Warned by the deva messengers,
those ‘youths’ who are heedless
grieve for a long, long time—
[as] people entering a lower state.— The Buddha
(Devadūta Sutta)
In the Devadūta Sutta《天使经》(Discourse On Deva [Heavenly or Godly] Messengers), the Buddha spoke on how, with his heavenly vision (天眼), he saw those with very evil mental, verbal and physical conduct being reborn in the hells, where wardens would seize such persons and bring them before King Yama (阎罗王), who functions like a judge to mete out their karmic punishments justly. (The following is a summarised account.)
[1] The First Deva’s Message
The King would first interrogate,
asking if they did not see the first deva messenger
who manifested among humans.
To those who reply that they did not,
he would further ask if they did not see
a tender baby lying and suffering in his/her own waste.
To this, they would reply that they did.
The King would drive the message home by asking
if they did not reflect that
they too are subject to the suffering of birth (生苦),
and should thus be good in body, speech and mind.
They would admit that they were heedless,
to which the King would say that they will have to suffer
for having chosen to not do good,
and choosing to do evil instead.
[2] The Second Deva’s Message
The King would next interrogate,
asking if they did not see the second deva messenger
who also manifested among humans.
To those who reply that they did not,
he would further ask if they did not see
an old wo/man aged eighty, ninety or a hundred,
with a crooked body, using a cane, trembling,
with broken teeth, little or no grey hairs,
wrinkled and with blotchy limbs.
To this, they would reply that they did.
The King would drive the message home
by asking if they did not reflect that
they too are subject to the suffering of ageing (老苦),
and should thus be good in body, speech and mind.
They would admit that they were heedless,
to which the King would say that they will have to suffer
for having chosen to not do good,
and choosing to do evil instead.
[3] The Third Deva’s Message
The King would next interrogate,
asking if they did not see the third deva messenger
who also manifested among humans.
To those who reply that they did not,
he would further ask if they did not see
an old wo/man diseased, in pain, severely sick,
lying is in his/her waste,
lifted up and laid down by others.
To this, they would reply that they did.
The King would drive the message home
by asking if they did not reflect that
they too are subject to the suffering of sickness (病苦),
and should thus be good in body, speech and mind.
They would admit that they were heedless,
to which the King would say that they will have to suffer
for having chosen to not do good,
and choosing to do evil instead.
[4] The Fourth Deva’s Message
The King would next interrogate,
asking if they did not see the fourth deva messenger
who also manifested among humans.
To those who reply that they did not,
he would further ask if they did not see
a thief who is punished by flogging, beating
and cutting off of the limbs, ears, nose and more.
To this, they would reply that they did.
The King would drive the message home
by asking if they did not reflect that
those who do evil are punished in many ways
in their present lives (现世报),
what more in their future lives (来世报).
They would admit that they were heedless,
to which the King would say that they will have to suffer
for having chosen to not do good,
and choosing to do evil instead.
[5] The Fifth Deva’s Message
The King would finally interrogate,
asking if they did not see the fifth deva messenger
who also manifested among humans.
To those who reply that they did not,
he would further ask if they did not see
a wo/man who has died for one, two or three days,
whose body is bloated, dark bluish grey and oozing away.
To this, they would reply that they did.
The King would drive the message home
by asking if they did not reflect that
they too are subject to the suffering death (死苦),
and should thus be good in body, speech and mind.
They would admit that they were heedless,
to which the King would say that they will have to suffer
for having chosen to not do good,
and choosing to do evil instead.
Hells’ Many Karmic Punishments
Having completed the interrogation,
the King would fall silent,
as the wardens proceed to punish them horrifically,
with great pain felt,
yet not dying (once and for all)
to be reborn elsewhere,
as long as their hellish karmas are yet to be exhausted,
led through a series of hells
with specific punishments for specific evils done.
(The Sutta details the suffering vividly.)
Four Takeaway Lessons
What are some key takeaways?
(i) It is due to the lack of wisdom and supernormal powers (to recollect past lives and see other realms) that we do not directly perceive karmic connections between causes and their effects, which bear fruits in this and future lives.
(ii) Just as there are human judges in this world, there are judges in the netherworld. (Those without very evil karmas will not face them.) Even if judges might seem unfair at times, the law of karma that irons issues out is impartial and unrelenting, from moment to moment, and from life to life. Everything we think, say and do, not think, not say and not do is thus consequential.
(iii) No one can deny that they have not encountered the grave reminders of [1] (re)birth, [2] ageing, [3] sickness, [4] examples of karmic punishment for evils done in this life (and the next) and [5] death.
In fact, not only are there at least five kindly gods purposely conveying these messages to us clearly, there are many ‘accidental’ human ‘messengers’ carrying the same messages to us throughout this life too. Not five, but perhaps fifty, five hundred, five thousand, fifty thousand or more, as seen and/or heard of, from other persons, historical records and news reports. Thus, spiritual complacence that leads to heedlessness is completely inexcusable.
(iv) To heed the messages is to mindfully remember that if yet to be liberated,
[1] you will be reborn again to suffer too,
[2] you are suffering from ageing as we speak too,
[3] you are susceptible to suffering from sicknesses too,
[4] you will suffer from karmic retribution, in this life and the next too, and
[5] you are dying from moment to moment, and will die for sure too.
Thus, [6] there must be a great sense of caution and urgency to avoid evil and to do good (止恶行善) immediately, from now onwards. Beyond merely escaping from rebirths in the lower realms by reaching higher realms, which is still being trapped in the cycle of birth and death, [7] there should be sincere and diligent learning and practice (修学) of the Pure Land Dharma Door (净土法门) for instance, to secure birth in Āmítuófó’s (阿弥陀佛) Pure Land. Spiritual purity (清净) will be most swiftly realised there, thus transcending good and evil, with liberation from their corresponding realms once and for all.
As a parallel example, as a Prince, when the Buddha-to-be first saw the Four Sights of ageing, sickness, death and asceticism, these were manifested by deva messengers too. Although they were not fully awakened beings, they still tried their best to urge him, to give rise to the motivation, to seek the path to full awakening for one and all. Even though we are neither Buddhas nor devas, we can also be others’ messengers, by sending to share this article, in the hope that they heed these messages in time!
But those here who are good,
people of integrity,
when warned by the deva messengers
are not heedless
of the noble Dhamma—ever.— The Buddha
(Devadūta Sutta)
Related Teaching:
Devadūta Sutta: The Deva Messengers
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN130.html
