SN 11.23

Sambarimāyāsutta

Sāvatthiyaṁ …pe… bhagavā etadavoca: “bhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, vepacitti asurindo ābādhiko ahosi dukkhito bāḷhagilāno. Atha kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo yena vepacitti asurindo tenupasaṅkami gilānapucchako. Addasā kho, bhikkhave, vepacitti asurindo sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ dūratova āgacchantaṁ. Disvāna sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ etadavoca: ‘tikiccha maṁ, devānamindā’ti. ‘Vācehi maṁ, vepacitti, sambarimāyan’ti. ‘Na tāvāhaṁ vācemi, yāvāhaṁ, mārisa, asure paṭipucchāmī’ti. Atha kho, bhikkhave, vepacitti asurindo asure paṭipucchi: ‘vācemahaṁ, mārisā, sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ sambarimāyan’ti? ‘Mā kho tvaṁ, mārisa, vācesi sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ sambarimāyan’ti. Atha kho, bhikkhave, vepacitti asurindo sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

The Sambari Sorcery

At Sāvatthī. The Buddha said this: “Once upon a time, mendicants, Vepacitti, lord of titans, was sick, suffering, gravely ill. So Sakka went to see him to ask after his illness. Vepacitti saw Sakka coming off in the distance, and said to him, ‘Heal me, lord of gods!’ ‘Teach me, Vepacitti, the Sambari sorcery.’ ‘I can’t do that, good fellow, until I have consulted with the titans.’ Then Vepacitti, lord of titans, asked the titans, ‘Good fellows, may I teach the Sambari sorcery to Sakka, lord of gods?’ ‘Do not, good fellow, teach the Sambari sorcery to Sakka!’ So Vepacitti addressed Sakka in verse:

‘Māyāvī maghavā sakka, devarāja sujampati; Upeti nirayaṁ ghoraṁ, sambarova sataṁ saman’”ti.

‘O Maghavā, O Sakka, king of gods, Sujā’s husband: a sorceror like Sambara falls into the terrible hell for a full century.’”