Sacred Texts: Buddhism

Buddhism in Translations - § 93. The Anger-Eating Demon.

Henry Clarke WarrenPali Canon TranslationsTheravada Buddhism

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This is a short Buddhist canonical text — a parable extracted from the Pali Samyutta-Nikaya, one of the foundational collections of the Theravada canon. The Buddha narrates a fable to his monks in which a demonic figure takes Sakka's (Indra's) throne in the realm of the gods; the demon literally feeds on anger and grows stronger and more beautiful the more the assembled gods rage at his presence. The central turn comes when Sakka, rather than confronting the demon with force or indignation, responds with deliberate humility and calm self-announcement, causing the demon to wither and vanish. The text's argument is thus concrete and behavioral: anger nourishes what it opposes, while equanimity and non-reactivity dissolve the threat entirely. Distinctively, the teaching is dramatized through a supernatural scenario set in the divine realm rather than among humans, lending it a cosmic scale while keeping the moral practical. Sakka's closing verses make the lesson explicit — the ideal disposition is one where anger finds no foothold and self-restraint serves long-term spiritual welfare.

Buddhism in Translations - § 93. The Anger-Eating Demon.

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