killing – Daily Sutta Reading

Dhp 129–145 Daṇḍavagga: The Rod

All tremble at the rod,
all fear death.
Treating others like oneself,
neither kill nor incite to kill.

All tremble at the rod,
all love life.
Treating others like oneself,
neither kill nor incite to kill.

Creatures love happiness,
so if you harm them with a stick
in search of your own happiness,
after death you won’t find happiness.

Creatures love happiness,
so if you don’t hurt them with a stick
in search of your own happiness,
after death you will find happiness.

Don’t speak harshly,
they may speak harshly back.
For aggressive speech is painful,
and the rod may spring back on you.

If you still yourself
like a broken gong,
you’re quenched
and conflict-free.

As a cowherd drives the cows
to pasture with the rod,
so too old age and death
drive life from living beings.

The fool does not understand
the evil that they do.
But because of those deeds, that dullard
is tormented as if burnt by fire.

One who violently attacks
the peaceful and the innocent
swiftly falls
to one of ten bad states:

harsh pain; loss;
the breakup of the body;
serious illness;
mental distress;

hazards from rulers;
vicious slander;
loss of kin;
destruction of wealth;

or else their home
is consumed by fire.
When their body breaks up, that witless person
is reborn in hell.

Not nakedness, nor matted hair, nor mud,
nor fasting, nor lying on bare ground,
nor wearing dust and dirt, or squatting on the heels,
will cleanse a mortal not free of doubt.

Dressed-up they may be, but if they live well—
peaceful, tamed, committed to the spiritual path,
having laid aside violence towards all creatures—
they are a brahmin, an ascetic, a mendicant.

Can a person constrained by conscience
be found in the world?
Who shies away from blame,
like a fine horse from the whip?

Like a fine horse under the whip,
be keen and full of urgency.
With faith, ethics, and energy,
immersion, and investigation of principles,
accomplished in knowledge and conduct, mindful,
give up this vast suffering.

While irrigators guide water,
fletchers shape arrows,
and carpenters carve timber—
those true to their vows tame themselves.

Read this translation of Dhammapada 129–145 Daṇḍavagga: The Rod by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net, SuttaFriends.org, DhammaTalks.org, Ancient-Buddhist-Texts.net or AccessToInsight.org. Or listen on Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.

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SN 19.1 Aṭṭhisutta: A Skeleton

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground.

Now at that time Venerable Lakkhaṇa and Venerable Mahāmoggallāna were staying on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain. Then Mahāmoggallāna robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, went to Lakkhaṇa and said to him, “Come, Reverend Lakkhaṇa, let’s enter Rājagaha for alms.”

“Yes, reverend,” Lakkhaṇa replied.

As Mahāmoggallāna was descending from Vulture’s Peak Mountain he smiled at a certain spot. So Lakkhaṇa said to Mahāmoggallāna, “What is the cause, Reverend Moggallāna, what is the reason you smiled?”

“Reverend Lakkhaṇa, it’s the wrong time for this question. Ask me when we’re in the Buddha’s presence.”

Then Lakkhaṇa and Mahāmoggallāna wandered for alms in Rājagaha. After the meal, on their return from almsround, they went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. Lakkhaṇa said to Mahāmoggallāna:

“Just now, as Mahāmoggallāna was descending from Vulture’s Peak Mountain he smiled at a certain spot. What is the cause, Reverend Moggallāna, what is the reason you smiled?”

“Just now, reverend, as I was descending from Vulture’s Peak Mountain I saw a skeleton flying through the air. Vultures, crows, and hawks kept chasing it, pecking, clawing, and stabbing it in the ribs as it screeched in pain. It occurred to me: ‘Oh, how incredible, how amazing! That there can be such a sentient being, such an entity, such an incarnation!’”

Then the Buddha said to the mendicants:

“Mendicants, there are disciples who live full of vision and knowledge, since a disciple knows, sees, and witnesses such a thing.

Formerly, I too saw that being, but I did not speak of it. For if I had spoken of it others would not have believed me, which would be for their lasting harm and suffering.

That being used to be a cattle butcher right here in Rājagaha. As a result of that deed he burned in hell for many years, many hundreds, many thousands, many hundreds of thousands of years. Now he experiences the residual result of that deed in such an incarnation.”

Read this translation of Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.1 Aṭṭhisutta: A Skeleton by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaFriends.org. Or listen on PaliAudio.com or SC-Voice.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.

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AN 6.94 Tatiyaabhabbaṭṭhānasutta: Things That Can’t Be Done (3rd)

“Mendicants, these six things can’t be done. What six? A person accomplished in view can’t murder their mother or father or a perfected one. They can’t maliciously shed the blood of the Realized One. They can’t cause a schism in the Saṅgha. They can’t acknowledge another teacher. These are the six things that can’t be done.”

Note: A “person accomplished in view” is synonymous with a stream-enterer. A “perfected one” is the translation for “arahant.” Shedding the blood of a Realized one refers to harming a Buddha physically to the point of making him bleed, not things like damaging Buddha statues—although a stream enterer probably wouldn’t do that any way. And a schism in the Sangha has a very specific meaning according to the Vinaya and can only be done by monastics—although it’s also unlikely that a lay stream enterer would cause any kind of intentional disharmony.

Read this translation of Aṅguttara Nikāya 6.94 Tatiyaabhabbaṭṭhānasutta: Things That Can’t Be Done (3rd) by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or listen on SC-Voice.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.

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