The Long Āgama Sūtra 7.93

7.93

語婆羅門言：「母今自殺，復害胎子，汝婆羅門，亦復如是；既自殺身，復欲殺人。若沙門、婆羅門，精勤修善，戒德具足，久存世者，多所饒益，天人獲安。吾今末後為汝引喻，當使汝知惡見之殃。昔者，此斯波醯村有二伎人，善於弄丸，二人角伎，一人得勝。時，不如者語勝者言：『今日且停，明當更共試。』其不如者即歸家中，取其戱丸，塗以毒藥，暴之使乾，明持此丸詣勝者所，語言：『更可角伎。』即前共戱，先以毒丸授彼勝者：『勝者即吞。』其不如者復授毒丸，得已隨吞，其毒轉行，舉身戰動。時，不如者以偈罵曰：

Kāśyapa told the priest, “That mother killed herself and hurt the child in her womb. You, priest, are likewise. You would kill yourself, and you’re going to kill others, too. If an ascetic or priest is diligent, cultivates virtue, and perfects the virtue of the precepts, they’ll remain in the world for a long time. They benefit many people, and gods and humans find peace.

“Now, I’ll tell you one last story so that you’ll know the disaster of evil views. Once, there were two entertainers here in the town of Śvetikā. They were both skilled at juggling, but one was better than the other.

“The one who wasn’t as good said, ‘Let’s take a break today, but we should have a competition tomorrow.’

“The lesser juggler went home and picked up his juggling balls. He coated them with a poisonous plant, then set them out to dry. In the morning, he took these balls to the better juggler. He said, ‘We can juggle with these.’

“Then they juggled in front of each other, but first he passed the poisoned balls to the better juggler, saying, ‘The better juggler swallows them.’ The lesser juggler passed the poison balls to him again, which the better juggler swallowed when he caught them. The poison traveled throughout his body and caused a seizure.

“The lesser juggler then scolded him with this verse: