Minor Anthologies, Volume 4 Vimanavatthu

effect to any action. The vivid accounts of the lives of the devas in various deva abodes serve to show clearly that the higher beings are not immortals, nor creators, but are also evolved conditioned by the result of their previous meritorious deeds. They too are subject to the laws of annica, dukka and anatta and have to strive themselves to achieve the deathless state of nibbana. The stories of petas are graphic accounts of the miserable beings who have been reborn in unhappy extistences as a consequence of their evil deeds. There are fifty-one stories divided into four vaggas, describing the life of misery of the evil-doers, in direct contrast to the magnificent life of the devas. Emphasis is again laid on the beneficial effects of giving; whereas envy, jealousy, miserliness, greed and wrong views are shown to be the causes of one’s appearance in the unhappy world of the petas. The chief suffering in this state is shown as the severe lack of food, clothing and dwelling places for the condemned being. A certain and immediate release from such miseries can be given to the unfortunate being if his former relatives perform meritorious deeds and share their merits with him. In Tirokuttapeta Vatthu, a detailed account is given on how King Bimbisara brings relief to his former relatives who are unfortunately suffering as petas. King Bimbisara does this by making generous offerings of food, clothing and dwelling places to the Buddha and his company of bhikkhus and sharing the merit thus accrued with the petas who have been his kin in previous lives. Excerpted from U Ko Lay's, Essence of Tipitaka Note: Pariyatti can ship Pali Text Society publications to countries in the Americas only (North, Central and South America, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.)