0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.9Linked Discourses 19.9
0.21. PaṭhamavaggaChapter One

0.3DutiyasūcilomasuttaNeedle Hairs (2nd)

1.1PTS 2.258“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 sīse pavisitvā mukhato nikkhamanti;The needles bored into his head and out his mouth,1.3mukhe pavisitvā urato nikkhamanti;into his mouth and out his chest,1.4ure pavisitvā udarato nikkhamanti;into his chest and out his belly,1.5udare pavisitvā ūrūhi nikkhamanti;into his belly and out his thighs,1.6ūrūsu pavisitvā jaṅghāhi nikkhamanti;into his thighs and out his calves,1.7jaṅghāsu pavisitvā pādehi nikkhamanti;and into his calves and out his feet.1.8so sudaṁ aṭṭassaraṁ karoti …pe…And he screamed in pain. …” …

1.9eso, bhikkhave, satto imasmiṁyeva rājagahe sūcako ahosi …pe….“That being used to be an informant right here in Rājagaha. …”¹

1.10Navamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

Sūcaka appears only here and Snp 2.2:8.1. His title echoes his punishment by needles (sūci) which worm their way in and out of his body just as he, as an “informant” (Arthaśāstra 2.8.29) wormed his way through society. Manu says his punishment was to be reborn with a stinking mouth (Manu 11.50). As noted in the next Sutta, the informant reported to the “village head”.

↩ sn19.9:1.9