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SN 32.1PTS SN 3.2541 min read

Plain Version

Suddhikasutta

Cloud gods may live in cool clouds, warm clouds, storm clouds, wind clouds, or rain clouds.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 32.1Linked Discourses 32.1
  • 0.21. Valāhakavagga1. Gods of the Thunderclouds

0.3SuddhikasuttaPlain Version

1.1PTS 3.254Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2“Valāhakakāyike vo, bhikkhave, deve desessāmi.“Mendicants, I will teach you about the gods of the thundercloud host.11.3Taṁ suṇātha.Listen …

1.4Katame ca, bhikkhave, valāhakakāyikā devā?And what are the gods of the thundercloud host?21.5Santi, bhikkhave, sītavalāhakā devā;There are gods of the cool thunderclouds,1.6santi uṇhavalāhakā devā;warm thunderclouds,1.7santi abbhavalāhakā devā;stormy thunderclouds,31.8santi vātavalāhakā devā;windy thunderclouds,1.9santi vassavalāhakā devā—and rainy thunderclouds.1.10ime vuccanti, bhikkhave, ‘valāhakakāyikā devā’”ti.These are called gods of the thundercloud host.”

1.11Paṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Valāhaka is not explained in any dictionary I have seen, and I have not been able to find it in pre-Buddhist texts. Trace to the root val (to “turn” or to “arc”). Appended with āha (“sky”) we have valāhaka, “one who arcs over the sky” like a constellation (cf. Sanskrit valana). This is the name of the horse of the universal monarch (MN 129:37.2), and metaphorically the “thunderclouds” that rumble like horse’s hooves. The link between horses and clouds recalls the Vedic Maruts, boisterous gods of the thunderclouds, who roamed about roaring in their chariot drawn by horses (Rig Veda 1.39.6, 1.87.4, 1.88.1, 5.42.15, etc.) or on horseback (RV 5.61.2), which are compared to the rainy clouds (RV 5.53.7, 8.7.28). Other deities also have horses associated with the thundercloud. The twin Aśvins (“horsemen”) have horses that “thunder” (RV 5.73.7). The horses of Parjanya (Pali pajjuna) are “rain-bearing messengers” (RV 5.83.3). Bṛhaspati has horses “like a ruddy cloud” (RV 7.97.6). Pegasus, who was said by Hesiod to be the bringer of thunderbolts to Zeus, harks back to the same mytheme.

    ↩ sn32.1:1.2

  2. The “host” (kāya) is the four types.

    ↩ sn32.1:1.4

  3. Abbha (“stormy”) by itself just means “cloud”. In the Rig Veda they’re associated with wind (10.68.5), rain (10.77.1), and lighting (9.76.3), and in the Suttas they are described as “blue” (Thag 1.13:1.1).

    ↩ sn32.1:1.7