Sakka, Lord of the Godsperson

The Buddha teaches Sakka that liberation comes from realizing “nothing is worth holding on to.” To cure Sakka's divine negligence, Mahāmoggallāna shakes Sakka's heavenly mansion with his toe, prompting the deity to correctly recall the teaching.

The young deity Māgha asks the Buddha in a verse on what to cut off to sleep with ease and grieve no more. The Buddha advises to cut off anger.

When a victorious lord of the devas endures a captured enemy's insults with perfect calm, his charioteer questions his strength.

The Buddha answers Sakka’s question on the causes and supporting conditions whereby some beings do not attain Nibbāna in this very life and some beings do attain Nibbāna in this very life.

The Buddha compares the senses of an uninstructed person to a sheaf of barley thrashed by six flails at a crossroads—and a seventh flail if they seek future existence. Using the parable of the captive asura lord Vepacitti, whose bonds tightened or vanished based solely on his thoughts, the Buddha illustrates how conceiving “I am” is a subtle, subjective trap.

The Buddha shares the immense fruits of developing a mind of loving-kindness for seven years, detailing his past lives as Mahābrahmā, Sakka, and a wheel-turning monarch ruling by the Dhamma.

Emerging from collectedness, venerable Mahākassapa goes for an alms round among the destitute. However, Sakka, lord of the gods, disguises himself as a weaver to trick the elder into accepting his offering.

The Buddha’s final journey from Rājagaha to Kusinārā, detailing the conditions for non-decline, his illness and relinquishment of the life force, his last instructions to the Saṅgha, his final Nibbāna between the twin sāla trees, the cremation, and the distribution of the relics.

Why do beings who long to live at peace constantly fall into conflict and hostility? Visiting the Buddha in a secluded mountain cave, Sakka, king of the gods, poses this timeless riddle.