Matakabhatta — Book of the Ones · Chapter Two (Sīlavagga) · Poem 8 of 10
Setting
No narrative scene in the canonical verse itself
Speaker
Unspecified in the canonical verse itself
Form
One four-line stanza
Length
Under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching text for this poem in other Buddhist literatures.
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — one short verse with a striking commentarial image
Why this text
This verse's argument against killing is direct and compassionate on its own, but Sujato's comment adds a striking, unsettling image behind it — a sacrificial goat who alternates between laughing and weeping, each for its own reason — and situates the practice of animal sacrifice in a documented ancient context reaching back to Vedic ritual texts.
Reading guide
An argument against killing, grounded in shared suffering
The verse states its case plainly: ‘if beings only knew how this suffering is created by birth, no creature would kill another, for the slayer of creatures grieves.’ The argument does not appeal to rules or commandments, but to a shared, honest recognition of what killing costs both the killed and the killer.
A goat who laughs and weeps for different reasons
Per Sujato's comment, the commentarial story tells of a goat being prepared for a sacrificial offering to the departed, who startles those present by alternating between laughter and tears. It laughs, the story explains, because it knows its own bad karma is about to be expiated through this death; it weeps because it knows the one performing the sacrifice will suffer as it has — a single image carrying both the verse's compassion for the victim and its warning to the killer.
A documented ancient practice
Sujato's comment situates this story within real documented history: goat sacrifice, it notes, was known since Vedic times, citing the Rig Veda and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa as textual evidence — grounding this tale's critique in an actually attested ancient ritual practice, not a hypothetical one.
Key terms
dukkhāyaṁ jātisambhavo — “how this suffering is created by birth” — the shared condition the verse asks its audience to recognize.
pāṇaghātī hi socati — “the slayer of creatures grieves” — the verse's closing warning to whoever kills.
matakabhatta — “the feast for the dead” — the sacrificial offering ritual this tale's commentarial story concerns.
Matakabhattajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘The Feast for the Dead’.
Rig Veda / Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa — ancient Vedic textual sources Sujato's comment cites as documented evidence that goat sacrifice was practiced since Vedic times.
The text
The text in full: a single verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1If beings only knew how this suffering is created by birth, no creature would kill another, for the slayer of creatures grieves.
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Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What argument does the verse make against killing?
Correct: B. An appeal to shared recognition rather than rules.
Question 2 of 10
What striking image does the commentarial story add, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: C. Carrying both compassion for the victim and a warning to the killer in a single image.
Question 3 of 10
Why does the goat laugh, per the commentarial story?
Correct: D. One half of the goat's dual reaction.
Question 4 of 10
Why does the goat weep?
Correct: A. The other half of the goat's dual reaction, carrying the verse's warning to the killer.
Question 5 of 10
What ancient texts does Sujato's comment cite as evidence that goat sacrifice dates to Vedic times?
Correct: B. Grounding this tale's critique in a documented, attested ancient ritual practice.
Question 6 of 10
What does the verse's closing line state about the one who kills?
Correct: C. The verse's final, direct warning.
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: D. The eighteenth poem overall, and the eighth of the Sīlavagga.
Question 8 of 10
What kind of ritual does this tale's commentarial story concern?
Correct: A. Giving this poem its traditional title, 'The Feast for the Dead'.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: B. Part of the same ten-poem Sīlavagga, sharing an anti-sacrifice theme with the next poem, Ja 19.
Question 10 of 10
What is the basis of the verse's argument — rules, or shared suffering?
Correct: C. An appeal to empathy and honest recognition, not commandment.
