Verse 66

Dhammapada Verse 66

The Story of Suppabuddha, the Leper

Suppa-Buddha*, the leper, while sitting at the back of the crowd and listening attentively to the discourse given by the Buddha, attained Sotapatti Fruition. When the crowd had dispersed, he followed the Buddha to the monastery as he wished to tell the Buddha about his attainment of Sotapatti Fruition. Sakka, king of the devas, wishing to test the leper's faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Samgha, appeared to him and said, "You are only a poor man, living on what you get by begging, with no one to fall back on. I can give you immense wealth if you deny the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Samgha and say that you have no use for them." To this, Suppabuddha replied. "I am certainly not a poor man, with no one to rely on. I am a rich man; I possess the seven attributes which the ariyas possess; I have faith (saddha), morality (sila), sense of shame to do evil (hiri), sense of fear to do evil (ottappa), learning (sula), generosity (caga) and knowledge (panna).

Then, Sakka went to the Buddha ahead of Suppabuddha and related the conversation between himself and Suppabuddha. To him the Buddha replied that it would not be easy even for a hundred or a thousand Sakkas to coax Suppabuddha away from the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Samgha. Soon after this, Suppabuddha arrived at the monastery and reported to the Buddha about his attainment of Sotapatti Fruition. On his way back from the Jetavana monastery, Suppabuddha was gored to death by an infuriated cow, who, in fact, was an ogress assuming the form of a cow. This ogress was none other than the prostitute who was killed by Suppabuddha in one of his previous existences and who had vowed to have her revenge on him.

When the news of Suppabuddha's death reached the Jetavana monastery, the bhikkhus asked the Buddha where Suppabuddha was reborn and the Buddha replied to them that Suppabuddha was reborn in Tavatimsa deva realm. The Buddha also explained to them that Suppabuddha was born a leper because, in one of his previous existences, he had spat upon a paccekabuddha.

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Caranti bala dummedha
amitteneva attana
karonta papakam kammam
yam hoti katukapphalam.

Verse 66: With themselves as their own enemies, fools lacking in intelligence, move about doing evil deeds, which bear bitter fruits.

*It is said that he was offended with the Buddha for deserting his daughter and for being hostile to Devadatta. One day he took strong drink and blocked the Buddha's path, refusing to move in spite of the repeated requests of the monks. The Buddha thereupon turned back. Ananda seeing the Buddha smile and enquiring the reason for the smile, was told that, at the end of seven days, Suppabuddha would be swallowed up by the earth at the foot of his stairs. Suppabuddha overheard this, and had all his belongings carried to the seventh storey of his house. He removed the stairway, closed all doors, and set a strong guard. On the seventh day a state charger belonging to Suppabuddha broke loose. None could manage him except Suppabuddha, and he, desiring to seize the animal, moved towards the door. The doors opened of their own accord, the stairway returned to its place, and the strong guard threw him down the stairs. When he landed at the bottom of the stairway the earth opened and swallowed him up in Avīci. He was also evidently called Mahāsuppabuddha.