Snp, part 36 · Pali Canon (Tipiṭaka) – English & Pāli · Verses Across
Buddhism · Sutta Pitaka · Minor Collection (Khuddaka)
Snp, part 36
With Kokālika · Kokālikasutta
EnglishEnglish
PāliPali
So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then the mendicant Kokālika went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him, “Sir, Sāriputta and Moggallāna have corrupt wishes. They’ve fallen under the sway of corrupt wishes.”
When this was said, the Buddha said to Kokālika, “Don’t say that, Kokālika! Don’t say that, Kokālika! Have confidence in Sāriputta and Moggallāna, they’re good monks.”
For a second time … For a third time Kokālika said to the Buddha, “Despite my faith and trust in the Buddha, Sāriputta and Moggallāna have corrupt wishes. They’ve fallen under the sway of corrupt wishes.” For a third time, the Buddha said to Kokālika, “Don’t say that, Kokālika! Don’t say that, Kokālika! Have confidence in Sāriputta and Moggallāna, they’re good monks.”
Then Kokālika rose from his seat, bowed, and respectfully circled the Buddha, keeping him on his right, before leaving. Not long after he left his body erupted with boils the size of mustard seeds. The boils grew to the size of mung beans, then chickpeas, then jujube seeds, then jujubes, then myrobalans, then unripe wood-apples, then ripe wood-apples. Finally they burst open, and pus and blood oozed out. Then the mendicant Kokālika died of that illness. He was reborn in the Pink Lotus hell because of his resentment for Sāriputta and Moggallāna.
Then, late at night, the glorious divinity Sahampati, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the Buddha, bowed, stood to one side, and said to him, “Sir, the mendicant Kokālika has passed away. He was reborn in the Pink Lotus hell because of his resentment for Sāriputta and Moggallāna.” That is what the divinity Sahampati said. Then he bowed and respectfully circled the Buddha, keeping him on his right, before vanishing right there.
When he said this, one of the mendicants said to the Buddha, “Sir, how long is the lifespan in the Pink Lotus hell?” “It’s long, mendicant. It’s not easy to calculate how many years, how many hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands of years it lasts.” “But sir, is it possible to give a simile?” “It’s possible,” said the Buddha.
“Suppose there was a Kosalan load of twenty packs of sesame seed. And at the end of every hundred years someone would remove a single seed from it. By this means the Kosalan load of twenty packs of sesame seed would run out faster than a single lifetime in the Abbuda hell. Now, twenty lifetimes in the Abbuda hell equal one lifetime in the Nirabbuda hell. Twenty lifetimes in the Nirabbuda hell equal one lifetime in the Ababa hell. Twenty lifetimes in the Ababa hell equal one lifetime in the Aṭaṭa hell. Twenty lifetimes in the Aṭaṭa hell equal one lifetime in the Ahaha hell. Twenty lifetimes in the Ahaha hell equal one lifetime in the Yellow Lotus hell. Twenty lifetimes in the Yellow Lotus hell equal one lifetime in the Fragrant Water Lily hell. Twenty lifetimes in the Fragrant Water Lily hell equal one lifetime in the Blue Water Lily hell. Twenty lifetimes in the Blue Water Lily hell equal one lifetime in the White Lotus hell. Twenty lifetimes in the White Lotus hell equal one lifetime in the Pink Lotus hell. The mendicant Kokālika has been reborn in the Pink Lotus hell because of his resentment for Sāriputta and Moggallāna.” That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:
When you praise someone worthy of criticism, or criticize someone worthy of praise, you choose a losing hand with your own mouth: you’ll never find happiness that way.
Yo nindiyaṁ pasaṁsati, Taṁ vā nindati yo pasaṁsiyo; Vicināti mukhena so kaliṁ, Kalinā tena sukhaṁ na vindati.
A losing hand at dice is a trivial thing, if all you lose is your money and all you own, even yourself. What’s a really terrible hand is to hate the holy ones.
Appamatto ayaṁ kali, Yo akkhesu dhanaparājayo; Sabbassāpi sahāpi attanā, Ayameva mahattaro kali; Yo sugatesu manaṁ padosaye.
For a hundred thousand times a hundred million, times five hundred and thirty-six times a thousand times ten million years a slanderer of noble ones goes to hell, having aimed bad words and thoughts at them.
For no one’s deeds are ever lost, they return to their owner. In the next life that stupid sinner sees suffering in themselves.
Na hi nassati kassaci kammaṁ, Eti hataṁ labhateva suvāmi; Dukkhaṁ mando paraloke, Attani passati kibbisakārī.
They approach the place of impalement, with its iron spikes, sharp blades, and iron stakes. Then there is the food, which appropriately, is like a red-hot iron ball.
The sinner roasts in worm-infested water. There’s not even a shore to go to, for all around are the same kind of pots.
Puḷavāvasathe salilasmiṁ, Tattha kiṁ paccati kibbisakārī; Gantuṁ na hi tīramapatthi, Sabbasamā hi samantakapallā.
They enter the Sword-Leaf Forest, so sharp they cut their body to pieces. Having grabbed the tongue with a hook, they stab it, slashing back and forth.
Then they approach the impassable Vetaraṇī River, with its sharp blades, its razor blades. Dullards fall into it, the wicked who have done wicked deeds.
Experts have counted the loads of sesame as compared to the Pink Lotus hell. For there are five times ten thousand times ten million, plus another twelve hundred times ten million years—
Te gaṇitā vidūhi tilavāhā, Ye padume niraye upanītā; Nahutāni hi koṭiyo pañca bhavanti, Dvādasa koṭisatāni punaññā.
as painful as life is said to be in hell, that’s how long one must dwell there. That’s why, for those who are pure, well-behaved, full of good qualities, one should always guard one’s speech and mind.”
