ལས་རྣམ་པར་འབྱད་པ 9

9

“The Bhagavān replied, ‘By the karmic ripening of these abusive words, the brahmin Varṣākāra will be reborn as a monkey during five hundred future lives.’¹⁰⁶

“Varṣākāra then became frightened and developed faith in the Buddha. He asked the Bhagavān at the time of his parinirvāṇa,¹⁰⁷ ‘Where¹⁰⁸ will this deed become exhausted?’¹⁰⁹

“The Bhagavān said, ‘During these five hundred lives you will be reborn in Rājagṛha in the Jambu continent, the Rose-Apple continent, which derives its name from the fruits called jambu that are the size of large earthen pots and delicious like the pure honey of bees.¹¹⁰ From there, leaving this incarnation, you will reach heaven.’¹¹¹

“To give another example, having been reborn among lions by virtue of a thought of hatred, the Bhagavān spoke the following stanza in reference to this topic:¹¹²

“ ‘Long is the night for the one who lies awake;
Long is a yojana for the one who is exhausted.
Saṃsāra is long for the foolish,
Even if they are acquainted with the holy Dharma.’¹¹³

“This kind of action leads to rebirth in the animal realm.

“What kind of action leads to rebirth in the realm of ghosts?¹¹⁴ Here, someone adopts a negative course of conduct¹¹⁵ of body, speech, and mind with a mind full of anger and hatred or craving; pursues a wrong way of making a living¹¹⁶ due to improper desire; dies while being angry, hungry, or thirsty; or dies while having thoughts of attachment to material things.

“An illustration [818] from the Śatavarga-āgama Karmavibhaṅga­sūtra :¹¹⁷

“ ‘The Bhagavān said to Ānanda, “Ānanda, either an action done by a person in a previous lifetime resurfaces and becomes present, or it becomes the force that leads to wrong views at the time of death.” ’¹¹⁸

“This kind of action leads to rebirth in the realm of ghosts.

“What kind of action leads to rebirth in the realm of the asuras? Someone’s committing only small or minor misdeeds with body, speech, and mind;