Reading guide
A near-repeat that signals its own difference
The opening report deliberately echoes SN 3.19's almost word for word — another childless financier, another vast fortune, the identical description of his gruel, patched clothes, and dilapidated cart — with only the sum increased, ten million rather than eight, signaling a variation on the same case rather than an unrelated one.
Two separate causes, not one blended explanation
Where SN 3.19 offered a single general framework, this discourse identifies two entirely distinct past-life acts, each producing its own specific effect, and the reading guide follows the source in keeping them separate: a regretted gift explains his joylessness despite wealth; a murder explains his repeated childlessness and eventual hell rebirth.
A gift given, then immediately regretted
The financier once arranged almsfood for the Independent Buddha Tagarasikhī, but regretted the gift right after giving it, wishing he had fed his own servants instead — a single moment of regret said to explain why, across seven rebirths in comfort and status, his mind never inclined to enjoy fine things even when he had them.
A murder for inheritance, and its much heavier consequence
The second act — killing his brother's only child to secure the family fortune — carries a far more severe result: countless years burning in hell, and, as a residual effect once that hell-karma is largely spent, childlessness repeating seven times over, his own fortune each time reverting to the crown exactly as his ancestor the giver's did.
A verse identical to SN 3.4's, now given fuller context
The closing verses repeat, word for word, the same ‘shadow that never leaves’ imagery already heard at SN 3.4 — what a person takes with them at death is only their own deeds — but here the abstract teaching lands with the full weight of a specific, traced case behind it, closing both this discourse and the Aputtakavagga as a whole.
Key terms
The text
§1Then King Pasenadi of Kosala went up to the Buddha in the middle of the day … The Buddha said to him, “So, great king, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?”
§2“Sir, here in Sāvatthī a financier householder has passed away. Since he died childless, I have come after transferring his fortune to the royal compound. There was ten million in gold coin, not to mention the silver coin. And yet that financier ate meals of rough gruel with false black pepper. He wore clothes consisting of three patches of sunn hemp. He traveled around in a vehicle that was a dilapidated little cart, holding a leaf as parasol.”
§3“That’s so true, great king! That’s so true! Once upon a time, great king, that financier householder provided almsfood on behalf of an Independent Buddha named Tagarasikhī. He instructed: ‘Give alms to that ascetic,’ before getting up from his seat and leaving. But after giving he regretted it: ‘It would have been better to feed the bondservants or workers with that almsfood.’ What’s more, he murdered his brother’s only child for the sake of his fortune.
§4Because that financier provided Tagarasikhī with almsfood, as a result of that deed he was reborn seven times in a good place, a heavenly realm. And as a residual result of that same deed he held the position of financier seven times right here in Sāvatthī. But because that financier regretted giving alms, as a result of that deed his mind didn’t tend to enjoy nice food, clothes, vehicles, or the five refined kinds of sensual stimulation. And because that financier murdered his brother’s only child for the sake of his fortune, as a result of that deed he burned in hell for many years, for many hundreds, many thousands, many hundreds of thousands of years. And as a residual result of that same deed, he is childless for the seventh time, his fortune ending up in the royal treasury. Now the old merit of that financier has been used up, and he hasn’t accumulated new merit. Today, great king, that financier burns in the Great Hell of Screams.” “Really, sir, that financier has been reborn in the Great Hell of Screams?” “Yes he has, great king.” That is what the Buddha said. …
§5“Grain, money, silver, and gold, or whatever other possessions there are; bondservants, workers, servants, and those dependent for their livelihood: you must go on without taking these; all of them are left behind. But the deeds you do by body, speech, and mind—that’s what you can call your own. That’s what you take when you go. That’s what goes with you, like a shadow that never leaves. That’s why you should do good, investing in the future life. The good deeds of sentient beings support them in the next world.”
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