5.
The Discourse on the Horseman
357.
Then the horseman headman approached the Blessed One;
having approached, he sat down to one side.
Seated to one side, the horseman headman said this to the Blessed One -
"I have heard this, venerable sir, from horsemen of former times, teachers and teachers' teachers, when they speak -
'Whatever horseman strives and endeavours in battle, if others kill him and finish him off while he is striving and endeavouring, he, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in the company of the gods of the defeated.'
What does the Blessed One say about this?"
"Enough, headman, let this be;
do not ask me this."
For the second time, etc.
For the third time, the horseman headman said this to the Blessed One -
"I have heard this, venerable sir, from horsemen of former times, teachers and teachers' teachers, when they speak -
'Whatever horseman strives and endeavours in battle, if others kill him and finish him off while he is striving and endeavouring, he, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in the company of the gods of the defeated.'
What does the Blessed One say about this?"
"Certainly indeed I cannot obtain from you - 'Enough, headman, let this be; do not ask me this.' But I will explain to you. Whatever horseman, headman, strives and endeavours in battle, his mind has previously been seized, wrongly done, wrongly directed - 'May these beings be killed, or bound, or annihilated, or destroyed, or may they not exist!' If others kill him and finish him off while he is striving and endeavouring, he, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a hell called 'the defeated'. But if he holds such a view: 'Whatever horseman strives and endeavours in battle, if others kill him and finish him off while he is striving and endeavouring, he, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in the company of the gods of the defeated' - that is his wrong view. For a person of wrong view, headman, I declare one of two destinations - either hell or the animal realm."
When this was said, the horseman headman wailed and shed tears. "This indeed, headman, I did not obtain - 'Enough, headman, let this be; do not ask me this.'" "I am not, venerable sir, weeping because the Blessed One said thus to me. But I, venerable sir, have been cheated, deceived, deluded for a long time by horsemen of former times, teachers and teachers' teachers - 'Whatever horseman strives and endeavours in battle, if others kill him and finish him off while he is striving and endeavouring, he, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in the company of the gods of the defeated.'" "Excellent, venerable sir, etc. From this day forth, may he remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life." The fifth.