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SN 1.39PTS (1st ed) SN 1.291 min read

With Pajjunna’s Daughter (1st)

Paṭhamapajjunnadhītusutta

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

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 1.39Linked Discourses 1.39
  • 0.24. Satullapakāyikavagga4. The Host of a Hundred Felicities

0.3PaṭhamapajjunnadhītusuttaWith Pajjunna’s Daughter (1st)

1.1Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.1.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā vesāliyaṁ viharati mahāvane kūṭāgārasālāyaṁ.At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof.

1.3Atha kho kokanadā pajjunnassa dhītā abhikkantāya rattiyā abhikkantavaṇṇā kevalakappaṁ mahāvanaṁ obhāsetvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhāsi.Then, late at night, the glorious Kokanadā, Pajjunna’s daughter, lighting up the entire Great Wood, went up to the Buddha, bowed, stood to one side,11.4Ekamantaṁ ṭhitā kho sā devatā kokanadā pajjunnassa dhītā bhagavato santike imā gāthāyo abhāsi:and recited these verses in the Buddha’s presence:

2.1“Vesāliyaṁ vane viharantaṁ,“Staying in the woods of Vesālī2.2Aggaṁ sattassa sambuddhaṁ;is the Buddha, best of creation.22.3Kokanadāhamasmi abhivande,Kokanadā am I who worships him,2.4Kokanadā pajjunnassa dhītā.Kokanadā, Pajjuna’s daughter.

3.1Sutameva pure āsi,Previously I had only heard3.2Dhammo cakkhumatānubuddho;the teaching realized by the Clear-eyed One.3.3Sāhaṁ dāni sakkhi jānāmi,But now I know it as a witness3.4Munino desayato sugatassa.while the sage, the Holy One teaches.

4.1Ye keci ariyaṁ dhammaṁ,There are simpletons who go about4.2Vigarahantā caranti dummedhā;denouncing the teaching of the noble ones.4.3Upenti roruvaṁ ghoraṁ,They fall into the terrible Hell of Screams34.4Cirarattaṁ dukkhaṁ anubhavanti.where they suffer long.4

5.1Ye ca kho ariye dhamme,There are those who have found <j>acceptance and peace5.2Khantiyā upasamena upetā;in the teaching of the noble ones.5.3Pahāya mānusaṁ dehaṁ,After giving up this human body,5.4Devakāyaṁ paripūressantī”ti.they swell the heavenly host.”

Translator’s notes

  1. Pajjuna is Parjanya, the Vedic god of rain, especially the thunderstorm. His “lively drops” impregnate the earth, begetting plants (Rig Veda 5.83). While I cannot find a reference elsewhere to his daughter Kokanadā, it seems fitting that the daughter of the rain and the earth is the “Red Lotus”.

    ↩ sn1.39:1.3

  2. Bodhi suggests taking the singular sattassa as a metrically shortened sattānaṁ (“beings”). However, there is a plural form sattāna that is metrically identical with sattassa. Perhaps Kokanadā is using satta here in the sense of “creation”.

    ↩ sn1.39:2.2

  3. The commentaries identify this roruva (“Hell of Screams”) with the “Smoky Roruva”, while the “Great Hell of Screams”, mentioned as the destiny of a corrupt financier in SN 3.20, is the “Flaming Roruva”, said to be the same as Avīci. These are also known in the Sanskrit tradition, eg. Manu 4.88, and described in detail at eg. Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 10, 12. There, the Ruarava of glowing coals is the destiny of the false witness and the liar, while Mahāraurava is scorching copper and ravenous beasts.

    ↩ sn1.39:4.3

  4. Torment in the Mahāraurava lasts 100,000,000 years, according to the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa.

    ↩ sn1.39:4.4