1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary. Then Talapuṭa the troupe headman [n.334] His name means "palmyra box." Spk says he was called thus because his facial complexion was the colour of a ripe palmyra fruit just fallen from its stalk. He was the director of a large troupe of actors and had become famous throughout India. His verses, which stand out by their moral earnestness, are at Th 1091–1145. approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: "Venerable sir, I have heard it said among actors of old in the lineage of teachers: ‘If an actor, in the theatre or the arena, entertains and amuses people by truth and lies, [n.335] Saccālikena. Woodward renders "by his counterfeiting of the truth" (KS 4:214), but I follow Spk, which glosses this as a dvanda compound: saccena ca alikena ca. then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of the laughing devas.’ What does the Blessed One say about that?"

"Enough, headman, let it be! Don’t ask me that!"

A second time and a third time Talapuṭa the troupe headman said: "Venerable sir, I have heard it said among actors of old in the lineage of teachers: … sn.iv.307 … What does the Blessed One say about that?"

2"Surely, headman, I am not getting through to you [n.336] Here, where the present is required, we should read with Be and Se na labhāmi, and below, where the aorist is appropriate, nālatthaṃ. Ee has the latter reading in both places. when I say, ‘Enough, headman, let it be! Don’t ask me that!’ But still, I will answer you. In the theatre or arena, among beings who are not yet free from lust, who are bound by the bondage of lust, an actor entertains them with titillating things that excite them even more strongly to lust. In the theatre or arena, among beings who are not yet free from hatred, who are bound by the bondage of hatred, an actor entertains them with infuriating things that excite them even more strongly to hatred. In the theatre or arena, among beings who are not yet free from delusion, who are bound by the bondage of delusion, an actor entertains them with bewildering things that excite them even more strongly to delusion.

"Thus, being intoxicated and negligent himself, having made others intoxicated and negligent, with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the ‘Hell of Laughter.’ [n.337] Pahāso nāma nirayo. Spk: There is no separate hell with this name. This is actually one part of the Avīci hell where the denizens are tortured in the guise of actors dancing and singing. But should he hold such a view as this: ‘If an actor, in the theatre or the arena, entertains and amuses people by truth and lies, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of the laughing devas’—that is a wrong view on his part. For a person with wrong view, I say, there is one of two destinations: either hell or the animal realm." [n.338] See MN I 387–89, partly parallel to this passage, though concerned with a different wrong view about rebirth.

3When this was said, Talapuṭa the troupe headman cried out and burst into tears. The Blessed One said: "So I did not get through to you when I said, ‘Enough, headman, let it be! Don’t ask me that!’"

"I am not crying, venerable sir, because of what the Blessed One said to me, but because I have been tricked, cheated, and deceived for a long time by those actors of old in the lineage of teachers who said: ‘If an actor, sn.iv.308 in the theatre or the arena, entertains and amuses people by truth and lies, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of the laughing devas.’

"Magnificent, venerable sir! Magnificent, venerable sir! The Dhamma has been made clear in many ways by the Blessed One, as though he were turning upright what had been turned upside down, revealing what was hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the dark for those with eyesight to see forms. I go for refuge to the Blessed One, and to the Dhamma, and to the Bhikkhu Saṅgha. May I receive the going forth under the Blessed One, venerable sir, may I receive the higher ordination?"

Then Talapuṭa the troupe headman received the going forth under the Blessed One, he received the higher ordination. And soon, not long after his higher ordination … the Venerable Talapuṭa became one of the arahants.

1Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe vihārati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe. Atha kho tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: "sutaṁ metaṁ, bhante, pubbakānaṁ acariyapācariyānaṁ naṭānaṁ bhāsamānānaṁ: ‘yo so naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe saccālikena janaṁ hāseti rameti, so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāsānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjatī’ti. Idha bhagavā kimāhā"ti?

"Alaṁ, gāmaṇi, tiṭṭhatetaṁ. Mā maṁ etaṁ pucchī"ti.

Dutiyampi kho tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: "sutaṁ metaṁ, bhante, pubbakānaṁ acariyapācariyānaṁ naṭānaṁ bhāsamānānaṁ: ‘yo so naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe saccālikena janaṁ hāseti rameti, so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāsānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjatī’ti. Idha bhagavā kimāhā"ti? "Alaṁ, gāmaṇi, tiṭṭhatetaṁ. Mā maṁ etaṁ pucchī"ti. Tatiyampi kho tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: "sutaṁ metaṁ, bhante, pubbakānaṁ acariyapācariyānaṁ naṭānaṁ bhāsamānānaṁ: ‘yo so naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe saccālikena janaṁ hāseti rameti, so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāsānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjatī’ti. Idha bhagavā kimāhā"ti?

2"Addhā kho tyāhaṁ, gāmaṇi, na labhāmi: ‘alaṁ, gāmaṇi, tiṭṭhatetaṁ, mā maṁ etaṁ pucchī’ti. Api ca tyāhaṁ byākarissāmi. Pubbe kho, gāmaṇi, sattā avītarāgā rāgabandhanabaddhā. Tesaṁ naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe ye dhammā rajanīyā te upasaṁharati bhiyyoso mattāya. Pubbe kho, gāmaṇi, sattā avītadosā dosabandhanabaddhā. Tesaṁ naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe ye dhammā dosanīyā te upasaṁharati bhiyyoso mattāya. Pubbe kho, gāmaṇi, sattā avītamohā mohabandhanabaddhā. Tesaṁ naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe ye dhammā mohanīyā te upasaṁharati bhiyyoso mattāya.

So attanā matto pamatto pare madetvā pamādetvā kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāso nāma nirayo tattha upapajjati. Sace kho panassa evaṁdiṭṭhi hoti: ‘yo so naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe saccālikena janaṁ hāseti rameti, so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāsānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjatī’ti, sāssa hoti micchādiṭṭhi. Micchādiṭṭhikassa kho panāhaṁ, gāmaṇi, purisapuggalassa dvinnaṁ gatīnaṁ aññataraṁ gatiṁ vadāmi – nirayaṁ vā tiracchānayoniṁ vā"ti.

3Evaṁ vutte, tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi parodi assūni pavattesi. "Etaṁ kho tyāhaṁ, gāmaṇi, nālatthaṁ: ‘alaṁ, gāmaṇi, tiṭṭhatetaṁ; mā maṁ etaṁ pucchī’"ti.

"Nāhaṁ, bhante, etaṁ rodāmi yaṁ maṁ bhagavā evamāha; api cāhaṁ, bhante, pubbakehi acariyapācariyehi naṭehi dīgharattaṁ nikato vañcito paluddho: ‘yo so naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe saccālikena janaṁ hāseti rameti so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāsānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjatī’"ti.

"Abhikkantaṁ, bhante, abhikkantaṁ, bhante. Seyyathāpi, bhante, nikkujjitaṁ vā ukkujjeyya, paṭicchannaṁ vā vivareyya, mūḷhassa vā maggaṁ ācikkheyya, andhakāre vā telapajjotaṁ dhāreyya: ‘cakkhumanto rūpāni dakkhantī’ti; evamevaṁ bhagavatā anekapariyāyena dhammo pakāsito. Esāhaṁ, bhante, bhagavantaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi dhammañca bhikkhusaṅghañca. Labheyyāhaṁ, bhante, bhagavato santike pabbajjaṁ, labheyyaṁ upasampadan"ti.

Alattha kho tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi bhagavato santike pabbajjaṁ, alattha upasampadaṁ. Acirūpasampanno ca panāyasmā tālapuṭo … pe … arahataṁ ahosīti.

Dutiyaṁ.