“Then again when I was Saṅkhapāla, a dragon of great psychic power, deadly-fanged, lethally venomous, two-tongued, lord of serpents.
At a crossroad on a highway crowded with many people, I resolved on the four factors, and made my home there.
‘My outer skin and inner, flesh, sinews and bones: whoever has use for these, they are already given, please take them.’
Seeing me, the Bhojans, those violent and pitiless hunters, came to me there with sticks and hammers in their hands.
Having pierced my nose, tail, and spine, and fastened me to a pole, the Bhojans carried me away.
The earth from sea to sea, with its forests and mountains—had I wished, right there I could have burnt it up with a blast from my nose.
Though pierced with stakes, and stabbed with knives, I did not get upset with the Bhojans: this is my perfection of ethics.”
Saṅkhapāla’s Conduct
Cp 20 · Saṅkhapālacariya
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- CariyāpiṭakaThe collection containing this text
- The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
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- The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting
About this edition
Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato · SuttaCentral · CC0
This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.
Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.
The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.