True DhammaLibrary · Community
Ja 771 min read

The Great Dreams

Mahāsupinajātaka

“Bulls first, and trees.”—This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana about sixteen wonderful dreams. For in the last watch of one night (so tradition says) the King of Kosala, who had been asleep all the night, dreamed sixteen great dreams, and woke up in great fright and alarm as to what they might portend for him. So strong was the fear of death upon him that he could not stir, but lay there huddled up on his bed. Now, when the night grew light, his brahmins and chaplains came to him and with due obeisance asked whether his majesty had slept well.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1JātakaStories of Past Lives 77
  • 0.2EkakanipātaThe Book of the Ones
  • 0.3VaruṇavaggaThe Warding Tree

0.47. MahāsupinajātakaSixteen Great Dreams: a past life story

1.1PTS 1.344“Usabhā rukkhā gāviyo gavā ca,“Bulls; trees; cows; oxen;11.2Asso kaṁso siṅgālī ca kumbho;horse; bronze goblet; she-jackal; water-pot;21.3Pokkharaṇī ca apākacandanaṁ,lotus pond; uncookable rice; sandalwood;31.4Lābūni sīdanti silā plavan”ti.pumpkins sink; stones float;

2.1Maṇḍūkiyo kaṇhasappe gilanti,frogs swallow black cobras;2.2Kākaṁ supaṇṇā parivārayanti;golden swans surround a crow;42.3Tasā vakā eḷakānaṁ bhayāhi,the wolf trembles for fear of the sheep.”5

2.4Vipariyāso vattati nayidha matthīti.No perversion of reality is happening here for me.6

3.1Mahāsupinajātakaṁ sattamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. King Pasenadi is perturbed by sixteen dreams, but the Buddha assures him that these do not affect him, but are portents of times to come. Each dream depicts an inversion or perversion of the just order of things.

    Four snorting black bulls depart without fighting.

    Sapling trees flower.

    Cows suckle at newborn calves.

    Oxen are unyoked and calves given the reins.

    ↩ ja77:1.1

  2. A horse eats from two mouths.

    People beg a jackal to defecate in a fine goblet.

    A she-jackal eats a rope as it is being spun.

    People pour water into a full pitcher.

    ↩ ja77:1.2

  3. A lotus-pond is muddy in the middle and clear on the edges.

    Rice will not cook.

    People barter sour milk for sandalwood.

    ↩ ja77:1.3

  4. Text reads supaṇṇa (“phoenix”), but commentary reads suvaṇṇa (“golden”), explaining as “golden royal geese” (suvaṇṇarājahaṁsa).

    ↩ ja77:2.2

  5. The verse has seven lines, with each pair of lines having a different metre: opacchandasaka, vetālīya, and tuṭṭhubha for the last three.

    ↩ ja77:2.3

  6. This sentence is a prose addendum. It seems to be an affirmation for someone suffering bad dreams: they remind themselves that the perverse, upside-down things they saw in the dream are not real.

    ↩ ja77:2.4