Linked Discourses With Deities

The Buddha crossed the flood of suffering by neither standing nor swimming.

Freedom comes when we end attachment to rebirth.

Life is short, so we should drop the world’s bait.

Time flies, so we should drop the world’s bait.

A cryptic set of questions, which the Buddha answers equally cryptically.

How many are awake while others are asleep?

Those who comprehend the teachings live smooth amid the rough.

Those who are unconfused live smooth amid the rough.

Unless you give up conceit you’ll be trapped in the domain of Death.

Spiritual practitioners have clear complexions, despite their simple life.

Even the divine Garden of Delight is impermanent.

We think our attachments bring us happiness, but they really bring sorrow.

Like many of these discourses, here the Buddha repeats a god’s verses with a subtle twist towards the Dhamma.

A god’s worldly values are improved by the Buddha’s version.

The quiet murmuring of the jungle can be scary—but not to the Buddha.

Laziness is an obstruction to the path.

Life is hard for an unrestrained ascetic; they should draw in their thoughts like a tortoise.

Does anyone have a sense of conscience and shame?

Do you have a little hut and a little nest—or are you free?

A deity tries to tempt a monk to first enjoy sensual pleasures and then go forth.

A mendicant should live as if their head was on fire.

The evil you do hurts yourself.

This generation is all tangled up like a nest of matted hair. But who can unravel the tangle?

One should rein in the mind, but only from that which is evil.

If a perfected one has gone beyond all sense of self, would they still refer to themselves as “I”?

How many lights are there that light up the world?

The stream of rebirth stops flowing when name and form ceases.

Even the rich are full of greed for more—is there anyone free of greed?

A riddle on the topic of escape.

The Buddha is asked how to find release from suffering.

A series of deities give verses praising association with the good, and the Buddha gives his own response.

A series of deities give verses praising generosity, and the Buddha gives his own response.

A series of deities give verses praising generosity, and the Buddha gives his own response, saying that practice of the Dhamma goes beyond this.

Two deities exchange verses with the Buddha on how sensual pleasures give rise to suffering.

Some deities come to find fault with the Buddha. He responds to their critique, which stimulates a further discussion on wrong-doing and forgiveness.

A series of Satullapa gods address the Buddha with verses on various topics. The identifications of the verses in this unclear, and comparison with the Chinese parallels suggests the Pali may have suffered textual loss.

A vast congregation of deities assembles to see the Buddha and the Saṅgha at Kapilavatthu.

A series of deities praise the Buddha’s resilience and composure when his foot is injured by a stone.

A goddess identifying herself as Kokanadā claims to confirm with her own experience the Buddha’s teachings on karma.

A goddess identified as Kokanada, possibly the sister of the previous, sums up the teaching in a pithy verse.

A deity recites to the Buddha some verses.

Different kinds of gifts have different purposes.

Gods and humans love to eat, so what kind of being does not like food?

A single verse in the form of a Dhamma riddle.

A verse in praise of the Buddha.

To escape from the Forest of Delusion, one needs the vehicle of the Dhamma.

For those who give the gift of a monastery, merit always grows.

Verses in praise of the Jetavana monastery, the Dhamma, and venerable Sāriputta, apparently spoken by the deity Anāthapiṇḍika.

The Buddha is asked about the future destiny of people who are stingy and those who are generous.

Ghaṭīkāra, a disciple of the former Buddha Kassapa, comes to the Buddha and speaks of his past life, and of the attainments of seven friends.

Morality is good even in old age.

Morality is good when it doesn’t decay.

Things that are friends in this life and the next.

What is it that sustains various beings? Unusually, this verse lacks a “Dhamma” counterpart.

A person is created by craving and fears suffering.

A person is created by craving and is not freed from suffering.

A person is created by craving and their destiny is shaped by their deeds.

What is the wrong path?

A person’s true companion is their faith.

A pair of verses on the nature of poetry, and lacking a Dhamma counterpart.

“Name” weighs everything down.

The mind leads the world around and controls it all.

The mind leads the world around and craving controls it.

The world is fettered by craving.

The world is bound by craving.

The world is afflicted with death and old age, and burning with desire.

The world is caught by craving and built on suffering.

The world is shut in by death.

The world is bound by desire.

A Dhamma riddle whose answer, enigmatically, is “six”.

The killing of anger is the only killing praised by the noble ones.

What is the sign or token of a chariot, a fire, a nation, and a woman?

A series of questions on what is best.

A series of questions asked by one deity, answered by another, and then given a better answer by the Buddha.

Why is it that, though the path has been taught, people still fear?

A series of questions on the path.

A series of questions on diverse matters.

What is it that one should not give away?

A series of questions on diverse topics.

A series of questions on diverse topics.

A series of questions on diverse kinds of people.