དག་བ་དང་མ་དག་བའ་ལས་ཀྱ་རྣམ་པར་སྨན་པ་བསྟན་པའ་མད 3

3

The Blessed One replied,²⁶ “Nanda, as you have inquired about various forms of karmic ripening, those manifold differences manifest in accordance with the conduct of past lifetimes.²⁷ In this respect, a lovely face in one’s present life comes from patience.²⁸ Ugliness comes from anger and hatred.²⁹ Poverty comes from greed.³⁰ Mightiness and greatness come from paying homage to the buddhas with reverence. Wickedness comes from being proud and aggressive.³¹ A tall and good-looking body comes from being respectful. A short body comes from being lazy with respect to the Dharma.³² Foolishness comes from having been a sheep.³³ Being scrawny and dark comes from concealing images of the thus-gone ones.³⁴ Disproportionate lips come from tasting the food of Dharma teachers.³⁵ Twitchy eyes come from not providing fire to those who request it.³⁶ Being unable to see at dusk comes from prying out the eyes of falcons.³⁷ Muteness comes from denigrating the sublime Dharma. Deafness comes from being displeased while hearing the Dharma. Buck teeth come from craving for marrow and bones.³⁸ A wrinkly nose³⁹ comes from burning foul-smelling incense and offering it to the buddhas. Cleft lips come from piercing the lips of fish.⁴⁰ Yellowed hair comes from plucking out the hair of pigs. Split ears come from piercing ears. Resembling a desert snake comes from wearing filthy clothes while following the buddhas.⁴¹ Being dark skinned comes from placing statues of the buddhas inside households or in courtyards.⁴² Blindness and lameness come from not standing when seeing preceptors and masters. A hunched back comes from wearing filthy clothes and turning one’s back toward images of the buddhas.⁴³ A pronounced forehead⁴⁴ comes from not prostrating respectfully but resting a hand on the forehead upon seeing the buddhas.⁴⁵