So, Sakka approached the yakkha seated on his throne, and paid him reverential salutation. With his robe thrown over one shoulder and his hands joined in añjali,604 he declared, “I, sir, am Sakka Devānamindo! I, sir, am Sakka Devānamindo!” The more Sakka declared his name in a respectful manner, the more the yakkha grew uglier again until in the end he vanished completely.605
During the lifetime of the Buddha Gotama (the “historical” Buddha of the current age) Sakka was his devout follower, and always treated him and his great disciples with the utmost respect. Some of the books of the later Pali tradition attribute many marvels to the great events of the Buddha’s life, many of which involve Sakka. For instance, at the Buddha’s birth, we are told by the Jinālāṅkāra606 that at the moment of the Buddha’s birth the ten thousand Sakkas of ten thousand world-systems stood and blew their conches.607 When the Prince Siddhattha Gotama renounced the world and cut off the long hair of his top-knot, he tossed it into the air where it was caught by Sakka who raised a yojana high stupa, the Cūḷāmaṇi Cetiya, in Tāvatiṃsa to enshrine it.608
Sakka often visited the Buddha, to seek teachings from him (eg.SN 11:15 & SN 11:16) or simply to venerate him. At one time he went to the Buddha’s dwelling together with the brahmā Sahampati and the two great beings stood on either side of the door-way praising the Buddha in verses. On this occasion, the brahmā criticized Sakka’s verse as not the proper way to venerate a Tathāgata (SN 11:17). On another occasion, Sakka emerged from his palace and raised his joined hands in a reverential salutation. Mātali the charioteer asked, “Devas and humans worship you, Sakka Vāsava, who is it that you worship?” Sakka replied it was the Buddha and the Saṅgha (SN 11:19). In the next sutta, the same happens but Mātali’s question is phrased differently, he asks Sakka:
“It is these that should worship you -
The humans stuck in a putrid body,
Those submerged in a corpse,
Afflicted with hunger and thirst.”609
Sakka replied that he envied the bhikkhus, who moved about freely without attachment and lived without conflict.
A very important sutta for the relationship between the Buddha and Sakka is the Sakkapañha Sutta (DN 21). In this discourse, Sakka visits the Buddha in the Indasāla cave. The commentary tells us that he had an urgent reason for this visit; Sakka had seen the five signs which warn a deva of his imminent death (DN-a 22). Sakka arrived with the entire company of the Thirty-Three and many other devas. When the devas arrived at the cave-mouth, a brilliant light was seen by the villagers who grew afraid and thought the mountain was on fire. Sakka found the Buddha rapt in meditation, and he sent in Pañcasikha the gandhabba to attract his attention, which he did by singing a highly inappropriate love-song.
With the Buddha now emerged from meditation, Sakka instructed Pañcasikha to announce the arrival of the devas by saying, “Sakka Devānamindo together with his ministers and his attendants pay homage to the Blessed One with their heads to his feet.” In reply, the Buddha said, “May Sakka Devānamindo and his ministers and attendants be happy. For all beings seek happiness: devas, humans, asuras, nāgas, gandhabbas and whatever other kinds of beings there may be.” When the devas entered the cave, by their power the rough places became smooth, the narrow places became wide and the darkness was dispelled by a brilliant light.
Sakka has come to ask the Buddha some questions on Dhamma, but like two old friends, they first engage in some pleasant conversation. The Buddha says that it is wonderful that Sakka, with so many things to do, can find time to visit him. Sakka replies that he has long sought the opportunity, and recalls an earlier occasion when he also found the Buddha in meditation but did not disturb him. The Buddha replied that he recalls that time, the sound of Sakka’s chariot wheels roused him. Sakka then remarks that since the Buddha has been teaching, many new devas are being born to swell the ranks of Tāvatiṃsa, and tells a long story in verse about some of them. At the end of this section of the sutta, the Buddha thinks, “For a long time this yakkha has been pure. Whatever he asks will be connected with meaning, (atthasañhitaṃ) not otherwise. Whatever explanations I give him, he will be quick to understand.” And he gave Sakka permission to ask whatever he wanted.
Sakka and the Buddha then engaged in a Dhamma discussion, with Sakka asking a series of questions about the overcoming of defilements and the Buddha answering. At the conclusion, Sakka tells the Buddha that in the past he has asked the same questions of various other samaṇas and brahmins, but never got a satisfactory answer. They always reacted in the same way, being delighted to have seen the king of the devas and wishing to become his followers. “In the end, they became my disciples, instead of my teachers.”
Sakka recalled the happiness he had felt after defeating the asuras, “Whatever was the nutriment (ojā) of the devas, and the nutriment of the asuras, henceforth we shall enjoy both!” but said that such happiness, which is based on sticks and swords, is not conducive to detachment, dispassion and cessation (nibbida virāga nirodha), and is not to be compared to the happiness that comes from hearing Dhamma. The Buddha asks him what other things, which when recalled to mind, give Sakka similar happiness. Sakka answers in six stanzas, declaring his six joys in verse. These amount to a series of predictions about his future rebirths.
Being mindful of the continuation of my existence as a deva
I shall obtain another existence, know this sir.
When I have died from this divine form, with the destruction of my non-human life,
Unconfused I will enter into a womb, that delights my mind.
(The commentary to this passage says Sakka will be born into a khattiya clan in the human realm. Entering into womb “unconfused” (amūḷho) means with recollection of the previous life-time).
I with unconfused wisdom, dwell in the teaching delighted.
Rightly I shall abide, with clear comprehension and mindful.
Having fared rightly, if I become awakened (sambodhi)
I shall dwell having known, this will be the end.
(The commentary to this passage says sambodhi refers to the attainment of sakadāgāmi, “once-return”, the second stage of awakening which will be, for Sakka, the end or goal (anto) of his human existence).
When I have died from human form, the human life destroyed
I shall again become a deva, the highest in the deva realm.
(The commentary says this refers to another rebirth as Sakka Devānamindo)
You most excellent devas, the glorious akaniṭṭhas (highest brahmā world)
This shall be my final existence, this shall be my abode.
(The commentary to this passage say that after obtaining anāgāmi, “non-return, the third stage of awakening, as Sakka. he will “go upstream” being born in the Aviha world then passing from there to the Akaniṭṭha realm).610
At the conclusion, it is stated that Sakka attained stream-entry (sotāpatta) during the discourse, together with eighty-thousand devas. In addition, the commentary states that at the conclusion Sakka died but was instantaneously reborn as a new Sakka.611
There are some difficulties of interpretation in the details of Sakka’s predictions. I take the first stanza to be a reference to Sakka’s immediate rebirth which differs from Maurice Walshe612 who translates it in such a way as to imply a human birth. My reading of Sakka’s future career may be summarized as (1) renewed existence as Sakka, (2) a human birth as a khattiya, where he will attain the second stage of awakening, (3) one more life-time as Sakka, during which he will attain third stage, (4) a life-time in the Aviha Pure Abode world and (5) a life-time in the Akiniṭṭha Pure Abode, where he will attain arahantship making an end to renewed existence. There may be other ways to interpret the text, but only in matter of details.
Even after his attainment of stream-entry, Sakka could still be negligent at times as we see in another text, the Cūḷataṇhāsankhaya Sutta:
At one time Sakka came to see the Buddha at Sāvatthī and th
e Buddha taught him the way to liberation through non-clinging. Sakka rejoiced in the Buddha’s words and then vanished from that place. Mahā Moggallāna (the Buddha’s chief disciple skilled in psychic powers) was standing nearby and it occurred to him to wonder, “Did this yakkha understand the Buddha’s words when he rejoiced, or did he not? Suppose I were to find out.”
So, just as a strong man might bend or stretch his arm, Moggallāna vanished from that place and reappeared in Tāvatiṃsa. There Sakka was enjoying himself listening to five hundred heavenly musicians in the Ekapuṇḍarīka (“Single-Lotus”) Pleasure Park. Sakka greeted the arahant warmly and invited him to take his ease on a prepared seat. Upon taking his seat, Moggallāna asked, “Kosiya, (a name of Sakka) could you repeat in brief the discourse the Buddha gave you on the complete destruction of craving? It would be good to hear it.”
“Sir Moggallāna, I am busy and have much to do! I have not only my own business to attend to, but the business of the Thirty-Three. That which was heard well and attended to well, does not vanish so easily. Sir Moggallāna, in the past there was a great war between the devas and the asuras. When the war was concluded with our victory over the asuras, I had the Vejayanta Palace (“the Palace of Victory”) built. Sir Moggallāna, this Palace has one hundred towers. Each tower has seven hundred upper chambers. Within each chamber are seven accharas, each with seven hand-maidens (paricārika). Would you like, Sir Moggallāna, to see this delightful palace?” The venerable Moggallāna consented in silence.
So Sakka together with his favourite vassal, Vessavaṇa, approached the Vejayanta Palace, letting Moggallāna take the place of honour in front. When the hand-maidens in the palace saw Moggallāna approaching they became shy and embarrassed and hid in their inner rooms. The devas led Moggallāna on a tour of the palace, showing him the various pillars of gold, silver, coral, pearl and other precious stones each capped in gold and decorated with figures of snakes. “See how delightful is the Vejayanta Palace!”
Moggallāna remarked, “It is your glory, Kosiya, that you have made such merit in the past. Among men, when something is very delightful they say it is just like in Tāvatiṃsa.” Then the arahant reflected, “This yakkha is living with too much negligence. What if I were to rouse a sense of urgency in him?” Using his accumulation of psychic power (iddhābhisaṅkhāraṃ) Moggallāna struck the base of the palace with his big toe, causing the whole structure to shake and tremble and wobble. Sakka and Vessavaṇa were amazed, “It is wonderful, it is marvellous that this samaṇa of great power and majesty can cause this place of the devas to shake and tremble and wobble with his toe!”
Then Moggallāna, seeing that Sakka was awe-struck with his hair standing on end, repeated his question, “What was the teaching the Buddha gave to you?” and this time the king of the devas answered in full. When Moggallāna was satisfied, he departed back to the human realm. Some of the devas standing nearby asked Sakka, “Sir, was that your teacher, the Buddha?” “No indeed, that was Mahā Moggallāna one of my fellows in the holy life (sabrahmacārī).613
The fact that Sakka refers to Moggallāna at the end as one of his sabrahmacārī may be significant. Usually brahmacāri refers to a celibate spiritual seeker, which Sakka was certainly not. Most likely, it refers to the fellowship of those who have attained to one of the stages of liberation, which would indicate that this sutta occurs after Sakka became a sotāpanna. Note also that Moggallāna is hardly in awe of Sakka, referring to him more than once as “this yakkha.” Once again this story reveals a very recognizable “human” side of Sakka Devānamindo. After listening to a Dhamma talk, on the elimination of craving no less, he is next seen taking his ease surrounded by musicians and dancing-girls and when asked about the discourse replies to the effect that “I’m a busy man. I’ll get around to it.”
One of the final meetings of the Buddha and Sakka is found in a Dhammapāda story:
About ten months before his parinibbāna (death) the Buddha was at Veluvagāma. There, he was stricken with bloody diarrhoea. Sakka became aware of this and thought: “My teacher is ill, and in need of service. It would be good for me to help him.” Giving up his three gāvuta body, Sakka approached the Buddha’s body in the form of a human and massaged his hands and feet.
“Who is there?” asked the Buddha.
“Bhante, it is I, Sakka.”
“Why have you come here?”
“To serve you in your illness, Bhante.”
“Sakka, to the devas the smell of humans from even one hundred yojana away is like having a putrid corpse tied to their necks. You should go away. There are many bhikkhus to act as my nurses.”
“Bhante, even standing eighty-four thousand yojana away614 the scent of your virtue can be smelled. I will nurse you.”
So Sakka cleaned the bodily discharges of the Buddha with his own hand, nor did he turn away his head or make an unpleasant face as if disgusted. After serving the Buddha’s bodily needs for a suitable time, he went back to his own place.
The bhikkhus were amazed that the king of the devas had served the Buddha in this fashion, and remarked at the great affection he must have for his teacher. The Buddha said that indeed he does have great affection. The Buddha recounted for the bhikkhus the time when Sakka, in fear of his imminent death, had come to see him in the Indasāla cave and as a result of hearing the teachings, he attained to stream-entry and was instantly reborn as a young Sakka. (Dhp-a 15: 8)
When the Buddha passed into his final nibbāna, Sakka was there together with a great host of other devas. After the Buddha passed, Sakka spoke a simple and beautiful stanza that has ever since been an integral part of Buddhist funeral chanting:
Aniccā vata saṅkhārā, uppādavayadhammino.
Uppajjitvā nirujjhanti, tesaṃ vūpasamo sukho.
Impermanent, alas, are compounded things. it is the nature of things to arise and pass away.
Having come into existence they cease. Their appeasement is the highest bliss. (DN 16)
3:5:17 OTHER GREAT DEVAS OF TĀVATIṂSA
Sakka is the only deva of Tāvatiṃsa for whom we have such rich source material and for whom we can sketch a multi-faceted character. The rest are for the most part little more than names in various lists.
The Dhajagga Sutta (SN 11:3) says that when the devas are in battle with the asuras, should fear arise they are instructed to look up at the crest of Sakka’s standard to give them courage. Should they be unable to see the crest of Sakka’s standard, they should look to the crest of Pajāpati’s standard, failing that, the crest of Varuṇa’s standard, then Īsāna’s. The commentary to this passage says that these three, Pajāpati, Varuṇa and Īsāna occupy the second, third and fourth places in the council of the devas. They are called “devarājas” and Pājapati is said to be similar to Sakka in appearance and age. This is the only passage in which we can with any confidence name any of the Thirty-Three ruling devas besides Sakka himself.
These three are all derived from important deities of the Vedic period. Pajāpati (Sanskrit Prājapati) was a figure identified as involved in the creation of the world. Already in the pre-Buddhist period an ambiguous figure, Prajapāti in some versions of his story was the primeval sacrificial victim from whose dismembered body the world was made (Barnett 1923: 48 f.). Varuṇa was the supreme law-giver, and in very early times may have been the supreme god (Wallis 1887: 97). Īsāna is in the Vedas an epithet of Rudra, who is an early form of Shiva. In one myth he is the slayer of Prajāpati (Barnett 1923: 57 f.)
However important and powerful these deities were in the pre-Buddhist conception, the versions of them found in the Pali sources are thoroughly domesticated. There is no trace of their roles as creators or law-givers or dispensers of justice, Pajāpati and the others now take their seats below Sakka in the Sudhamma Hall and we never hear their individual voices. Some remnant of their association with brahminical religion is sometimes found when they are cited in various lists. For instance, in the Tevijja Sutta (DN 13) the Buddh
a is critiquing brahminical practice and cites in one place the gods to whom they pray:
“We invoke Inda, Soma, Varuṇa, Īsāna, Pajāpati, Brahmā, Mahiddhi, Yama.”
In the Jayadissa Jātaka (Jāt 513) a king and queen afraid that their beloved son is about to be eaten by a yakkha utter a prayer for his salvation, calling on various deities:
“Soma and King (rājā) Varuṇa and King Pajāpatī and Candimā and Sūriya.”
In the Bhūridatta Jātaka (Jāt 543) a brahmin explaining his religion says that various deities attained to that state through having performed sacrifice in the past, he names:
“Dhātā, Vidhātā, Varuṇa, Kuvera, Soma, Yama, Candimā and Sūriya”
As a final example, in the Vessantara Jātaka (Jāt 547) various deities are named as rejoicing in King Vessantara’s great acts of giving:
“They rejoiced, Inda and Brahmā, Pajāpati, Soma, Yama and Vessavaṇa. All the devas of Tāvatiṃsa rejoiced, together with Inda.”
Note that whenever he is mentioned in these lists, Sakka is always called “Inda” which reinforces the Vedic origin of this whole pantheon.
The name Pajāpati means either “lord of beings” or “rich in progeny” (PED). In a couple of places, both in the Majjhima Nikāya, Pajāpati is named in a context which implies the name may simply be a reference to a generic powerful deity. Both of these texts are associated with criticism of wrong views. The Mūlapariyāya Sutta (MN 1) is a difficult philosophic sutta where the Buddha explains how ordinary beings perceive (sañjānāti) and then conceive (maññati) various categories of objects ultimately leading to false views concerning a self. The same formula is repeated for the perception of earth, water, fire and air, then beings (bhūtā), devas, Pajāpati, Brahmā, then various classes of brahmā gods, then various conceptual categories beginning with the immaterial bases and the six senses. The commentary to this passage asserts that Pajāpati here refers to Māra because he might be considered the overlord of all the devas. This seems somewhat unlikely, but it does indicate that the concept of Pajāpati is a vague and elusive one.
The Buddhist Cosmos Page 47