SN 17.6PTS SN 2.2291 min read

A Bolt of Lightning

Asanisutta

Material possessions, honor, and praise are terrible things, like a lightning strike.

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

0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 17.6Linked Discourses 17.6
0.21. PaṭhamavaggaChapter One

0.3AsanisuttaA Bolt of Lightning

1.1Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.At Sāvatthī.

1.2“Dāruṇo, bhikkhave, lābhasakkārasiloko …pe… adhigamāya.“Possessions, honor, and popularity are grim …

1.3Kaṁ, bhikkhave, asanivicakkaṁ āgacchatu, sekhaṁ appattamānasaṁ lābhasakkārasiloko anupāpuṇātu.Let forked lightning fall on whom? Let possessions, honor, and popularity come to a trainee who has not achieved their heart’s desire.¹

2.1Asanivicakkanti kho, bhikkhave, lābhasakkārasilokassetaṁ adhivacanaṁ.‘Forked lightning’ is a term for possessions, honor, and popularity.

2.2Evaṁ dāruṇo kho, bhikkhave, lābhasakkārasiloko …pe…So grim are possessions, honor, and popularity. …”2.3evañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabban”ti.

2.4Chaṭṭhaṁ.

Translator’s notes

The phrasing here is odd, but the regular syntax in the two phrases (object in accusative, subject in nominative, verb in imperative), as well as the parallel phrasing in the next Sutta, argue against it being corrupt (as posited by Bodhi). I think the Buddha is quoting a curse, then he substitutes the Dhammic meaning. Compare Atharva Veda 8.4.20: “Let Indra hurl his lightning at the sorcerers!”, where Sanskrit aśani = Pali asani (“lightning-bolt”). See the next Sutta and note.
For asanivicakka (“forked lightning”) see Rig Veda 4.35.2, where vicakra means “divided”. This phrase is only used in one other place in the canon, which is also about a decadent monk (DN 25:11.3).
↩ sn17.6:1.3