SN11:6 The Bird Nests
- DG BB TBW © Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi. (More copyright information)
1At Sāvatthī. "Bhikkhus, once in the past the devas and the asuras were arrayed for battle. In that battle the asuras won and the devas were defeated. In defeat the devas withdrew towards the north while the asuras pursued them. Then Sakka, lord of the devas, addressed his charioteer Mātali in verse:
2v.892 "‘Avoid, O Mātali, with your chariot pole
The bird nests in the silk-cotton woods;
Let's surrender our lives to the asuras
Rather than make these birds nestless.’
[n.621] The same incident, set in a different context, is related at Dhp-a I 279 (see BL 1:323–24) and in Ja No. 31 (I 202–3). Ja I 203 glosses kulavaka as supaṇṇapotaka, baby supaṇṇa birds, but at v. 37b the word clearly means a nest and not its occupants.
Spk: As they headed towards the silk-cotton woods, the noise of the chariot, the horses, and the standard was like thunderbolts on all sides. The strong supaṇṇa birds in the forest fled, but those that were old, ill, and too young to fly were terrified and let loose a loud cry. Sakka asked, "What is that sound?" and Mātali told him. Sakka's heart was shaken by compassion and he spoke the verse.
3"‘Yes, your lordship,’ Mātali the charioteer replied, and he turned back the chariot with its team of a thousand thoroughbreds.
"Then, bhikkhus, it occurred to the asuras: ‘Now Sakka's chariot with its team of a thousand thoroughbreds has turned back. sn.i.225 The devas will engage in battle with the asuras for a second time.’ Stricken by fear, they entered the city of the asuras. In this way, bhikkhus, Sakka, lord of the devas, won a victory by means of righteousness itself."
1Sāvatthiyaṁ. "Bhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, devāsurasaṅgāmo samupabyūḷho ahosi. Tasmiṁ kho pana, bhikkhave, saṅgāme asurā jiniṁsu, devā parājiniṁsu. Parājitā ca kho, bhikkhave, devā apāyaṁsveva uttarenamukhā, abhiyaṁsveva ne asurā. Atha kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo mātali saṅgāhakaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:
2‘Kulāvakā mātali simbalismiṁ,
Īsāmukhena parivajjayassu;
Kāmaṁ cajāma asuresu pāṇaṁ,
Māyime dijā vikulāvakā ahesun’ti.
3‘Evaṁ, bhaddantavā’ti kho, bhikkhave, mātali saṅgāhako sakkassa devānamindassa paṭissutvā sahassayuttaṁ ājaññarathaṁ paccudāvattesi.
Atha kho, bhikkhave, asurānaṁ etadahosi: ‘paccudāvatto kho dāni sakkassa devānamindassa sahassayutto ājaññaratho. Dutiyampi kho devā asurehi saṅgāmessantī’ti bhītā asurapurameva pāvisiṁsu. Iti kho, bhikkhave, sakkassa devānamindassa dhammena jayo ahosī"ti.