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Thus have I heard:
At one time the Blessed One was living at Savatthi in Jeta's grove the monastery offered by Anathapindika. Then a young man named Subha the son of Todeyya approached the Blessed One, exchanged greetings, and sat down at one side. While sitting at one side the young man named Subha addressed this question to the Blessed One:
"Venerable Gotama, what is the cause, what is the reason, for the inferiority and superiority that is seen amongst those who are human beings?"
Venerable Gotama, for we see humans who are short-lived and we see humans who:
Venerable Gotama, what is the cause, what is the reason, for the inferiority and superiority that is seen amongst those who are human beings?
Young man, beings are the owners of their own actions (kamma), they are the heirs of their own actions, their actions are the cause of whatever happens to them, their actions are their kin, their actions are their reliance. Their own actions divide beings to produce this inferiority and superiority.
The Venerable Gotama's brief explanation is insufficient for me to work out the detailed explanation, and I do not understand the details. Venerable Gotama, it would be good if you would explain this teaching to me, so that I could work out the detailed explanation of Venerable Gotama's brief explanation, and so that I should understand the details.
Young man, then listen well and pay attention for I will speak. "Very well," replied the youth named Subha the son of Todeyya. Then the Blessed One spoke as follows:
Young man, here some man or woman is a killer of living beings, violent, bloody handed, delighting in killing, and without compassion for any living being. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the break up of the body after death arrives in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell. If he or she does not arrive in a state of misery, in a place of suffering, in hell, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will be short-lived. Young man, being one who is a killer of living beings, violent, bloody handed, delighting in killing, and without compassion for any living being is the practise which leads to being short-lived.
Young man, here some man or woman gives up the killing of living beings and is one who refrains from killing living beings, who has laid down clubs and weapons, who has shame and compassion, and who lives desiring the welfare of all living beings. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the break up of the body, after death, arrives in a good destiny, in heaven. If he or she does not arrive in a good destiny in heaven, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will be long-lived. Young man, being one who gives up the killing of living beings, and being one who refrains from killing living beings, who has laid down clubs and weapons, who has shame and compassion, and who lives desiring the welfare of all living beings is the practise which leads to being long-lived.
Young man, here some man or woman is cruel by nature and hurts living beings with fists, rocks, sticks, or weapons. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the breakup of the body after death arrives in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell. If he or she does not arrive in a state misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will be sick a lot. Young man, being cruel by nature and hurting living beings with fists, rocks, sticks, or weapons is the practise which leads to being sick a lot.
Young man, here some man or woman is not cruel by nature and does not hurt living beings with fists, rocks, sticks, or weapons. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the breakup of the body after death arrives in a good destiny, in heaven. If he or she does not arrive in a good destiny in heaven, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will be sick only a little. Young man, being not cruel by nature and not hurting living beings with fists, rocks, sticks, or weapons is the practise which leads to being sick only a little.
Young man, here some man or woman is angry and furious, even when only a little is said that is unpleasant, he or she is angry, annoyed, displeased, and displays bad temper, hatred, and irritation. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the breakup of the body after death arrives in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell. If he or she does not arrive in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will be ugly. Young man, being angry and furious, even when only a little is said that is unpleasant, being angry, annoyed, displeased and displaying bad temper, hatred, and irritation is the practise which leads to being ugly.
Young man, here some man or woman is not angry and furious, even when a lot is said that is unpleasant, he or she is not angry, annoyed, or displeased, and displays no bad temper, hatred, or irritation. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the breakup of the body after death arrives in a good destiny, in heaven. If he or she does not arrive in a good destiny in heaven, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will be beautiful. Young man, being not angry and furious, even when a lot is said that is unpleasant, being not angry, annoyed, or displeased, and displaying no bad temper, hatred, or irritation is the practise which leads to being beautiful.
Young man, here some man or woman is of jealous mind, he or she is jealous of the gains, honours, respect, salutation, veneration, and worship given to others, he or she is begrudging, and captured by envy. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the break up of the body after death arrives in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell. If he or she does not arrive in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will have few friends. Young man, being one who is of jealous mind, is jealous of the gains, honours, respect, salutation, veneration, and worship given to others, is begrudging, and captured by envy is the practise which leads to having few friends.
Young man, here some man or woman is not of jealous mind, he or she is not jealous of the gains, honours, respect, salutation, veneration, and worship given to others, he or she is not begrudging, and not captured by envy. He or she by having undertaking and completed such actions on the breakup of the body after death arrives in a good destiny, in heaven. If he or she does not arrive in a good destiny in heaven, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will have many friends. Young man, being one who is not of jealous mind, is not jealous of the gains, honours, respect, salutation, veneration, and worship given to others, is not begrudging, and not captured by envy is the practise which leads to having many friends.
Young man, here some man or woman is not a giver of food, drink, clothing, vehicles, garlands, perfumes, unguents, a place to sleep, lodgings, or lamps to monks and priests. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the break up of the body after death arrives in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell. If he or she does not arrive in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will have little wealth. Young man, being one who is not a giver of food, drink, clothing, vehicles, garlands, perfumes, unguents, a place to sleep, lodgings, or lamps to monks and priests is the practise which leads to having little wealth.
Young man, here some man or woman is a giver of food, drink, clothing, vehicles, garlands, perfumes, unguents, a place to sleep, lodgings, or lamps to monks and priests. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the breakup of the body after death arrives in a good destiny, in heaven. If he or she does not arrive in a good destiny in heaven, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will have great wealth. Young man, being one who is a giver of food, drink, clothing, vehicles, garlands, perfumes, unguents, a place to sleep, lodgings, or lamps to monks and priests is the practise which leads to having great wealth.
Young man, here some man or woman is stubborn and proud, he or she does not bow to whom he or she should bow, does not go to greet those to whom he or she should greet, does not give a seat to whom he or she should give a seat, does not give way to whom he or she should give way,does not give honour to whom he or she should give honour, does not give respect to whom he or she should give respect, does not venerate those who should be venerated, does not worship those who should be worshiped. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the break up of the body after death arrives in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell. If he or she does not arrive in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will be of a low class. Young man, being one who is stubborn and proud, who does not bow to whom he or she should bow, does not go to greet those to whom he or she should greet, does not give a seat to whom he or she should give a seat, does not give way to whom he or she should give way,does not give honour to whom he or she should give honour, does not give respect to whom he or she should give respect, does not venerate those who should be venerated, does not worship those who should be worshiped, is the practise which leads to being of low class.
Young man, here some man or woman is not stubborn and proud, he or she does bow to whom he or she should bow, does go to greet those to whom he or she should greet, does give a seat to whom he or she should give a seat, does give way to whom he or she should give way,does give honour to whom he or she should give honour, does give respect to whom he or she should give respect, does venerate those who should be venerated, does worship those who should be worshiped. He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the breakup of the body after death arrives in a good destiny, in heaven. If he or she does not arrive in a good destiny in heaven, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will be of a high class. Young man, being one who is not stubborn and proud, who does bow to whom he or she should bow, does go to greet those to whom he or she should greet, does give a seat to whom he or she should give a seat, does give way to whom he or she should give way,does give honour to whom he or she should give honour, does give respect to whom he or she should give respect, does venerate those who should be venerated, does worship those who should be worshiped, is the practise which leads to being of a high class.
Young man, here some man or woman having approached monks or priests does not ask questions such a, "Venerable Sir, what is wholesome? What is unwholesome? What is blameworthy? What is blameless? What should be associated with? What should not be associated with? What actions if performed by me would lead to my benefit and happiness for a long time? What actions if performed by me would lead to my disadvantage and suffering for a long time? He or she by having undertaken and completed such actions on the break up of the body after death arrives in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell. If he or she does not arrive in a state of misery, in a bad destiny, in a place of suffering, in hell, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will be of poor understanding. Young man, being one who having approached monks or priests does not ask questions such as, "Venerable Sir, what is wholesome? What is unwholesome? What is blameworthy? What is blameless? What should be associated with? What should not be associated with? What actions if performed by me would lead to my benefit and happiness for a long time? What actions if performed by me would lead to my disadvantage and suffering for a long time? This is the practise which leads to being of poor understanding.
Young man, here some man or woman having approached monks or priests does ask questions such as, "Venerable Sir, what is wholesome? What is unwholesome? What is blameworthy? What is blameless? What should be associated with? What should not be associated with? What actions if performed by me would lead to my benefit and happiness for a long time? What actions if performed by me would lead to my disadvantage and suffering for a long time? He or she by having undertaking and completed such actions on the breakup of the body after death arrives in a good destiny, in heaven. If he or she does not arrive in a good destiny in heaven, but instead comes to a life as a human being then wherever he or she is reborn he or she will be wise. Young man, being one who having approached monks or priests does ask questions such as, "Venerable Sir, what is wholesome? What is unwholesome? What is blameworthy? What is blameless? What should be associated with? What should not be associated with? What actions if performed by me would lead to my benefit and happiness for a long time? What actions if performed by me would lead to my disadvantage and suffering for a long time? This is the practise which leads to being wise.
Young man, thus the practise that leads to being short-lived leads to being short-lived. The practise that leads to being long-lived leads to being long-lived. The practise that leads to being sick a lot leads to being sick a lot. The practise that leads to being sick a little leads to being sick a little. The practise that leads to being ugly leads to being ugly. The practise that leads to being beautiful leads to being beautiful. The practise that leads to having few friends leads to having few friends. The practise that leads to having many friends leads to having many friends. The practise that leads to having little wealth leads to having little wealth. The practise that leads to having great wealth leads to having great wealth. The practise that leads to being of a low class leads to being of a low class. The practise that leads to being of a high class leads to being of a high class. The practise that leads to being of poor understanding leads to being of poor understanding. The practise that leads to being wise leads to being wise.
Young man, beings are the owners of their own actions (kamma), they are the heirs of their own actions, their actions are the cause of whatever happens to them, their actions are their kin, their actions are their reliance. Their own actions divide beings to produce this inferiority and superiority.
When this was said the young man named Subha the son of Todeyya said to the Blessed One: It is wonderful, Venerable Sir! It is indeed wonderful, Venerable Sir! Just as, Venerable Sir, one should turn up that which is upside down or lay bare that which is concealed, or tell the way to one who has lost his way, or hold a lamp in the dark so that those who have eyes might see things; even so, the Dhamma has been revealed to me in many ways by you, Venerable Sir. So I, Venerable Sir, go for refuge to the Blessed One, to the Dhamma, and to the Sangha. May the Blessed One regard me as lay disciple who has gone for refuge from today onward for as long as my life lasts.