Reading guide
A rival doctrine named precisely before being addressed
The wanderer's report is exact: “everything this individual person experiences... is because of past deeds” (sabbaṁ taṁ pubbekatahetu) — a strong, totalizing claim the Buddha addresses directly rather than reframing into something easier to dismiss.
Seven ordinary causes named before karma at all
Bile, phlegm, and wind disorders; their conjunction; change in weather; carelessness; and overexertion are each introduced with the identical formula — “you can know this from your own personal experience, and it is generally deemed to be true” — grounding the refutation in ordinary, checkable observation rather than doctrinal authority alone.
Karma named as one cause among eight, not erased
The Buddha doesn't deny that some feelings result from past deeds (kammavipākaja); he lists this as the eighth and final cause, given the identical evidentiary treatment as the other seven. The error he names isn't believing karma causes some feelings — it's claiming karma causes all of them.
Going beyond what's known and what's agreed
The precise charge against the all-karma view is that it “goes beyond personal experience and beyond what is generally deemed to be true” (atidhāvati) — overreaching past the evidence itself, not merely holding an unfashionable opinion. The wanderer's own conversion at the discourse's close suggests this evidentiary appeal, not any appeal to authority, is what persuades him.
Key terms
The text
§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. Then the wanderer Moḷiyasīvaka went up to the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to the Buddha: “Worthy Gotama, there are some ascetics and brahmins who have this doctrine and view: ‘Everything this individual person experiences—pleasurable, painful, or neutral—is because of past deeds.’ What does the worthy Gotama say about this?”
§2“Sīvaka, some feelings stem from bile disorders. You can know this from your own personal experience, and it is generally deemed to be true. Since this is so, the ascetics and brahmins whose view is that everything an individual person experiences is because of past deeds go beyond personal experience and beyond what is generally deemed to be true. So those ascetics and brahmins are wrong, I say.
§3Some feelings stem from phlegm disorders … wind disorders … their conjunction … change in weather … not taking care of yourself … overexertion … Some feelings are the result of past deeds. You can know this from your own personal experience, and it is generally deemed to be true. Since this is so, the ascetics and brahmins whose view is that everything an individual person experiences is because of past deeds go beyond personal experience and beyond what is generally deemed to be true. So those ascetics and brahmins are wrong, I say.”
§4When he said this, the wanderer Moḷiyasīvaka said to the Buddha, “Excellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! … From this day forth, may the worthy Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”
§5“Bile, phlegm, and wind, their conjunction, and the weather, not taking care of yourself, overexertion, and the result of deeds is the eighth.”
Self-check quiz
5 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.