SN 19.21 — A Bad Novice Nun

“Just now, reverend, as I was descending from Vulture’s Peak Mountain I saw a novice nun flying through the air. Her outer robe, bowl, belt, and body were burning, blazing, and glowing as she screamed in pain. It occurred to me: ‘Oh lord, how incredible, how amazing! That there can be such a sentient being, such a spirit, such an incarnation!’” Then the Buddha said to the mendicants: “Mendicants, there are disciples who live full of vision and knowledge, since a disciple knows, sees, and witnesses such a thing. Formerly, I too saw that novice nun, but I did not speak of it. For if I had spoken of it others would not have believed me, which would be for their lasting harm and suffering. That female novice used to be a bad novice nun in the time of the Buddha Kassapa’s dispensation. As a result of that deed she burned in hell for many years, many hundreds, many thousands, many hundreds of thousands of years. Now she experiences the residual result of that deed in such an incarnation.” The Linked Discourses with Mark are complete. Linked Discourses with Similes Contents The Chapter on the Similes SN 20.1 A Roof Peak Kūṭasutta SN 20.2 A Fingernail Nakhasikhasutta SN 20.3 Families Kulasutta SN 20.4 Cauldrons Okkhāsutta SN 20.5 A Spear Sattisutta SN 20.6 The Archers Dhanuggahasutta SN 20.7 The Drum Called Plugger Āṇisutta SN 20.8 Wood Blocks Kaliṅgarasutta SN 20.9 A Bull Elephant Nāgasutta SN 20.10 A Cat Biḷārasutta SN 20.11 A Jackal Siṅgālasutta SN 20.12 A Jackal (2nd) Dutiyasiṅgālasutta The Chapter on the Similes