Commentary on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (157)

The Karmic Retribution of Feeling Anger and Distress in a Dream over Bitter-Tasting Food

Original text: 佛言大王。如是如是。愚夫异生。梦为饥逼。啖其苦味。心生恚恼。造是业行。身三语四。意三种行。造彼业已。即便灭谢。是业灭已。不依东方。南西北方。四维上下。中间而住。最后边际。命根灭时。自分业。报皆悉现前。犹如梦。觉念梦中事。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, it is indeed so. Foolish ordinary beings (pṛthagjana), when pressed by hunger in a dream, eat food of bitter taste, and their minds give rise to anger and distress, thereby creating unwholesome karmic actions—three kinds of bodily action, four kinds of verbal action, and three kinds of mental action. From the moment these actions are first committed, the karmic formations cease moment by instant as they are being made. After these karmic formations cease, they do not abide depending on the east, west, south, or north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or anywhere in between. However, when life is approaching its final end and the life faculty ceases, the karmic retribution of the actions one has created in this very life all manifest in full—just like waking from a dream and still recollecting the events within the dream.