Deep Commentary

This verse was taught by the Buddha at Bamboo Grove Monastery, in connection with beings who suffered painful results because of unwholesome karma. “One day, while descending the mountain together with the elder Lakkhana, Venerable Moggallāna saw ghosts whose bodies were nothing but dry skeletons. Seeing them, he smiled. When asked about it, he said only: ‘Brother, do not ask about this here. When we are before the Blessed One, we shall discuss it.’ When they returned to the monastery, Elder Lakkhana asked about the matter again in the presence of the Buddha. Venerable Moggallāna replied that he had seen ghosts like dry skeletons. He continued: ‘As I was coming down the mountain, I also saw an ascetic flying through the air, his whole body blazing in flames.’ On several other occasions, the Venerable also saw ghosts in the form of monks, with robes, bowls, and belts, all burning in fire. Because of this, the Buddha taught the monks: ‘Those ascetics, in the time of Kassapa Buddha, had gone forth into the monastic life but did not fulfill their duties.’ He emphasized clearly to the monks present the painful karmic results of evil deeds, and then spoke this verse.” A renunciant may wear the yellow robe, yet if the mind is unrighteous, still attached to worldly defilements, not yet free from evil conduct, and unable to restrain and discipline the mind—letting it wander carelessly after sense objects and creating much unwholesome karma—then how can such a person avoid falling into suffering and ruin? The monastic robe is the robe of liberation, a field of merit for human and heavenly beings to make offerings to. To put on this robe is to declare the vow to renounce everything, no longer bound or attached to anything. It represents a noble and radiant aspiration, a lofty vow of compassion: to liberate oneself and others from the painful entanglements of worldly conditions. Therefore, the vow of one who has gone forth is to cut off sensual desire and remove craving, to penetrate the source of the mind, to realize the profound truth taught by the Buddha; inwardly, not clinging to any attainment or realization, and outwardly, not seeking after objects of desire. Only then is one worthy of wearing the robe. Otherwise, it is difficult to escape the suffering states of hell. We should carefully contemplate the images of extreme suffering among the ghosts that Venerable Moggallāna himself witnessed and described. The Buddha said that because those who had gone forth did not fulfill their duties, they had to endure such tragic results. From this we understand that liberation or hell is created entirely according to our own mind.