an.3.36 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Messengers

“Bhikkhus, there are these three divine messengers. What three?

“Here, bhikkhus, someone engages in misconduct by body, speech, and mind. In consequence, with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hell. There the wardens of hell grab him by both arms and show him to King Yama, saying: ‘This person, your majesty, did not behave properly toward his mother and father; he did not behave properly toward ascetics and brahmins; and he did not honor the elders of the family. May your majesty inflict due punishment on him!’

(1) “Then King Yama questions, interrogates, and cross-examines him about the first divine messenger: ‘Good man, didn’t you see the first divine messenger that appeared among human beings?’ And he replies: ‘No, lord, I didn’t see him.’

“Then King Yama says to him: ‘But, good man, didn’t you ever see among human beings a man or a woman, eighty, ninety or a hundred years of age, frail, bent like a roof bracket, crooked, wobbling as they go along leaning on a stick, ailing, youth gone, with broken teeth, with grey and scanty hair or bald, with wrinkled skin and blotched limbs?’ And the man replies: ‘Yes, lord, I have seen this.’

“Then King Yama says to him: ‘Good man, didn’t it occur to you, an intelligent and mature person: “I too am subject to old age, I am not exempt from old age. Let me now do good by body, speech, and mind”?’ —‘No, lord, I could not. I was heedless.’

“Then King Yama says: ‘Through heedlessness, good man, you failed to do good by body, speech, or mind. Surely, they will treat you in a way that fits your heedlessness. That bad kamma of yours was not done by your mother or father, nor by your brother or sister, nor by your friends and companions, nor by your relatives and family members, nor by the deities, nor by ascetics and brahmins. Rather, you were the one who did that bad kamma, and you yourself will have to experience its result.’

(2) “When King Yama has questioned, interrogated, and cross-examined him about the first divine messenger, he again questions, interrogates, and cross-examines him about the second divine messenger: ‘Good man, didn’t you see the second divine messenger that appeared among human beings?’ And he replies: ‘No, lord, I didn’t see him.’

“Then King Yama says to him: ‘But, good man, didn’t you ever see among human beings a man or a woman, sick, afflicted, gravely ill, lying in his own urine and excrement, having to be lifted up by some and put down by others?’ And he replies: ‘Yes, lord, I have seen this.’

“Then King Yama says to him: ‘Good man, didn’t it occur to you, an intelligent and mature person: “I too am subject to illness, I am not exempt from illness. Let me now do good by body, speech, and mind”?’—‘No, lord, I could not. I was heedless.’

(3) “When King Yama has questioned, interrogated, and cross-examined him about the second divine messenger, he again questions, interrogates, and cross-examines him about the third divine messenger: ‘Good man, didn’t you see the third divine messenger that appeared among human beings?’ And he replies: ‘No, lord, I didn’t see him.’

“Then King Yama says to him: ‘But, good man, didn’t you ever see among human beings a man or a woman, one, two, or three days dead, the corpse bloated, livid, and festering?’ And he replies: ‘Yes, lord, I have seen this.’

“Then King Yama says to him: ‘Good man, didn’t it occur to you, an intelligent and mature person: “I too am subject to death, I am not exempt from death. Let me now do good by body, speech, and mind”?’—‘No, lord, I could not. I was heedless.’

“When, bhikkhus, King Yama has questioned, interrogated, and cross-examined him about the third divine messenger, he falls silent. Then the wardens of hell torture him with the fivefold transfixing. They drive a red-hot iron stake through one hand and another red-hot iron stake through the other hand; they drive a red-hot iron stake through one foot and another red-hot iron stake through the other foot; they drive a red-hot iron stake through the middle of his chest. There he feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet he does not die so long as that bad kamma is not exhausted.

“Next the wardens of hell throw him down and pare him with axes. There he feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet he does not die so long as that bad kamma is not exhausted. Next the wardens of hell turn him upside down and pare him with adzes…. Next the wardens of hell harness him to a chariot and drive him back and forth across ground that is burning, blazing, and glowing…. Next the wardens of hell make him climb up and down a great mound of coals that are burning, blazing, and glowing…. Next the wardens of hell turn him upside down and plunge him into a red-hot copper cauldron that is burning, blazing, and glowing. He is cooked there in a swirl of foam. And as he is being cooked there in a swirl of foam, he is swept now up, now down, and now across. There he feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet he does not die so long as that bad kamma is not exhausted.

“Next the wardens of hell throw him into the great hell. Now, bhikkhus, as to that great hell:

“It has four corners and four doors
and is divided into separate compartments;
it is surrounded by iron ramparts
and shut in with an iron roof.

“Its floor as well is made of iron
and heated till it glows with fire.
The range is a full hundred yojanas
which it ever covers pervasively.

“Once, bhikkhus, in the past King Yama thought: ‘Those in the world who do evil deeds are punished with such diverse tortures. Oh, that I might attain the human state! That a Tathāgata, Arahant, Perfectly Enlightened One might arise in the world! That I might attend upon that Blessed One! That the Blessed One might teach me the Dhamma, and that I might come to understand his Dhamma!’

“Bhikkhus, I am not repeating something that I heard from another ascetic or brahmin, but rather I am speaking about a matter that I have actually known, seen, and understood myself.”

Though warned by the divine messengers,
those people who remain heedless
sorrow for a long time,
having fared on to a lower realm.

But those good people here who,
when warned by the divine messengers,
never become heedless
in regard to the noble Dhamma;
who, having seen the peril in clinging
as the origin of birth and death,
are liberated by non-clinging
in the extinction of birth and death:
those happy ones have attained security;
they have reached nibbāna in this very life.
Having overcome all enmity and peril,
they have transcended all suffering.

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

Messengers of the Gods

Then King Yama says,
They say,
‘I saw nothing, sir.’
“There are, mendicants, these three messengers of the gods.
What three?
Firstly, someone does bad things by way of body, speech, and mind.
When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell.
Then the wardens of hell take them by the arms and present them to King Yama, saying:
‘Your Majesty, this person did not pay due respect to their mother and father, ascetics and brahmins, or honor the elders in the family.
May Your Majesty punish them!’
Then King Yama pursues, presses, and grills them about the first messenger of the gods:
‘Mister, did you not see the first messenger of the gods that appeared among human beings?’
They say,
‘I saw nothing, sir.’
Then King Yama says,
‘Mister, did you not see among human beings an elderly woman or a man—eighty, ninety, or a hundred years old—bent double, crooked, leaning on a staff, trembling as they walk, ailing, past their prime, with teeth broken, hair grey and scanty or bald, skin wrinkled, and limbs blotchy?’
They say,
‘I saw that, sir.’
Then King Yama says,
‘Mister, did it not occur to you—being sensible and mature—
“I, too, am liable to grow old. I’m not exempt from old age. I’d better do good by way of body, speech, and mind”?’
They say,
‘I couldn’t, sir. I was negligent.’
Then King Yama says,
‘Mister, because you were negligent, you didn’t do good by way of body, speech, and mind.
Indeed, they’ll definitely punish you to fit your negligence.
That bad deed wasn’t done by your mother, father, brother, or sister. It wasn’t done by friends and colleagues, by relatives and kin, by the deities, or by ascetics and brahmins.
That bad deed was done by you alone, and you alone will experience the result.’
Then King Yama grills them about the second messenger of the gods:
‘Mister, did you not see the second messenger of the gods that appeared among human beings?’
‘Mister, did you not see among human beings a woman or a man, sick, suffering, gravely ill, collapsed in their own urine and feces, being picked up by some and put down by others?’
They say,
‘I saw that, sir.’
Then King Yama says,
‘Mister, did it not occur to you—being sensible and mature—
“I, too, am liable to become sick. I’m not exempt from sickness. I’d better do good by way of body, speech, and mind”?’
They say,
‘I couldn’t, sir. I was negligent.’
Then King Yama says,
‘Mister, because you were negligent, you didn’t do good by way of body, speech, and mind.
Well, they’ll definitely punish you to fit your negligence.
That bad deed wasn’t done by your mother, father, brother, or sister. It wasn’t done by friends and colleagues, by relatives and kin, by the deities, or by ascetics and brahmins.
That bad deed was done by you alone, and you alone will experience the result.’
Then King Yama grills them about the third messenger of the gods:
‘Mister, did you not see the third messenger of the gods that appeared among human beings?’
They say,
‘I saw nothing, sir.’
Then King Yama says,
‘Mister, did you not see among human beings a woman or a man, dead for one, two, or three days, bloated, livid, and festering?’
They say,
‘I saw that, sir.’
Then King Yama says,
‘Mister, did it not occur to you—being sensible and mature—
“I, too, am liable to die. I’m not exempt from death. I’d better do good by way of body, speech, and mind”?’
They say,
‘I couldn’t, sir. I was negligent.’
Then King Yama says,
‘Mister, because you were negligent, you didn’t do good by way of body, speech, and mind.
Well, they’ll definitely punish you to fit your negligence.
That bad deed wasn’t done by your mother, father, brother, or sister. It wasn’t done by friends and colleagues, by relatives and kin, by the deities, or by ascetics and brahmins.
That bad deed was done by you alone, and you alone will experience the result.’
Then, after grilling them about the third messenger of the gods, King Yama falls silent.
Then the wardens of hell punish them with the five-fold crucifixion.
They drive red-hot stakes through the hands and feet, and another in the middle of the chest.
And there they suffer painful, sharp, severe, acute feelings—but they don’t die until that bad deed is eliminated.
Then the wardens of hell throw them down and hack them with axes. …

They hang them upside-down and hack them with hatchets. …
They harness them to a chariot, and drive them back and forth across burning ground, blazing and glowing. …
They make them climb up and down a huge mountain of burning coals, blazing and glowing. …
Then the wardens of hell turn them upside down and throw them in a red-hot copper pot, burning, blazing, and glowing.
There they’re seared in boiling scum, and they’re swept up and down and round and round.
And there they suffer painful, sharp, severe, acute feelings—but they don’t die until that bad deed is eliminated.
Then the wardens of hell toss them into the Great Hell.
Now, about that Great Hell:
‘Four are its corners, four its doors,
neatly divided in equal parts.
Surrounded by an iron wall,
of iron is its roof.
The ground is even made of iron,
it burns with fierce fire.
The heat forever radiates
a hundred leagues around.’
Once upon a time, King Yama thought,
‘Those who do such bad deeds in the world receive these many different punishments.
Oh, I hope I may be reborn as a human being! And that a Realized One—a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha—arises in the world! And that I may pay homage to the Buddha!
Then the Buddha can teach me Dhamma, so that I may understand his teaching.’
Now, I don’t say this because I’ve heard it from some other ascetic or brahmin. I only say it because I’ve known, seen, and realized it for myself.
Those people who are negligent,
when warned by the gods’ messengers:
a long time they sorrow,
when they go to that wretched place.
But those good and peaceful people,
when warned by the god’s messengers,
never neglect
the teaching of the noble ones.
Seeing the peril in grasping,
the origin of birth and death,
the unattached are freed
with the ending of birth and death.
Happy, they’ve come to a safe place,
extinguished in this very life.
They’ve gone beyond all threats and perils,
and risen above all suffering.”