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SN 6.9PTS (1st ed) SN 1.1491 min read

With the Divinity Tudu

Turūbrahmasutta

The brahmā Tudu tries to persuade Kokālika to have faith in Sāriputta and Moggallāna, but Kokālika wants none of it.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 6.9Linked Discourses 6.9
  • 0.21. Paṭhamavagga1. The Appeal

0.3TurūbrahmasuttaWith the Divinity Tudu

1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Tena kho pana samayena kokāliko bhikkhu ābādhiko hoti dukkhito bāḷhagilāno.Now at that time the mendicant Kokālika was sick, suffering, gravely ill.1

1.3Atha kho turū paccekabrahmā abhikkantāya rattiyā abhikkantavaṇṇo kevalakappaṁ jetavanaṁ obhāsetvā yena kokāliko bhikkhu tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā vehāsaṁ ṭhito kokālikaṁ bhikkhuṁ etadavoca:Then, late at night, the glorious independent divinity Tudu, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the mendicant Kokālika, and standing in the air he said to him,1.4“pasādehi, kokālika, sāriputtamoggallānesu cittaṁ.“Kokālika, have confidence in Sāriputta and Moggallāna,1.5Pesalā sāriputtamoggallānā”ti.they’re good monks.”

1.6“Kosi tvaṁ, āvuso”ti?“Who are you, reverend?”

1.7“Ahaṁ turū paccekabrahmā”ti.“I am Tudu the independent divinity.”

1.8“Nanu tvaṁ, āvuso, bhagavatā anāgāmī byākato, atha kiñcarahi idhāgato?“Didn’t the Buddha declare you a non-returner? So what then are you doing back here?1.9Passa, yāvañca te idaṁ aparaddhan”ti.See how far you have strayed!”

2.1“Purisassa hi jātassa,“A person is born2.2kuṭhārī jāyate mukhe;with an axe in their mouth.2.3Yāya chindati attānaṁ,A fool cuts themselves with it2.4bālo dubbhāsitaṁ bhaṇaṁ.when they say bad words.

3.1Yo nindiyaṁ pasaṁsati,When you praise someone worthy of criticism,3.2Taṁ vā nindati yo pasaṁsiyo;or criticize someone worthy of praise,3.3Vicināti mukhena so kaliṁ,you choose a losing hand with your own mouth:23.4Kalinā tena sukhaṁ na vindati.you’ll never find happiness that way.

4.1Appamattako ayaṁ kali,A losing hand at dice is a trivial thing,4.2Yo akkhesu dhanaparājayo;if all you lose is your money4.3Sabbassāpi sahāpi attanā,and all you own, even yourself.4.4Ayameva mahantataro kali;What’s a really terrible hand4.5Yo sugatesu manaṁ padosaye.is to hate the holy ones.

5.1Sataṁ sahassānaṁ nirabbudānaṁ,For a hundred thousand times a hundred million,35.2Chattiṁsati pañca ca abbudāni;times five hundred and thirty-six times <j>a thousand times ten million years5.3Yamariyagarahī nirayaṁ upeti,a slanderer of noble ones goes to hell,5.4Vācaṁ manañca paṇidhāya pāpakan”ti.having aimed bad words and thoughts at them.”

Translator’s notes

  1. His illness was caused by slandering Sāriputta and Moggallāna (SN 6.10, AN 10.89, Snp 3.10:3.3).

    AN 10.89 combines this Sutta and the next.

    ↩ sn6.9:1.2

  2. The ancient Indian game of dice involved casting vibhītaka seeds (also known as “bedda nuts”, from Terminalia bellirica) in a hollow, from which the players would take a handful. A number divisible by four was “perfect” (kaṭa), so the fifth seed meant a “losing” hand (kali; cf. apaṇṇaka in MN 60 and notes).

    ↩ sn6.9:3.3

  3. The interpretation and calculation of these lines is explained at Snp 3.10:12.2.

    ↩ sn6.9:5.1