The Petavatthu contains 51 poems, each explaining how unwholesome deeds led to the rebirth of a being into the miserable realm of the "hungry ghosts" (peta).
The translator appears in the square brackets [].
Selected suttas
- Pv 1.5: Tirokudda Kanda — Hungry Shades Outside the Walls
{Pv 14-25}
[Thanissaro].
Some of your ancestors and deceased loved ones may have been reborn as hungry ghosts, no longer able to fend for themselves. In this poem the Buddha explains that it is to your long-term benefit — and to theirs — that you honor their memory with gifts.
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Last revised for Access to Insight on 2 November 2013.
How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Petavatthu: Stories of the Hungry Ghosts", edited by Access to Insight. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 2 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/pv/index.html .