Nests: a past life story

Mātali, don’t ram the bird nests*Apart from a couple of variant readings, this verse is identical with that from SN 11.6. | In Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, Mātali is the charioteer of Indra/Sakka. Here Sakka is telling him not to harm the nests, acknowledging the unacceptable ecological damage of warfare. | The commentary interprets kulāvakā as “nestlings”, but it refers rather to the “nests”.in the red silk-cotton woods with your draft-pole.I’d rather give up our lives to the titansthan deprive these birds of their nests.

“Kulāvakā mātali simbalismiṁ, Īsāmukhena parivajjayassu; Kāmaṁ cajāma asuresu pāṇaṁ, Māme dijā vikkulāvā ahesun”ti. *vikkulāvā → māyime dijā vikulāvā (bj, sya1ed, sya2ed, pts-vp-pli1); mā me dijā vikkulavā (csp1ed)

Mātali, don’t ram the bird nests*Apart from a couple of variant readings, this verse is identical with that from SN 11.6. | In Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, Mātali is the charioteer of Indra/Sakka. Here Sakka is telling him not to harm the nests, acknowledging the unacceptable ecological damage of warfare. | The commentary interprets kulāvakā as “nestlings”, but it refers rather to the “nests”.“Kulāvakā mātali simbalismiṁ, in the red silk-cotton woods with your draft-pole.Īsāmukhena parivajjayassu; I’d rather give up our lives to the titansKāmaṁ cajāma asuresu pāṇaṁ, than deprive these birds of their nests.Māme dijā vikkulāvā ahesun”ti. *vikkulāvā → māyime dijā vikulāvā (bj, sya1ed, sya2ed, pts-vp-pli1); mā me dijā vikkulavā (csp1ed)