Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Kokaliya Sutta

10. KOKALIYASUTTA.
Kokaliya abuses Sariputta and Moggallana to Buddha; therefore as soon as he
has left Buddha, he is struck with boils, dies and goes to the Paduma hell,
whereupon Buddha describes to the Bhikkhus the punishment of backbiters in
hell.
So it was heard by me:
At one time Bhagavat dwelt at Savatthî, in Getavana, in the park of
Anathapindika. Then the Bhikkhu Kokaliya approached Bhagavat, and after having
approached and saluted Bhagavat he sat down apart; sitting down apart the
Bhikkhu Kokaliya said this to Bhagavat: "O thou venerable one, Sariputta and
Moggallana have evil desires, they have fallen into the power of evil desires.'
When this had been said, Bhagavat spoke to the Bhikkhu Kokaliya as follows:
'(Do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; (do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; appease, O Kokaliya,
(thy) mind in regard to Sariputta and Moggallana: Sariputta and Moggallana are
amiable[1].'
A second time the Bhikkhu Kokaliya said this to Bhagavat: 'Although thou, O
venerable Bhagavat, (appearest) to me (to be) faithful and trustworthy, yet
Sariputta and Moggallana have evil desires, they have fallen into the power of
evil desires.'
A second time Bhagavat said this to the Bhikkhu Kokaliya: '(Do) not (say) so,
Kokaliya; (do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; appease, O Kokaliya, (thy) mind in regard
to Sariputta and Moggallana: Sariputta and Moggallana are amiable.'
A third time the Bhikkhu Kokaliya said this to Bhagavat: 'Although thou, O
venerable Bhagavat, (appearest) to me (to be) faithful and trustworthy,
[1. Pesala ti piyasîla. Commentator.]
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yet Sariputta and Moggallana have evil desires, Sariputta and Moggallana have
fallen into the power of evil desires.'
A third time Bhagavat said this to the Bhikkhu Kokaliya: '(Do) not (say) so,
Kokaliya; (do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; appease, O Kokaliya, (thy) mind in regard
to Sariputta and Moggallana: Sariputta and Moggallana are amiable.'
Then the Bhikkhu Kokaliya, after having risen from his seat and saluted
Bhagavat and walked round him towards the right, went away; and when he had been
gone a short time, all his body was struck with boils as large as mustard seeds;
after being only as large as mustard seeds, they became as large as kidney
beans; after being only as large as kidney beans, they became as large as chick
peas; after being only as large as chick peas, they became as large as a
Kolatthi egg (?); after being only as large as a Kolatthi egg, they became as
large as the jujube fruit; after being only as large as the jujube fruit, they
became as large as the fruit of the emblic myrobalan; after being only as large
as the fruit of the emblic myrobalan, they became as large as the unripe beluva
fruit; after being only as large as the unripe beluva fruit, they became as
large as a billi fruit (?); after being as large as a billi fruit, they broke,
and matter and blood flowed out. Then the Bhikkhu Kokaliya died of that disease,
and when he had died the Bhikkhu Kokaliya went to the Paduma hell, having shown
a hostile mind against Sariputta and Moggallana. Then when the night had passed
Brahman Sahampati of a beautiful appearance, having lit up all Getavana,
approached Bhagavat, and having approached and saluted Bhagavat,
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he stood apart, and standing apart Brahman Sahampati said this to Bhagavat: 'O
thou venerable one, Kokaliya, the Bhikkhu, is dead and after death, O thou
venerable one, the Bhikkhu Kokaliya is gone to the Paduma hell, having shown a
hostile mind against Sariputta and Moggallana.'
This said Brahman Sahampati, and after saying this and saluting Bhagavat, and
walking round him towards the right, he disappeared there.
Then Bhagavat, after the expiration of that night, addressed the Bhikkhus
thus: 'Last night, O Bhikkhus, when the night had (nearly) passed, Brahman
Sahampati of a beautiful appearance, having lit up all Getavana, approached
Bhagavat, and having approached and saluted Bhagavat, he stood apart, and
standing apart Brahman Sahampati said this to Bhagavat: "O thou venerable one,
Kokaliya, the Bhikkhu, is dead; and after death, O thou venerable one, the
Bhikkhu Kokaliya is gone to the Paduma hell, having shown a hostile mind against
Sariputta and Moggallana." This said Brahman Sahampati, O Bhikkhus, and having
said this and saluted me, and walked round me towards the right, he disappeared
there.'
When this had been said, a Bhikkhu asked Bhagavat: 'How long is the rate of
life, O venerable one, in the Paduma hell?'
'Long, O Bhikkhu, is the rate of life in the Paduma hell, it is not easy to
calculate either (by saying) so many years or so many hundreds of years or so
many thousands of years or so many hundred thousands of years.'
'But it is possible, I suppose, to make a comparison, O thou venerable one?'
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'It is possible, O Bhikkhu;' so saying, Bhagavat spoke (as follows): 'Even
as, O Bhikkhu, (if there were) a Kosala load of sesamum seed containing twenty
kharis, and a man after the lapse of every hundred years were to take from it
one sesamum seed at a time, then that Kosala load of sesamum seed, containing
twenty kharis, would, O Bhikkhu, sooner by this means dwindle away and be used
up than one Abbuda hell; and even as are twenty Abbuda hells, O Bhikkhu, so is
one Nirabbuda hell; and even as are twenty Nirabbuda hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one
Ababa hell; and even as are twenty Ababa hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Ahaha hell;
and even as are twenty Ahaha hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Atata hell; and even as
are twenty Atata hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Kumuda hell; and even as are twenty
Kumuda hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Sogandhika hell; and even as are twenty
Sogandhika hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Uppalaka hell; and even as are twenty
Uppalaka hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Pundarîka hell; and even as are twenty
Pundarîka hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Paduma hell; and to the Paduma hell, O
Bhikkhu, the Bhikkhu Kokaliya is gone, having shown a hostile mind against
Sariputta and Moggallana.' This said Bhagavat, and having said this Sugata, the
Master, furthermore spoke as follows:
1. 'To (every) man that is born, an axe is born in his mouth, by which the
fool cuts himself, when speaking bad language. (657)
2. 'He who praises him who is to be blamed or blames him who as to be
praised, gathers up sin in his mouth, and through that (sin) he will not find
any joy. (658)
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3. 'Trifling is the sin that (consists in) losing riches by dice; this is a
greater sin that corrupts the mind against Sugatas. (659)
4. 'Out of the one hundred thousand Nirabbudas (he goes) to thirty-six, and
to five Abbudas; because he blames an Ariya he goes to hell, having employed his
speech and mind badly. (660)
5. 'He who speaks falsely goes to hell, or he who having done something says,
"I have not done it;" both these after death become equal, in another world
(they are both) men guilty of a mean deed[1]. (661)
6. 'He who offends an offenceless man, a pure man, free from sin, such a fool
the evil (deed) reverts against, like fine dust thrown against the wind[2].
(662)
7. 'He who is given to the quality of covetousness, such a one censures
others in his speech, (being himself) unbelieving, stingy, wanting in
affability, niggardly, given to backbiting. (663)
8. 'O thou foul-mouthed, false, ignoble, blasting, wicked, evil-doing, low,
sinful, base-born man, do not be garrulous in this world, (else) thou wilt be an
inhabitant of hell[3]. (664)
9. 'Thou spreadest pollution to the misfortune (of others), thou revilest the
just, committing sin (yourself), and having done many evil deeds thou wilt go to
the pool (of hell) for a long time. (665)
[1. Comp. Dhp. v. 306.
2. Comp. Dhp. v. 125.
3. Mukhadugga vibhûta-m-anariya
Bhûnahu[*] papaka dukkatakari
Purisanta kalî avagata
Ma bahubhani dha nerayiko si.
*. Bhûnahu bhûtihanaka vuddhinasaka. Commentator.]
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110. 'For one's deeds are not lost, they will surely come (back to you),
(their) master will meet with them, the fool who commits sin will feel the pain
in himself in the other world[1]. (666)
11. 'To the place where one is struck with iron rods, to the iron stake with
sharp edges he goes; then there is (for him) food as appropriate, resembling a
red-hot ball of iron. (667)
12. 'For those who have anything to say (there) do not say fine things, they
do not approach (with pleasing faces); they do not find refuge (from their
sufferings), they lie on spread embers, they enter a blazing pyre. (668)
13. 'Covering (them) with a net they kill (them) there with iron hammers;
they go to dense darkness[2], for that is spread out like the body of the earth.
(669)
14. 'Then (they enter) an iron pot, they enter a blazing pyre, for they are
boiled in those (iron pots) for a long time, jumping up and down in the pyre.
(670)
15. 'Then he who commits sin is surely boiled in a mixture of matter and
blood; whatever quarter he inhabits, he becomes rotten there from coming in
contact (with matter and blood). (671)
16. 'He who commits sin will surely be boiled in the water, the
dwelling-place of worms; there it is not (possible) to get to the shore, for the
jars (are) exactly alike[3]. (?) (672)
[1. Comp. Revelation xiv. 13.
2. Andham va Timisam ayanti.
3. Pulavavasathe salilasmim
Tattha kim pakkati kibbisakarî,
Gantum na hi tîram p' atthi
Sabbasama hi samantakapalla.]
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17. 'Again they enter the sharp Asipattavana with mangled limbs; having
seized the tongue with a hook, the different watchmen (of hell) kill (them).
(673)
18. 'Then they enter Vetaranî, that is difficult to cross and has got streams
of razors with sharp edges; there the fools fall in, the evil-doers after having
done evil. (674)
19. 'There black, mottled flocks of ravens eat them who are weeping, and
dogs, jackals, great vultures, falcons, crows tear (them). (675)
20. 'Miserable indeed is the life here (in hell) which the man sees that
commits sin. Therefore should a man in this world for the rest of his life be
strenuous, and not indolent. (676)
21. 'Those loads of sesamum seed which are carried in Paduma hell have been
counted by the wise, they are (several) nahutas and five kotis, and twelve
hundred kotis besides[1]. (677)
22. 'As long as hells are called painful in this world, so long people will
have to live there for a long time; therefore amongst those who have pure,
amiable, and good qualities one should always guard speech and mind.' (678)
Kokaliyasutta is ended.