Aṇguttara Nikāya
X. Dasaka-Nipāta
XXI: Kara-Ja-Kāya-Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
X. The Book of the Tens
XXI: The Body Born of Deeds
Sutta 205
Saṃsappaniya-Pariyāya Suttaṃ
Dhamma-Teaching on Crookedness
Translated from the Pali by F. L. Woodward, M.A.
Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved
For details see Terms of Use.
Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī.
There the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks."
"Yes, lord," they replied, and the Exalted One said:
"Monks, I will teach you dhamma-teaching,
dhamma-teaching on crookedness.[1]
Do ye listen to it.
Pay attention carefully and I will speak."
[187] "We will, sir," replied those monks to the Exalted One,
who said this:
"And what, monks, is dhamma-teaching which teaches about crookedness?
Monks, beings are responsible for their deeds,[2]
heirs to their deeds,
they are the womb of their deeds,
kinsmen of their deeds,
to them their deeds come home again.[3]
Whatsoever deed they do,
be it lovely or ugly,
of that thing they are the heirs.
■
In this connexion, monks,
a certain one takes life,
he is a hunter,
bloody-handed,
given over to killing and slaying,
void of compassion to all living creatures.
He goes crookedly[4] in body,
crookedly in speech,
crookedly in mind.
His action with body is crooked,
so is that with speech and mind;
crooked is his bourn
and crooked his rising up again in birth.
Moreover, monks,
for one whose bourn is crooked,
whose rebirth is crooked,
for him there is one of two bourns,
either downright woe in purgatory
or to be born in the womb of an animal,
one that creeps crookedly along.
■
And of what sort, monks,
is that birth in the womb of an animal,
one that creeps crookedly along?
A snake,
a scorpion,
a centipede,
a mongoose,
a cat,
a mouse,
an owl
or whatsoever other animal
goes stealthily on seeing human beings.
■
A certain one takes what is not given;
he takes with thievish intent
things not given to him,
the property of another person,
situated in jungle
or in village.
In sexual desires
he is a wrong-doer;
he has intercourse with girls in ward of mother or father,
brother,
sister
or relatives (or clan);
with girls lawfully guarded,
already pledged to a husband
and protected by the rod,
even with girls crowned with the flower-garland (of betrothal).
■
He is a liar.
When cited to appear before the council
or a company
or amid his relatives
or guild-men
or before the royal family
and asked to bear witness
with the words:
'Come, good fellow!
Say what you know.'
Though he knows not, he says, 'I know';
though he knows, he says, 'I know not';
though he has not seen, he says 'I saw';
though he saw, he says 'I saw not'.
Thus for his own sake
or that of others
or to get some carnal profit or other
he deliberately utters falsehood.
a slanderer,
■
Also he is a slanderer.
Hearing something at one place
he proclaims it somewhere else
to bring about a quarrel between the parties;
what he has heard here
he repeats there
to bring about a quarrel between the parties.
Thus he breaks up harmony,
foments strife between those discordant,
discord is his delight;
exulting in
and passionately fond of discord,
he utters speech
that makes for discord.
■
Also he is of harsh speech.
Whatsoever speech is rough,
cutting,
bitter about others,
abusive of others,
provoking wrath
and conducive to distraction -
such speech does he utter.
■
He is given to idle babble,
he speaks out of season,
speaks unrealities;
he speaks things unprofitable,
what is not-dhamma
and not-discipline;
he utters speech not worth treasuring up,
speech unreasonable
and not worth listening to,
undiscriminating
and unconcerned with profit.
■
He is covetous,
he is one who covets the property of another,
thinking:
'O that what is another's were mine!'
■
He is malevolent of heart,
the thoughts of his heart are corrupt, thus:
'Let these beings be slain,
come to destruction,
be destroyed,
not exist at all.'
■
Also he has wrong view,
he is perverse in outlook,
holding:
There is no gift,
no offering,
no sacrifice;
there is no fruit or ripening of deeds
well done or ill done;
this world is not,
the world beyond is not;
there is no mother,
no father,
no beings supernaturally born;
there are no recluses and brāhmins in the world
who have gone right,
who fare rightly,
men who by their own comprehension
have realized this world
and the world beyond
and thus declare.
■
He goes crookedly in body,
crookedly in speech,
crookedly in mind.
His action with body is crooked,
so is that with speech and mind;
crooked is his bourn
and crooked his rising up again in birth.
■
Moreover, monks,
for one whose bourn is crooked,
whose rebirth is crooked,
for him there is one of two bourns,
either downright woe in purgatory
or to be born in the womb of an animal,
one that creeps crookedly along.
■
And of what sort, monks,
is that birth in the womb of an animal,
one that creeps crookedly along?
A snake,
a scorpion,
a centipede,
a mongoose,
[188] a cat,
a mouse,
an owl
or whatsoever other animal
goes stealthily on seeing human beings.
§
Monks, beings are responsible for their deeds,
heirs to their deeds,
the womb of their deeds,
the kinsmen of their deeds,
to them their deeds come home again.
Whatsoever deed they do,
be it lovely or ugly,
of that they are the heirs.
■
Herein a certain one abandons taking life,
abstains therefrom;
he has laid aside the rod,
has laid aside the knife;
he dwells modest,
charitable,
feeling compassion towards every living creature.
He goes not crookedly in body,
speech and mind.
His action with body,
speech
and mind is straight;
straightforward is his bourn
and straight his rebirth.
■
Now, monks, for one whose bourn and rebirth are straight
I declare one of two bourns,
either those heaven-worlds
that are utter bliss
or (rebirth in) whatsoever families are exalted,
such as the families of nobles
or brāhmins,
or housefathers of a great household,
wealthy,
of great resources,
of great property,
with great store of gold and silver,
with great store of possessions,
with great store of wealth and grain.
Thus become, monks,
is the rebirth of one who has come to be.
What he does,
by that he is reborn;
when reborn (appropriate) contacts
contact such an one.
Thus I declare that beings are the heirs of their deeds.
■
He abandons taking what is not given,
abstains therefrom;
the property of another,
situated in jungle or in village,
if not given,
he takes not with thievish intent.
■
In sexual desires
he abandons wrong action,
abstains therefrom.
He has no intercourse
with girls in ward of mother or father,
of brother,
sister
or relatives (or clan),
with girls lawfully guarded,
already plighted to a husband
and protected by the rod,
even with girls crowned
with the flower-garlands (of betrothal).
■
He abandons lying speech
he abstains therefrom.
When cited to appear before the council
or a company
or amid his relatives
or guild-men
or before the royal family
and asked to bear witness
with the words:
'Come, good fellow!
Say what you know.'
If he knows not, he says, 'I know not';
if he knows, he says, 'I know';
if he has not seen, he says 'I saw not';
if he saw, he says 'I saw'.
Thus neither for his own sake
or that of others
or to get some carnal profit or other
does he deliberately utter falsehood.
■
Abandoning slanderous speech
he abstains therefrom.
When he hears something at one place
he does not proclaim it elsewhere
to bring about a quarrel between the parties;
what he has heard here
he does not report there
to bring about a quarrel between the parties;
thus he brings together the discordant,
restores harmony,
harmony is his delight,
he exults in,
is passionately fond of harmony;
he utters speech that makes for harmony.
■
Also he abandons harsh speech,
abstains therefrom.
Whatsoever speech is blameless,
pleasant to the ear,
affectionate,
going to the heart,
urbane,
agreeable to many folk,
delightful to many folk,
of such speech he is a speaker.
■
Also abandoning idle babble
he abstains therefrom;
he speaks in season,
of facts,
of the aim,
of dhamma,
of discipline;
he utters speech worth treasuring up,
speech seasonable
and worth listening to,
discriminating
and concerned with the aim.
■
He is not covetous;
he covets not the property of another,
thinking:
'0 that what is another's were mine!'
■
He is not malevolent of heart,
the thoughts of his heart
are not corrupt.
He wishes:
'Let these beings carry about the self in peace,
free from enmity,
free from sorrow
and in happiness.'
■
Also he has right view;
he is reasonable in outlook,
holding that there are such things as gift,
offering,
oblation,
fruit and ripening of deeds
done well or ill;
that this world is,
that the world beyond is;
that mother, father and beings of supernatural birth (in other worlds) do exist;
that there are in the world recluses and brāhmins
who have gone rightly,
who fare rightly,
men who of their own comprehension
have realized this world and the world beyond
and thus declare it.
Such an one goes not crookedly in body, speech and mind.
He goes not crookedly in body,
speech and mind.
His action with body,
speech
and mind is straight;
straightforward is his bourn
and straight his rebirth.
■
[189] Now, monks, for one whose bourn and rebirth are straight
I declare one of two bourns,
either those heaven-worlds
that are utter bliss
or (rebirth in) whatsoever families are exalted,
such as the families of nobles
or brāhmins,
or housefathers of a great household,
wealthy,
of great resources,
of great property,
with great store of gold and silver,
with great store of possessions,
with great store of wealth and grain.
Thus become, monks,
is the rebirth of one who has come to be.
What he does,
by that he is reborn;
when reborn (appropriate) contacts
contact such an one.
Thus I declare that beings are the heirs of their deeds.
Indeed, monks, beings are responsible for their deeds,[5]
heirs of their deeds,
the womb of their deeds,
the kinsmen of their deeds,
to them their deeds come home again.
Whatsoever deed they do,
be it lovely or ugly,
of that they are the heirs.
Such, monks, is the dhamma-teaehing,
the teaching about crookedness."
[1] Saṃsappaniya, 'slinking along' (of a reptile). Tīkā, 'the irresolution of a child.' Cf. Path of Purity iii, 546 (slinking along); Expositor i, 175 (the function of resolution is opposition to 'slinking along'). At A. iii, 354, Comy. has paripphandati. Probably it refers to the from-side-to-side action of a snake as is shown by the word jimha used below; but in the list of animals the idea is that of stealth.
[2] Kamma-ssaka. See Buddh. Psych. Ethics, p. 356 n. Above, § 48. Mil. Panh. 65 adds kammaṃ satte vibhajati (differentiates).
[3] Kamma-paṭisaraṇa (resort).
[4] Saṃsappati, see n. above.
[5] Kammasaka
