Pv 43Excrement Eating Male Ghost

– Khuddaka Nikāya

– Petavatthu

– The Large Chapter

43. Excrement Eating Male Ghost

Moggallana Bhante:

Oh unlucky one, you are standing in a pit of excrement. Who are you? What kind of evil deed did you do? How can I know for sure what happened to you?

Ghost:

Bhante, I am a ghost. As a result of my evil deeds I have been born in this ghost world. I am suffering very much

Moggallana Bhante:

What kind of evil deed did you do by body, speech, or mind to suffer like this?

Ghost:

When I was in the human world, I let a monk stay in my house. The monk was very greedy and jealous of his supporters. He insulted good monks.

I listened to that evil monk’s words. Following him, I too insulted good monks. That is the evil deed I did from which I was reborn in the ghost world.

Moggallana Bhante:

You associated with that evil monk thinking that he was a good friend. What happened to the monk after death?

Ghost:

Bhante, that evil monk has also been born in the ghost world. He is suffering in the same pit of excrement where I suffer. I am standing on his head. He lives as a servant to me here.

Bhante, I have to eat other people’s excrement, while he has to eat mine.

Translated by: Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thera

According to Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thera's translation from the Pali.

Stories of Ghosts from the Petavatthu © 2018 Mahamegha Publications.

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