1"Bhikkhus, I do not see even a single person who is acting so much for the harm of many people, the unhappiness of many people, for the ruin, harm, and suffering of many people, of devas and human beings, as the hollow man Makkhali. [n.175] Makkhali Gosāla was one of the six teachers contemporary with the Buddha. He was the founder (or perhaps just an eminent teacher) of the Ājīvakas (or Ājivikas). DN 2.21, I 53–54 ascribes to him the doctrine of non-causality (ahetukavāda), according to which there is no cause for the defilement or purification of beings, who have no energy, self-control, or capacity for free choice. Just as a trap set at the mouth of a river would bring about harm, suffering, calamity, and disaster for many fish, so too, the hollow man Makkhali is, as it were, a ‘trap for people’ [n.176] Manussakhippaṁ. Mp: "He has arisen in the world like a fish net for people, to prevent them from reaching the path leading to heaven and liberation." who has arisen in the world for the harm, suffering, calamity, and disaster of many beings."

1"Nāhaṁ, bhikkhave, aññaṁ ekapuggalampi samanupassāmi yo evaṁ bahujanaahitāya paṭipanno bahujanaasukhāya, bahuno janassa anatthāya ahitāya dukkhāya devamanussānaṁ yathayidaṁ, bhikkhave, makkhali moghapuriso. Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, nadīmukhe khippaṁ uḍḍeyya bahūnaṁ macchānaṁ ahitāya dukkhāya anayāya byasanāya; evamevaṁ kho, bhikkhave, makkhali moghapuriso manussakhippaṁ maññe loke uppanno bahūnaṁ sattānaṁ ahitāya dukkhāya anayāya byasanāyā"ti.