11.23. Magic (SN11.23)

At Savatthī. The Blessed One said this: “Bhikkhus, once in the past Vepacitti, lord of the asuras, was sick, afflicted, gravely ill. Then Sakka, lord of the devas, approached Vepacitti to inquire about his illness. Vepacitti saw Sakka coming in the distance and said to him: ‘Cure me, lord of the devas.’— ‘Teach me, Vepacitti, the Sambari magic.’—‘I won’t teach it, dear sir, until I have asked the asuras for permission.’

“Then, bhikkhus, Vepacitti, lord of the asuras, asked the asuras: ‘May I teach the Sambari magic to Sakka, lord of the devas?’—‘Do not teach him the Sambari magic, dear sir.’

“Then, bhikkhus, Vepacitti, lord of the asuras, addressed Sakka, lord of the devas, in verse:

“‘A magician—O Maghava, Sakka,
King of devas, Suja’s husband—
Goes to the terrible hell,
Like Sambara, for a hundred years.’”

© Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)

This excerpt from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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