserves [his] wealth for his family [but] neither enjoys nor gives it is reborn a peta taking [only] what is given, eating funeral offerings. (56)

  Whoever longs to steal another’s property, and gives and then regrets it, is reborn as a peta feeding on dung, phlegm and vomit. (57)

  Whoever speaks unpleasantly in anger, words hitting vital spots, because of that deed becomes for a long time a peta with a mouth like a furnace. (58)

  And whoever is cruel-minded, without sympathy and quarrelsome, would become a fiery peta eating worms, insects and beetles. (59)

  Kumbhaṅḍas [Ghouls]

  Any village-fraud who himself gives but stops [others] giving is reborn a kumbhaṅḍa, deformed, [but] doing honour. (60)

  Whoever pitilessly kills animals, but gives [them] to be eaten [by others] inevitably, after death, finds his various kinds of food [as] a rakkhasa [flesh-eating demon]. (61)

  Those who are always intent on scent and garlands, are slow to anger and are munificent are reborn after death as gandhabbas [fragrance-eating spirits], furthering the delight of the devas. (62)

  Whoever is angry, malicious and offers goods out of greed is reborn as a pisāca [goblin], evil-minded with deformed visage. (63)

  Those men who are constantly corrupt, fickle, causing pain to others, [but] constantly delighting in giving, become bhūtas [ghosts] after death. (64)

  Those who are horrible, angered, [but] generous, and those fond of intoxicating liquors are reborn after death as yakkhas [woodland spirits], feeding on horrible things, fond of liquor. (65)

  Those who in this world convey folk such as mother, father and guru in carriages become yakkhas travelling in celestial palaces, provided with ease. (66)

  Because of the fault which is cravin
g and avarice, after death people are reborn as petas; [and they are reborn as] yakkhas and so on because of deeds good but spoiled – therefore one should shun wickedness. (67)

  Asuras [Demigods]

  That treacherous person who is always deceitful [but] commits no other sin, who is quarrelsome [but] generous, becomes lord of asuras. (68)

  Vepacitti’s asuras went to the realm of the Thirty-three devas; those named the Kālakañja asuras were included among the petas. (69)

  Petas – the third section [is concluded]

  Human Being Section

  Among devas, asuras and men, man is short-lived because of injuries [done by him] or long-lived because of injuries not [done] – therefore one should avoid causing injury. (70)

  Leprosy, wasting, fever, madness and other ills of human beings exist here on earth among men because of killing, flogging and fettering. (71)

  Whoever is a thief of others’ goods and offers nothing whatsoever does not acquire wealth, however great his effort. (72)

  Whoever takes wealth ungiven and gives gifts is reborn after death [first] wealthy then penniless. (73)

  Any man who is neither thief nor giver nor exceedingly miserly surely obtains, with great difficulty, lasting wealth. (74)

  That man who is never a thief of others’ goods, generous and free from avarice, obtains many rich possessions which cannot be stolen. (75)

  Whoever gives food here on earth is always reborn to comfort, given long life, beauty and strength, is wise and avoids disease. (76)

  Whoever would offer garments is reborn modest, beautiful, splendid, dear to people and receives garments. (77)

  Whoever gives houses here on earth with joyful heart, for that creature there will arise palaces rich in all pleasures of the senses. (78)

  Whatsoever men offer bridges, sandals and so on are always comfortable [in the next life]; they obtain the best of carriages. (79)

  Those who build watering-places – wells, tanks, ponds – are [reborn] comfortable, free from heat and free from thirst. (80)

  Whoever offers a garden, the refuge of all creatures, would be reborn worshipped with flowers, be always rich and glorious. (81)

  Erudition is obtained by giving knowledge, and wisdom by means of analysis; by giving medicine and safety, one is reborn free from illness. (82)

  By giving lamps one becomes clear-sighted, by giving the sound of music one becomes sweet-voiced, by giving bed and seat a man obtains ease. (83)

  Whoever here on earth gives a cow and so on, and edibles along with milk and the like becomes strong, beautiful, wealthy and long-lived. (84)

  By giving a maiden one obtains sensual pleasures and a retinue; and by giving land one is reborn prosperous in money and grain. (85)

  Whichever return is desired [of one] – leaf, flower, fruit, water and also a pleasing conveyance – should be given to whoever wants it. (86)

  Here on earth he who gives, spoiling [his gift] for the sake of heaven or on account of fear, for fame or for comfort, reaps spoiled fruit. (87)

  Whoever gives something for the good of others, with heart full of sympathy, not heeding his own good, reaps unspoiled fruit. (88)

  Anything whatever that is given to another at the proper time in the proper way – [in the next life] all that is present in just that [same] way. (89)

  Not oppressing others, at the proper time [and] according to what is desired, without spoiling [the gift], one should oneself give that [giving] indeed not contrary to the dhamma. (90)

  There is indeed yielding of fruit from gift[s] being given in this way – giving is thought to be the most important cause of all the comforts [that can accrue from deeds]. (91)

  Whoever keeps away from another’s wife indeed obtains a comely wife; whoever even with his own wife avoids the wrong place and time becomes a man. (92)

  [But] that man who does not stop his lecherous intentions towards the wives of others and takes pleasure in amours becomes a woman. (93)

  That woman who loathes her womanhood, is moral, is little affected by passion and always longs for manhood would obtain manhood. (94)

  And whoever properly enters upon a religious life which is free of disquiet becomes splendid, very virtuous, wealthy and venerated even by devas. (95)

  An abstainer from the drinking of intoxicating liquors [is reborn] with sure memory, not bewildered; a truthful person is reborn glorious, and provided with comfort. (96)

  Whoever causes no division, even between people [already] of divided views, is reborn strong-minded and with faithful retinue. (97)

  Whoever always carries out gurus’ commands with joyful mind and teaches what is beneficial and non-beneficial becomes one whose words are welcome. (98)

  Humbled by their disrespect of others, elevated by the opposite, people have comfort having given comfort, and suffering having given suffering. (99)

  Those who indulge in contempt for others, are treacherous and untruthful, and take pride in their beauty become hunchbacks and dwarves. (100)

  Avaricious for skills, one would become stupid; and unpleasant to the pleasant, become dumb. Whoever is indignant at friendly words is reborn deaf and bewildered. (101)

  Suffering is the fruit of evil, comfort of meritorious action, a mixture of a mixture – one should know that every fruit corresponds to the deeds. (102)

  Human beings – the fourth section [is concluded]

  Deva Section

  And whoever is not looking for his own comfort and takes no joy in his household, this one as chief of planets would attain the realm of the Mahārājika gods [the kings of the four directions]. (103)

  Whoever honours mother, father and clan elders, is charitable, patient, and takes no pleasure in quarrelling would be reborn among the Thirty-Three Gods. (104)

  Those men who are neither devoted to dispute nor indeed joyful-minded in quarrels but devoted exclusively to righteousness go to the Yāma gods. (105)

  Those men who have much learning, know the dhamma [by heart], are very wise, longing for mokkha [liberation], completely content with the virtues go to the Tusita [Joyous Heaven] gods. (106)

  Those men who by themselves are based on right conduct, giving and monastic discipline, and are full of effort inevitably go to the Nimmānarati [Delighting in Creation] gods. (107)

  And those who are of superior virtue, are open-minded and attached to giving, self-control [and] restraint [will be among] the Paranimmittavatti [Controlling Others’ Creations] gods. (108)

  One attains to the Tāvatimsa [Thirty-Three] heaven by right conduct, to the blessing of Brahmā’s world by jhāna meditation and to nibbāna by knowledge. (109)

  The fruit of one’s deeds is pleasant or unpleasant. This fruit has been expounded by me – one goes to a comfortable state because of pleasant deeds; suffering has unpleasant deeds as its origin, (110)

  This trio should be pondered: death, disease and indeed old age, separation from things loved, [and whatever] was the fruit of each deed, (111)

  In this way one reaches destruction of passions; whoever is free from passions attains meritorious action; thus one renounces evil. You must all listen to this briefly. (112)

  This has been spoken by the great isi [that is, the Buddha]: ‘Doing what is beneficial for others and avoiding what is harmful to others is meritorious action; evil is the reverse.’ (113)

  The realms of the devas and men and the three evil regions are the five courses [of rebirth], explained by the Buddha himself to be the three states of existence. (114)

  Devas – fifth section [is complete]

  Pañcagatidīpānī is complete

  Translated by Ann Appleby Hazlewood. See ‘A Translation of the Pañcagatidīpānī’, Journal of the Pali Text Society 11 (1987), pp. 133–59.

  2

  A CALL TO PRACTISE

  It is a common tenet of Buddhist traditions that human life, or more specifically rebirth as a human born with access to the dharma, is very precious; something difficult to find and, if found, of
great meaning. In a famous passage, the Buddha described a single blind tortoise swimming in a vast ocean, surfacing for air only once every century. On the surface of the ocean floats a single golden yoke. It is rarer, said the Buddha, to be reborn as a human with the opportunity to practise the dharma than it is for the tortoise to surface for its centennial breath with its head through the hole in the golden yoke. Thus, life as a human with the opportunity to practise the dharma is not to be squandered on the pursuit of the ephemeral pleasures of the world. But those pleasures are enticing and life passes quickly; if one remains involved in the affairs of the world, there will be no time for religious practice. Thus, one finds across the Buddhist traditions eloquent descriptions of the impermanence of life, of how quickly life passes away. It is said that death is definite and the time of death is indefinite; as Nāgārjuna wrote, ‘Life is more impermanent than a water bubble battered by the wind of many harmful things. Thus, that one inhales after exhaling and awakens healthy from sleep is fantastic.’

  A particularly powerful description of the folly of worldly pursuits and the benefits of practising the dharma appears in a short text by the famous Korean monk Wonhyo (617–686). It was common for monks during the period of the Silla Dynasty in Korea to travel to China in order to study. Wonhyo never made the journey after realizing that the universe is a product of the mind. He was a distinguished scholar, writing commentaries on a wide range of texts and making important contributions to Buddhist philosophy. It appears that Wonhyo stopped writing scholastic texts around 676 in order to spread the dharma among the people of Korea; he was said to have travelled through the land, singing and dancing, teaching the name of the Buddha. Because of these and other efforts, he is credited above all others with making Buddhism the national religion of Korea. This text, entitled Arouse Your Mind and Practise! (Palsim suhaeng change) is one of his few extant works clearly intended for exhorting the people of Korea to the practice of Buddhism. It has remained a popular text in Korea, and is still considered required reading for those who have recently become monks or nuns.