2-19-2 Dutiyovaggo | Samyutta

II. The Second Subchapter

11 (1) With Head Submerged

… I saw a man with head submerged in a pit of dung….

That being was an adulterer in this same Rājagaha….

12 (2) The Dung Eater

… I saw a man submerged in a pit of dung, eating dung with both hands….

That being, Bhikkhus, was a hostile Brahmin in this same Rājagaha:

In the time of the Buddha Kassapa’s Dispensation, he invited the Bhikkhu Saṅgha to a meal. Having had rice pots filled with dung, he said to the Bhikkhus:

‘Sirs, eat as much as you want from this and take the rest away with you.’…

13 (3) The Flayed Woman

… I saw a flayed woman moving through the air. Vultures, crows, and hawks, following her in hot pursuit, were stabbing at her and tearing her apart while she uttered cries of pain….

That woman was an adulteress in this same Rājagaha….

14 (4) The Ugly Woman

… I saw a woman, foul-smelling and ugly, moving through the air.

Vultures, crows, and hawks, following her in hot pursuit, were stabbing at her and tearing her apart while she uttered cries of pain….

That woman was a fortune-teller in this same Rājagaha….

15 (5) The Sweltering Woman

… I saw a woman, her body roasting, sweltering, sooty, moving through the air, while she uttered cries of pain….

That woman was the chief Queen of the King of Kāliṅga. Of a jealous character, she poured a brazier of coals over one of the king’s consorts….

16 (6) The Headless Trunk

… I saw a headless trunk moving through the air; its eyes and mouth were on its chest.

Vultures, crows, and hawks, following it in hot pursuit, were stabbing at it and tearing it apart while it uttered cries of pain….

That being was an executioner named Hārika in this same Rājagaha….

17 (7) The Evil Bhikkhu

… I saw a Bhikkhu moving through the air. His outer robe, bowl, waistband, and body were burning, blazing, and flaming while he uttered cries of pain….

That Bhikkhu had been an evil Bhikkhu in the Buddha Kassapa’s Dispensation….

18 (8) The Evil Bhikkhunī

… I saw a Bhikkhunī moving through the air. Her outer robe, bowl, waistband, and body were burning, blazing, and flaming while she uttered cries of pain….

That Bhikkhunī had been an evil Bhikkhunī in the Buddha Kassapa’s Dispensation….

19 (9)–21 (11) The Evil Probationary Nun, Etc.

… Here, friend, as I was coming down from Mount Vulture Peak, I saw a probationary nun … a novice monk … a novice nun moving through the air:

Her outer robe, bowl, waistband, and body were burning, blazing, and flaming while she uttered cries of pain.

It occurred to me:

‘It is wonderful, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there could be such a being, that there could be such a spirit, that there could be such a form of individual existence!’

Then the Blessed One addressed the Bhikkhus thus:

Bhikkhus, there are disciples who dwell having become vision, having become knowledge, in that a disciple can know, see, and witness such a sight.

In the past, Bhikkhus, I too saw that novice nun, but I did not speak about it:

For if I had spoken about it, others would not have believed me, and if they had not believed me that would have led to their harm and suffering for a long time.

That novice nun had been an evil novice nun in the Buddha Kassapa’s Dispensation.

Having been tormented in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years

- as a result of that kamma, as a residual result of that same kamma she is experiencing such a form of individual existence.