Pv 51Hit by Sixty Thousand Hammers

– STORIES OF HUNGRY GHOSTS

– THE GREAT CHAPTER

4.16

BJT 815"Why do you run away as though crazed, like a deer that has lost its way? Surely you are one whose actions are evil and vile — why do you make such a noise?"

BJT 816"Venerable sir, I am a hungry ghost condemned to suffering, belonging to the realm of Yama. Having done an evil deed, I have gone from here to the world of hungry ghosts.

BJT 817In total, a full sixty thousand sledgehammers fall upon my head; and they shatter my head."

BJT 818"Then what evil deed was done, by body, by speech, or by mind? As the fruit and result of what karma do you experience this suffering?

BJT 819In total, a full sixty thousand sledgehammers fall upon your head; and they shatter your head."

BJT 820"At that time, I saw the Enlightened One Sunetta, with faculties well cultivated, sitting at the foot of a tree, meditating, without fear from any quarter.

BJT 821By throwing a stone, I shattered his head. As the fruit and result of that karma, I experience this suffering.

BJT 822In total, a full sixty thousand sledgehammers fall upon my head; and they shatter my head."

BJT 823"This is fitting for you, O evil one. In total, a full sixty thousand sledgehammers fall upon your head; and they shatter your head."

The Story of the Hungry Ghost with Sixty Thousand Sledgehammers is the sixteenth.

The Great Chapter is the fourth.

SUMMARY OF THIS CHAPTER

(The stories of) Ambasakkhara, Serissaka, Piṅgala, Revatī, the sugarcane eaters, the two young men, the two dung eaters, the group (of hungry ghosts), Pāṭaliputta, and the lotus pond, the mango tree, the accumulation of wealth, the son of the millionaire, sixty (thousand) sledgehammers — thus there are sixteen stories; and for that reason the chapter is named accordingly.

THE STORIES OF HUNGRY GHOSTS ARE COMPLETE.