The Buddha teaches a repeated formula on the four noble truths—suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the practice leading to its cessation—regarding dying as ghosts and reborn as gods in this grouped discourse.
PTS 5.476–5.477… “Evameva kho, bhikkhave, appakā te sattā ye pettivisayā cutā devesu paccājāyanti; atha kho eteva bahutarā sattā ye pettivisayā cutā niraye paccājāyanti …pe…
evameva kho, bhikkhave, appakā te sattā ye pettivisayā cutā devesu paccājāyanti; atha kho eteva bahutarā sattā ye pettivisayā cutā tiracchānayoniyā paccājāyanti …pe….
Ekūnatiṁsatimaṁ.
Reference Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0).
… “Evameva kho, bhikkhave, appakā te sattā ye pettivisayā cutā devesu paccājāyanti; atha kho eteva bahutarā sattā ye pettivisayā cutā niraye paccājāyanti …pe…
“… the sentient beings who die as ghosts and are reborn as gods are few, while those who die as ghosts and are reborn in hell are many.”
evameva kho, bhikkhave, appakā te sattā ye pettivisayā cutā devesu paccājāyanti; atha kho eteva bahutarā sattā ye pettivisayā cutā tiracchānayoniyā paccājāyanti …pe….
“… the sentient beings who die as ghosts and are reborn as gods are few, while those who die as ghosts and are reborn in the animal realm are many.”
Ekūnatiṁsatimaṁ.
Last updated on September 10, 2026