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Pathikasutta 1.7: 2. On the Aristocrat of Kuru

About Pāṭikaputta 1.7

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2. On the Aristocrat of Kuru

1.7.1

Bhaggava, this one time I was staying in the land of the Kurus where they have a town named Uttarakā.

1.7.2

Then I robed up in the morning and, taking my bowl and robe, entered Uttarakā for alms with Sunakkhatta the Licchavi as my second monk.

1.7.3

Now at that time a naked ascetic who was an aristocrat of Kuru had taken a vow to behave like a dog. When food is tossed on the ground, he gets down on all fours, eating and devouring it just with his mouth.

1.7.4

Sunakkhatta saw him doing this

1.7.5

and thought,

1.7.6

‘That ascetic is a holy man!’

1.7.7

Then, knowing Sunakkhatta’s train of thought, I said to him,

1.7.8

‘Don’t you claim to be an ascetic who follows the Sakyan, you silly man?’

1.7.9

‘But why does the Buddha say this to me?’

1.7.11

‘When you saw that naked ascetic of Kuru, didn’t you think,

1.7.12

“That ascetic is a holy man!”?’

1.7.13

‘Yes, sir.

1.7.14

But sir, are you jealous of the perfected ones?’

1.7.15

‘I’m not jealous of the perfected ones, you silly man.

1.7.16

Rather, you should give up this harmful misconception that has arisen in you.

1.7.17

Don’t create lasting harm and suffering for yourself!

1.7.18

That naked ascetic the aristocrat of Kuru, who you imagine to be a holy man, will die of flatulence in seven days.

1.7.19

And when he dies, he’ll be reborn in the very lowest rank of titans, named the Kālakañjas.

1.7.20

And they’ll throw him in the charnel ground on a clump of vetiver.

1.7.21

If you wish, Sunakkhatta, go to the aristocrat of Kuru and ask him

1.7.22

whether he knows his own destiny.

1.7.23

It’s possible that he will answer:

1.7.24

“Reverend Sunakkhatta, I know my own destiny.

1.7.25

I’ve been reborn in the very lowest rank of titans, named the Kālakañjas.”’

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