Kp 7 - Khp 7 Tirokuḍḍa Kaṇḍa — (Hungry Ghosts) Outside the Walls
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Khp/khp7.html
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Publisher references (not part of the sutta): See also: MN 82; AN 10:166
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

Khp 7. Tirokuḍḍa Kaṇḍa — (Hungry Ghosts) Outside the Walls

This passage is identical with Pv 1:5.

Outside the walls they stand,
    & at crossroads.
At doorposts they stand,
    returning to their old homes.
But when a meal with plentiful food & drink is served,
    no one remembers them:
Such is the kamma of living beings.

So those who feel sympathy for their dead relatives
give timely donations of proper food & drink
    —exquisite, clean—
[thinking:]
        “May this be for our relatives.
        May our relatives be happy!”

And those who have gathered there,
    the assembled shades of the relatives,
with appreciation, give their blessing
for the plentiful food & drink:
    “May our relatives live long
    because of whom we have gained [this gift].
    We have been honored,
    and the donors are not without reward!”

For there [in their realm] there’s
    no farming,
    no herding of cattle,
    no commerce,
    no trading with money.
They live on what is given here,
    hungry ghosts
    whose time here is done.

As water raining on a hill
flows down to the valley,
    even so does what is given here
    benefit the dead.1
As rivers full of water
fill the ocean full,
even so does what is given here
benefit the dead.

“He gave to me, she acted on my behalf,
    they were my relatives, companions, friends”:
Offerings should be given for the dead
when one reflects thus
on things done in the past.
For
    no weeping,
    no sorrowing
    no other lamentation
        benefits the dead
        whose relatives persist in that way.
But when this offering is given,
well-placed in the Saṅgha,
it works for their long-term benefit
and they profit immediately.

In this way
        the proper duty to relatives has been shown,
        great honor has been done to the dead,
        and monks have been given strength:

    The merit you’ve acquired
        isn’t small.2

Notes

1. In modern Theravāda merit-making ceremonies, this sentence is the first to be chanted when monks rejoice in the merit of the donors.

2. This passage—beginning with “He gave to me…”—is often chanted when donors are dedicating merit to the recently deceased.