Deep Commentary

The Buddha delivered this verse at the Jetavana Monastery regarding Thera Tissa. According to the story, Tissa was a young monk from a wealthy family who received a rough piece of cloth from a supporter. His sister unraveled and rewove it into a beautiful, fine robe for him. When the robe was completed, Tissa admired it immensely and looked forward to wearing it the next day. However, he unexpectedly died of indigestion that very night. Due to his strong attachment to the new robe, he was instantly reborn as a louse living inside it. When the other monks prepared to distribute the deceased monk's robe, the louse became furious and shrieked that they were stealing his property. Possessing divine vision, the Buddha instructed the monks to delay distributing the robe for seven days. On the seventh day, the louse died and, due to his past merits, was reborn in the Tusita celestial realm. On the eighth day, the Buddha permitted the distribution and explained that had the monks divided the robe earlier, Tissa's anger would have caused him to fall directly into hell.

This story and verse illustrate how suffering arises from unwholesome karma generated by the mind. The Buddha uses a powerful analogy: just as rust forms on iron and then corrodes the very iron that produced it, an individual's own evil deeds drag them down to states of woe. No external force condemns a person to the lower realms; it is their own attachment, delusion, and negative actions that draw them there, much like a criminal whose own unlawful acts lead him to prison. Thera Tissa's rebirth as a louse over a single fine robe warns practitioners about the extreme danger of attachment at the moment of death (near-death karma or maranasanna-kamma). If a monastic living near the Buddha could fall due to attachment, the danger is far greater for ordinary people living amidst valuable material wealth. Without the aid of an enlightened teacher to delay the distribution of goods, one's near-death attachment or anger can easily dictate a downward rebirth. Therefore, practitioners must cultivate meditative letting-go and release all worldly attachments to ensure a peaceful transition and a favorable rebirth.