THE AṅGULIMĀLA-SUTTA: THE POWER OF THE FOURTH KAMMA

Abstract

This paper examines the difference in the content (stories and teachings) between the Aṅgulimāla-sutta and the Pali commentaries on it. It presents several scholarly opinions of the purpose and relevance of the commentariesas well as on the meaning of the sutta. Commentarial and other retellings of the Aṅgulimāla story are discussed to show the evolution of Aṅgulimālafrom abrutal killer to a fundamentally good person trapped into wrong doing. These retellings alter the role of kamma in the story and thus alter the teaching of the sutta itself. The paper speculates on the functioning of kamma in light of the four types of kamma and how the commentaries change the kamma of Aṅgulimāla and thus the meaning and goal of the original sutta. Thus the commentaries do not explain the meaning ofsutta rather it changes it.The paperargues that the sutta teaches a swift jhānic path to enlightenment and the commentaries teach a gradual kammic path to enlightenment.