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Linked Discourses · SN 11.23

  • Linked Discourses 11.23Saṁyutta Nikāya 11.23
  • Chapter Three3. Tatiyavagga

The Sambari SorcerySambarimāyāsutta

At Sāvatthī.Sāvatthiyaṁ …pe…

The Buddha said this:bhagavā etadavoca:

“Once upon a time, mendicants, Vepacitti, lord of titans, was sick, suffering, gravely ill.“bhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, vepacitti asurindo ābādhiko ahosi dukkhito bāḷhagilāno. So Sakka went to see him to ask after his illness.Atha kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo yena vepacitti asurindo tenupasaṅkami gilānapucchako.

Vepacitti saw Sakka coming off in the distance,Addasā kho, bhikkhave, vepacitti asurindo sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ dūratova āgacchantaṁ. and said to him,Disvāna sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ etadavoca: ‘Heal me, lord of gods!’‘tikiccha maṁ, devānamindā’ti.

‘Teach me, Vepacitti, the Sambari sorcery.’‘Vācehi maṁ, vepacitti, sambarimāyan’ti.

‘I can’t do that, good fellow, until I have consulted with the titans.’‘Na tāvāhaṁ vācemi, yāvāhaṁ, mārisa, asure paṭipucchāmī’ti.

Then Vepacitti, lord of titans, asked the titans,Atha kho, bhikkhave, vepacitti asurindo asure paṭipucchi: ‘Good fellows, may I teach the Sambari sorcery to Sakka, lord of gods?’‘vācemahaṁ, mārisā, sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ sambarimāyan’ti?

‘Do not, good fellow, teach the Sambari sorcery to Sakka!’‘Mā kho tvaṁ, mārisa, vācesi sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ sambarimāyan’ti.

So Vepacitti addressed Sakka in verse:Atha kho, bhikkhave, vepacitti asurindo sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

‘O Maghavā, O Sakka,‘Māyāvī maghavā sakka, king of gods, Sujā’s husband:devarāja sujampati; a sorceror like Sambara fallsUpeti nirayaṁ ghoraṁ, into the terrible hell for a full century.’”sambarova sataṁ saman’”ti.

Similar passages elsewhere

Found by meaning, not by citation: the passages in other texts whose wording sits closest to a passage here.

  1. SN 11.7 Not Betray 0.59near 0.1Linked Discourses 11.7 Chapter One Not Betray At Sāvatthī. “Once upon a time, mendicants, as Sakka, lord of gods, was in private retreat this thought came to his mind, ‘I should never betray even a sworn enemy.’ And then…
  2. SN 11.4 With Vepacitti 0.54near 0.1Linked Discourses 11.4 Chapter One With Vepacitti At Sāvatthī. “Once upon a time, mendicants, a battle was fought between the gods and the titans. Then Vepacitti, lord of titans, addressed the titans, ‘My good fellows, i…