Petavatthu

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{{Short description|Buddhist scriptures in Pāli Canon}}

{{TheravadaBuddhism}}{{PaliCanon|sutta}}

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The Petavatthu ({{lit|Ghost Stories}}){{sfnp|Sayers|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3AOBwiZBjRMC&pg=PA91 91]}} is a Theravada Buddhist scripture, included in the Minor Collection (Khuddaka Nikaya) of the Pali Canon's Sutta Pitaka. It ostensibly reports stories about and conversations among the Buddha and his disciples, and it dates to about 300{{nbsp}}BC at the earliest.{{harvp|Langer|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dXB9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT276 276]}}. It is composed of 51 verse narratives describing specifically how the effects of bad acts can lead to rebirth into the unhappy world of petas (ghosts) in the doctrine of kamma.{{cite web

|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/pv/index.html

|title=Petavatthu – Stories of a Hungry Ghost

|publisher=

|accessdate=2007-02-01

}} More importantly, it details how meritorious actions by the living can benefit such suffering beings.

The scripture also includes the story of Mahā Moggallāna helping Sāriputta's mother from her previous life in the hungry ghost realm, his discussions with hungry ghosts, and his understanding of the realm.{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/13576275.2013.843512 | volume=18 | issue=4 | title=Buddhist funeral cultures of Southeast Asia and China | journal=Mortality | pages=388–389| year=2013 | last1=Pearce | first1=Callum | s2cid=144383079 }}{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeBL7ci3MKoC |title = Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Traditions of South and Southeast Asia|isbn = 9788120818125|last1 = Schober|first1 = Juliane|year = 2002| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/hecker/wheel263.html|title=Maha-Moggallana|website=www.accesstoinsight.org}} Before being born as a ghost, Sāriputta's mother was born in the hell realm. It also includes a story of how making offerings to the monks as a form of merit-making to increase the chance of a hungry ghost being reborn as a higher being.

The scripture gave prominence to the doctrine that giving alms to monks may benefit the ghosts of one's relatives seen in the Hungry Ghost Festival and ceremonies conducted in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Laos.{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/other-religious-beliefs-and-general-terms/religion-general/ancestors#3402600030|title=Ancestors | Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com}} While regarded by scholars as a later text with relatively little doctrinal content or literary merit, the Petavatthu and a similar text, the Vimānavatthu, became popular sources for sermons due to the narratives on the effects of kamma contained in their commentaries.Skilling, Peter. “Scriptural Authenticity and the Śrāvaka Schools: An Essay towards an Indian Perspective.” The Eastern Buddhist, vol. 41, no. 2, 2010, pp. 1–47. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44362554. Accessed 25 Feb. 2020.