The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [492]
47. Then, taking a small stone the size of his hand, the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: “What do you think, bhikkhus? Which is the greater, this small stone that I have taken, the size of my hand, or Himalaya, the king of mountains?”
“Venerable sir, the small stone that the Blessed One has taken, the size of his hand, does not count beside Himalaya, the king of mountains; it is not even a fraction, there is no comparison.”
“So too, bhikkhus, the pleasure and joy that a Wheel-turning Monarch would experience because of possessing the seven treasures and the four kinds of success does not count beside the happiness of heaven; it is not even a fraction, there is no comparison.
48. “If, some time or other, at the end of a long period, the wise man comes back to the human state, it is into a high family that he is reborn—into a family of well-to-do nobles, or well-to-do brahmins, or well-to-do householders—one that is rich, of great wealth, of great possessions, with abundant gold and silver, with abundant assets and means, and with abundant money and grain. He is handsome, comely and graceful, possessing the supreme beauty of complexion. He obtains food and drink, clothes, vehicles, garlands, scents and unguents, bed, lodging, and light. He conducts himself well in body, speech, and mind, [178] and having done so, on the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a happy destination, even in the heavenly world.
49. “Bhikkhus, suppose a gambler at the very first lucky throw won a great fortune, yet a lucky throw such as that is negligible; it is a far more lucky throw when a wise man who conducts himself well in body, speech, and mind, on the dissolution of the body, after death, reappears in a happy destination, even in the heavenly world.1205 This is the complete perfection of the wise man’s grade.”
That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words.
Devadūta Sutta
The Divine Messengers
1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus.”—“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:
2. “Bhikkhus, suppose there were two houses with doors and a man with good sight standing there between them saw people going in and coming out and passing to and fro. So too, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I see beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate. I understand how beings pass on according to their actions thus: ‘These worthy beings who were well conducted in body, speech, and mind, not revilers of noble ones, right in their views, giving effect to right views in their actions, on the dissolution of the body, after death, have reappeared in a happy destination, even in the heavenly world. Or these worthy beings who were well conducted in body, speech, and mind, not [179] revilers of noble ones, right in their views, giving effect to right views in their actions, on the dissolution of the body, after death, have reappeared among human beings. But these worthy beings who were ill conducted in body, speech, and mind, revilers of noble ones, wrong in their views, giving effect to wrong views in their actions, on the dissolution of the body, after death, have reappeared in the realm of ghosts. Or these worthy beings who were ill conducted…on the dissolution of the body, after death, have reappeared in the animal world. Or these worthy beings who were ill conducted …on the dissolution of the body, after death, have reappeared in a state of deprivation, in an unhappy destination, in perdition, even in hell.’
3. “Now the wardens of hell seize such a being by the arms and present him to King Yama,1206 saying: ‘Sire, this man has ill-treated his mother, ill-treated his father, ill-treated recluses, ill-treated brahmins; he