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- Samyutta Nikaya XLII.3
- Yodhajiva Sutta
- To Yodhajiva (The Warrior)
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
Then Yodhajiva (Warrior) the headman went to the Blessed One
and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he
said to the Blessed One: "Venerable sir, I have heard that it has been passed down by
the ancient teaching lineage of warriors that 'When a warrior strives & exerts himself
in battle, if others then strike him down & slay him while he is striving &
exerting himself in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn
in the company of devas slain in battle.' What does the Blessed One have to say about
that?"
"Enough, headman, put that aside. Don't ask me that."
A second time...A third time Yodhajiva the headman said: "Venerable sir, I have
heard that it has been passed down by the ancient teaching lineage of warriors that 'When
a warrior strives & exerts himself in battle, if others then strike him down &
slay him while he is striving & exerting himself in battle, then with the breakup of
the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of devas slain in battle.' What does
the Blessed One have to say about that?"
"Apparently, headman, I haven't been able to get past you by saying, 'Enough,
headman, put that aside. Don't ask me that.' So I will simply answer you. When a warrior
strives & exerts himself in battle, his mind is already seized, debased, &
misdirected by the thought: 'May these beings be struck down or slaughtered or annihilated
or destroyed. May they not exist.' If others then strike him down & slay while he is
thus striving & exerting himself in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after
death, he is reborn in the hell called the realm of those slain in battle. But if he holds
such a view as this: 'When a warrior strives & exerts himself in battle, if others
then strike him down & slay him while he is striving & exerting himself in battle,
then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of devas slain
in battle,' that is his wrong view. Now, there are two destinations for a person with
wrong view, I tell you: either hell or the animal womb."
When this was said, Yodhajiva the headman sobbed & burst into tears. [The Blessed
One said:] "That is what I couldn't get past you by saying, 'Enough, headman, put
that aside. Don't ask me that.'"
"I'm not crying, venerable sir, because of what the Blessed One said to me, but
simply because I have been deceived, cheated, & fooled for a long time by that ancient
teaching lineage of warriors who said: 'When a warrior strives & exerts himself in
battle, if others then strike him down & slay him while he is striving & exerting
himself in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the
company of devas slain in battle.'
"Magnificent, venerable sir! Magnificent! Just as if he were
to place upright what had been overturned, were to reveal what was hidden, were to show
the way to one who was lost, or were to hold up a lamp in the dark so that those with eyes
could see forms, in the same way the Blessed One has -- through many lines of reasoning --
made the Dhamma clear. I go to the Blessed One for refuge, to the Dhamma, and to the
Community of monks. May the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him
for refuge, from this day forward, for life."