Petavatthu

Stories of the Hungry Ghosts

Source: This anthology prepared by jtb for Access to Insight.

For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted, reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish, however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and other derivative works be clearly marked as such.

The Petavatthu contains 51 poems, each explaining how unwholesome deeds led to the rebirth of a being into the miserable realm of the "Hungry Ghosts" (peta).

The translator appears in the square brackets [].

Pv I.5: Tirokudda Kanda — Hungry Shades Outside the Walls {Pv 3; verses 14-25} [Thanissaro]. Some of your ancestors and deceased loved ones may have been reborn as hungry ghosts, no longer able to fend for themselves. In this poem the Buddha explains that is to your long-term benefit — and to theirs — that you honor their memory with gifts.