ལས་རྣམ་པར་འབྱད་པ 8

8

The thirty-five⁹³ faults of drinking alcohol that are taught in that sūtra will be discussed later in the section on the nonvirtuous actions.⁹⁴ This kind of action leads to great intelligence.

“What kind of action leads to rebirth as a hell being? Carrying out gravely negative actions of body, speech, and mind with intensely angry thoughts; entertaining the wrong view of annihilation, the wrong view of eternalism, and the wrong view of nihilism;⁹⁵ speaking with hostility;⁹⁶ ingratitude; performing the evil actions that bring immediate retribution; and flinging false accusations at noble ones and those who possess moral discipline—this kind of action leads to rebirth in the hell realms.

“What kind of action leads to rebirth in the animal realm?⁹⁷ Carrying out moderately bad actions with body, speech, and mind and the varied actions stemming from desire, hatred, and confusion; presenting improper gifts⁹⁸ to one’s parents or Buddhist monks; ridiculing⁹⁹ beings who are reborn in the animal realm; and making the aspiration to be reborn there as, for example, when someone practices the ox vow or the dog vow,¹⁰⁰ thinking, ‘May I be reborn like that!’¹⁰¹

“As an example, one may here relate the Heroic Past Deeds¹⁰² of the Bodhisattva from the Siṃhajātaka, or the story of the brahmin Varṣākāra’s rebirth as a monkey.¹⁰³

“The brahmin Varṣākāra saw the sthavira Mahākāśyapa on Vulture Peak, flying in the sky above the city of Rājagṛha.¹⁰⁴ Because of his close association with Devadatta and Prince Ajātaśatru, he harbored hostile thoughts in his mind and made this insulting comment:¹⁰⁵ ‘This monk flies through the air from mountain peak to mountain peak just as a monkey swings from tree to tree.’

“When the brahmin Varṣākāra, his mind filled with hatred, had made this insulting comment, the Buddha was asked, ‘Venerable Bhagavān, what will be the karmic result of this?’