Pāvā, at the Ajakalāpaka Shrine, the haunt of the native spirit Ajakalāpaka, during a rainy night
Speaker
The Buddha, in response to a spirit’s attempt to frighten him; no human interlocutor appears in this discourse
Theme
A goblin’s taunt fails to disturb the meditating Buddha, whose verse relocates the real contest to “their own issues,” not the spirit itself
Length
< 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — brief and vivid, with a single striking image
A goblin's taunt, and no visible reaction
Of the six discourses in this chapter’s “who is a brahmin” thread, this is the only one where the provocation comes from something other than a person — a native spirit, trying deliberately to frighten the Buddha in the middle of a rainy night. What the text reports next is not fear, but a verse.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Meditating outdoors on a rainy night at a spirit’s shrine, the Buddha is targeted by a goblin’s taunt meant to provoke fear — and responds with a verse locating the actual site of any such victory not in defeating the spirit, but in a brahmin having worked through “their own issues.”
A yakkha's scare tactic
The scene is set precisely: Pāvā, at the Ajakalāpaka Shrine — described as “the haunt of the native spirit Ajakalāpaka” — where the Buddha is meditating in the open “during the dark of night, while a gentle rain drizzled down.” Ajakalāpaka, we’re told directly, is “wanting to make the Buddha feel fear, terror, and goosebumps.” He approaches and, from not far off, yells three times: “Havoc and heck!” — then adds, mockingly, “Now that’s a goblin for you, ascetic!”
No described reaction, only a verse
What the text conspicuously withholds is any account of the Buddha flinching, startling, or even responding to Ajakalāpaka directly. The narrative moves straight from the taunt to the heartfelt saying, without describing any exchange between them at all. The absence itself is the point being dramatized: whatever the spirit intended to provoke, the text simply doesn’t report it happening.
The verse's answer: mastering “one’s own issues”
The verse is compact: “when a brahmin gets over their own issues, they transcend this goblin and his havoc.” The logic is worth sitting with. It doesn’t claim the goblin has no power, or that the rain and darkness and yelling were nothing. It locates the actual contest somewhere else entirely — in whatever “issues” a person carries internally — and suggests that once those are addressed, an external threat like this one simply has nowhere left to land.
A spirit’s shrine as setting
The location itself is worth noting: a named shrine (cetiya) associated with a specific local spirit was, in this period, a recognizable feature of the religious landscape, not something unique to this one story. That the Buddha is shown meditating at exactly such a site, and unmoved by what its resident spirit throws at him, fits naturally into this chapter’s larger argument: real steadiness doesn’t depend on avoiding difficult or even eerie circumstances, but on how thoroughly one’s inner ground has already been settled.
Key terms
yakkha — a native or local spirit, often associated with a particular shrine or place — the kind of being Ajakalāpaka is identified as here.
Ajakalāpaka — both the name of the spirit in this discourse and the shrine associated with him, in Pāvā.
“Havoc and heck!” — the translator’s rendering of the spirit’s threefold shout, meant to frighten the meditating Buddha.
“their own issues” — the verse’s phrase for whatever a person must work through internally — the real site of the contest, according to this verse.
cetiya — a shrine, in this case dedicated to a local spirit rather than to the Buddha or his teaching.
The text
The discourse in full: the setting, the spirit’s taunt, and the closing verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The setting
§1So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in Pāvā at the Ajakalāpaka Shrine, the haunt of the native spirit Ajakalāpaka. Now at that time the Buddha was meditating in the open during the dark of night, while a gentle rain drizzled down. Then Ajakalāpaka, wanting to make the Buddha feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, approached him, and while not far away yelled three times, “Havoc and heck!” Then he added, “Now that’s a goblin for you, ascetic!”
The heartfelt saying
§2Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:
§3“When a brahmin gets over
their own issues,
they transcend this goblin
and his havoc.”
· · ·
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
Where does this discourse take place?
Correct: A. The setting and its resident spirit share the same name.
Question 2 of 10
What was the Buddha doing when this episode began?
Correct: B. This solitary, exposed setting is specified directly.
Question 3 of 10
What did the spirit Ajakalāpaka want to cause in the Buddha?
Correct: B. This is stated as his explicit intention.
Question 4 of 10
What did Ajakalāpaka yell three times?
Correct: B. This threefold shout is his opening move.
Question 5 of 10
What did the spirit add after yelling three times?
Correct: A. This taunt follows the threefold shout.
Question 6 of 10
According to the verse, what must a brahmin get over?
Correct: B. The verse’s phrase is general, not limited to fear of this particular spirit.
Question 7 of 10
What does the verse say such a brahmin transcends?
Correct: B. This is the verse’s stated conclusion.
Question 8 of 10
What does this episode suggest about the true source of fear, according to the reading guide’s interpretation of the verse?
Correct: B. The verse locates the real contest in one’s own issues, not the goblin itself.
Question 9 of 10
What does the text say was the weather like during this encounter?
Correct: B. This detail sets the scene before the spirit appears.
Question 10 of 10
What kind of being was Ajakalāpaka?
Correct: B. He is introduced as the spirit whose haunt the shrine is.
