Monk “Elephant-head” (SA-2.4)

Thus have I heard, once, the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in the Jeta Grove, the Anāthapiṇḍika Park. At that time, when the hour to go on almsround had come, a number of monks put on their robes, took their begging bowls and entered the town to beg for food. There the monks heard that the monk “Elephant-head,” a member of the Sakya clan, had fallen ill in the town and died. Having finished the meal they returned, went to the Buddha, paid homage at his feet and sat to one side. They said to the Buddha: “World-honored One, this morning we put on our robes, took our begging bowls and entered the town to beg for food. There we heard that the monk “Elephant-head” had died. May the World-honored One explain to us where the monk “Elephant-head” will be reborn, what karmic fruit he will obtain.”

The Buddha said to the monks: “Those that cause the three negative factors to increase must, after the body fails and life comes to an end, fall into hell. What are the three negative factors? They are known as the increase of greed, of ignorance and of hate. Now this monk was guilty of the three negative factors. Understand, monks, that he will fall into hell.”

At that time the Buddha spoke this verse:

“If one gives rise to an unwholesome mind /
developing greed, hatred, and ignorance,
(and) does evil with one’s body /
one will harm oneself,
just as the banana plant when bearing fruit /
harms its own body
The absence of greed, hatred and ignorance /
is called wisdom.

Those who do not harm their own bodies /
are called victors.
Therefore, one should cut off /
the great suffering of greed, hatred, and ignorance.”

There the monks, having listened to what the Buddha 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.