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SN 19.8PTS SN 2.2571 min read

Needle Hairs

Sūcilomasutta

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.8Linked Discourses 19.8
  • 0.21. PaṭhamavaggaChapter One

0.3SūcilomasuttaNeedle Hairs

1.1“Idhāhaṁ, āvuso, gijjhakūṭā pabbatā orohanto addasaṁ sūcilomaṁ purisaṁ vehāsaṁ gacchantaṁ.“Just now, reverend, as I was descending from Vulture’s Peak Mountain I saw a man whose body hairs were needles flying through the air.1.2Tassa tā sūciyo uppatitvā uppatitvā tasseva kāye nipatanti.And those needles kept rising up and falling on his body1.3So sudaṁ aṭṭassaraṁ karoti …pe…as he screamed in pain. …” …

1.4eso, bhikkhave, satto imasmiṁyeva rājagahe sūto ahosi …pe….“That being used to be an equerry right here in Rājagaha. …”1

1.5Aṭṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. The sūta (“equerries”) were members of the king’s guard (Atharva Veda 3.5.7, Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 3.4.1.7, Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3.37) standing in seniority between the king’s brother and a village headman (ŚB 5.4.4.17). Later texts say they led the cavalry. They bore quivers of arrows (ŚB 13.4.2.4), which fits their punishment.

    ↩ sn19.8:1.4