1.
The Discourse on Fault
1.
Thus have I heard -
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's park.
There the Blessed One addressed the monks thus:
"Monks."
"Venerable sir," those monks assented to the Blessed One.
The Blessed One said this:
"There are, monks, these two faults. Which two? A fault pertaining to the present life and a fault pertaining to the future life. And what, monks, is a fault pertaining to the present life? Here, monks, someone sees kings, having seized a thief, a criminal, inflicting various bodily punishments; flogging with whips, flogging with canes, flogging with half-clubs, cutting off his hand, cutting off his foot, cutting off his hand and foot, cutting off his ear, cutting off his nose, cutting off his ear and nose, inflicting the "gruel pot" torture, inflicting the "shell-tonsure" torture, inflicting the "Rāhu's mouth" torture, inflicting the "fire garland" torture, inflicting the "hand torch" torture, inflicting the "grass-strip" torture, inflicting the "bark-dress" torture, inflicting the "antelope" torture, inflicting the "flesh-hook" torture, inflicting the "coin-cutting" torture, inflicting the "lye-pickling" torture, inflicting the "pivot-turning" torture, inflicting the "straw-chair" torture, pouring boiling oil on him, having him eaten by dogs, impaling him alive on a stake, cutting off his head with a sword.
He thinks thus - 'Because of whatever kind of evil deeds, kings, having seized a thief, a criminal, inflict various bodily punishments; they flog him with whips, they flog him with canes, they flog him with half-clubs, they cut off his hand, they cut off his foot, they cut off his hand and foot, they cut off his ear, they cut off his nose, they cut off his ear and nose, they inflict the "gruel pot" torture, they inflict the "shell-tonsure" torture, they inflict the "Rāhu's mouth" torture, they inflict the "fire garland" torture, they inflict the "hand torch" torture, they inflict the "grass-strip" torture, they inflict the "bark-dress" torture, they inflict the "antelope" torture, they inflict the "flesh-hook" torture, they inflict the "coin-cutting" torture, they inflict the "lye-pickling" torture, they inflict the "pivot-turning" torture, they inflict the "straw-chair" torture, they pour boiling oil on him, they have him eaten by dogs, they impale him alive on a stake, they cut off his head with a sword. If I were to do such an evil deed, kings, having seized me too, would inflict such various bodily punishments; they would flog me with whips, etc. they would cut off my head with a sword.' He, being afraid of the fault pertaining to the present life, does not go about plundering others' property. This is called, monks, a fault pertaining to the present life.
"And what, monks, is a fault pertaining to the future life? Here, monks, someone considers thus - 'Bodily misconduct indeed has an evil, painful result in the future life, verbal misconduct has an evil, painful result in the future life, mental misconduct has an evil, painful result in the future life. If I were to practise misconduct by body, practise misconduct by speech, practise misconduct by mind, what reason would there be that I would not, upon the body's collapse at death, be reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell?' He, being afraid of the fault pertaining to the future life, having abandoned bodily misconduct, develops bodily good conduct; having abandoned verbal misconduct, develops good verbal conduct; having abandoned mental misconduct, develops good mental conduct; he maintains himself pure. This is called, monks, a fault pertaining to the future life. "These, monks, are the two faults. Therefore, monks, you should train thus - 'We will fear the fault pertaining to the present life, we will fear the fault pertaining to the future life, we will be those who fear faults, those who see the danger in faults.' Thus indeed, monks, should you train. For one who fears faults, monks, for one who sees the danger in faults, this is to be expected - that he will be freed from all faults." The first.