Vepacitti is ill (SA-2.47)

Thus have I heard, once, the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī at the Jeta Grove in the Anāthapiṇḍika Park.

At that time the World-honored One said to the monks: “Long ago the asura king Vepacitti was suffering from an illness, was exhausted and too weak to walk. At that time Sakka Devānaṁ Inda went to him. The asura said to Sakka: ‘I wish you would heal my illness, make me healthy again, full-bodied and fresh-looking as before.’ Sakka said: ‘If you teach me the asura’s magical art of deception, I will heal your illness and make you happy as before.’ The asura said: ‘Wait, I have to consult with the other asuras. If it is possible, I will teach you.’ And the asura king asked the asuras. At that time an asura, who had mastered the art of deception, said: ‘Sakka’s behaviour has always been upright and virtuous, without deception. You tell him this: “If you learn the asura’s art of deception, you will fall into the Raurava Hell.” He then might say: “I am not going to learn this art from the asuras. Nevertheless, you offered to give it anyway, so your illness will be healed.”’

Accepting this advice the asura king spoke this verse to Sakka:

“Thousand-eyed Sakka, husband of Sujā, /
those that know the art of deception must fall
Into the Raurava Hell /
and stay there for a kalpa to be burnt and boiled.”

When Sakka heard this he said: ‘Enough! Enough! I do not need the art of deception!’ and he promptly said: ‘May your illness cease! May you rest without pain!’”

The Buddha told the monks: “Although Sakka Devānaṁ Inda dwells as king among the gods, he does not use deceptions or tricks, he acts with truth and honesty. How much more should you who have left the household life and shaved off hair and beard, how much more should you refrain from using deceptive trickery, and act with sincerity and honesty! To act with sincerity and honesty should be the way of those who have left the household life.”

When the Buddha had finished, the monks, having listened to what he had said, were happy and remembered it well.

Translation by Marcus Bingenheimer, 2005–8 (minor revisions 2009). First version published in Buddhist Studies Review vol. 23.1 (2006). The translations used here were revised by the translator and published in his Studies in Āgama Literature—with Special Reference to the Shorter Chinese Saṁyuktāgama, Dharma Drum Buddhist College, 2010.

Translated from the Taishō text of the CBETA-Database (Version Feb. 2006). All sutta titles added by the translator.

This series of translations were part of the project “A Digital Comparative Edition of the Bieyi za ahan jing” conducted at the Chung-hwa Institute for Buddhist Studies (中華佛學研究所) and the Dharma Drum Buddhist College (法鼓佛教研修學院), funded by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (蔣經國國際學術交流基金會). The full project, including parallel Chinese, Pali, and Sanskrit texts, is available online here.

Used with kind permission of the translator.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.