an.4.85 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

From Darkness to Darkness

“Mendicants, these four people are found in the world.
What four?
The dark bound for darkness,
the dark bound for light,
the light bound for darkness, and
the light bound for light.
And how is a person dark and bound for darkness?
It’s when someone is reborn in a low family—a family of outcastes, bamboo-workers, hunters, chariot-makers, or waste-collectors—poor, with little to eat or drink, where life is tough, and food and shelter are hard to find.
And they’re ugly, unsightly, deformed, chronically ill—one-eyed, crippled, lame, or half-paralyzed. They don’t get to have food, drink, clothes, and vehicles; garlands, fragrance, and makeup; or bed, house, and lighting.
And they do 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.
That’s how a person is dark and bound for darkness.
And how is a person dark and bound for light?
It’s when some person is reborn in a low family …

But they do good things by way of body, speech, and mind.
When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.
That’s how a person is dark and bound for light.
And how is a person light and bound for darkness?
It’s when some person is reborn in an eminent family—a well-to-do family of aristocrats, brahmins, or householders—rich, affluent, and wealthy, with lots of gold and silver, lots of property and assets, and lots of money and grain.
And they’re attractive, good-looking, lovely, of surpassing beauty. They get to have food, drink, clothes, and vehicles; garlands, fragrance, and makeup; and bed, house, and lighting.
But they do 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.
That’s how a person is light and bound for darkness.
And how is a person light and bound for light?
It’s when some person is reborn in an eminent family …

And they do good things by way of body, speech, and mind.
When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.
That’s how a person is light and bound for light.
These are the four people found in the world.”