While at Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke about Monk Tissa, his maternal aunt’s son. Tissa became a monk in old age but posed as a senior monk and enjoyed being served by visiting monks. (note: The seniority of a monk depends on the length of their monkhood and not on their birth age)

However, he neglected his duties as a junior monk and often quarreled with younger monks. When they reprimanded him, he would complain to the Buddha, weeping and claiming that he was being bullied.

Once, after Tissa came to him upset, the Buddha asked why. Tissa claimed the other monks were abusing him. The Buddha questioned him about his conduct, revealing Tissa’s failure to greet or assist the other monks as expected of a junior. Despite being at fault, Tissa refused to apologize. The Buddha reminded the monks that Tissa had been similarly obstinate in a past life, and he shared the story:

In a past life, two wandering ascetics named Devala (Tissa) and Narada were lodging at a common hall for the night. In the middle of the night, Nārada accidentally stepped on Devala’s hair while leaving the room. This was because Devala was blocking the way in his sleep and it was too dark for Nārada to notice. Moreover, Narada did not expect Devala to be lying in the middle of the room. Nonetheless, this incident caused Devala (Tissa) great distress because being trodden on the head was deemed very disrespectful. Narada apologized profusely to Devala before leaving the room.

Later on, when Narada was returning, he took extra care to walk the other way to prevent the same mistake. But unknown to him, Devala had also shifted position to avoid being trodden upon. This resulted in a second incident whereby Narada accidentally stepped on Devala’s neck!

Devala became enraged, convinced that Narada was doing that intentionally. Despite Narada’s earnest explaination and apologies, Devala refused to believe him and cursed Nārada. Since Devala was wrong in his assumption, his curse backfired on him.

The Buddha revealed that Devala was Tissa in a previous life and urged the monks to abandon enmity, as only kindness can overcome hostility.

Thus Buddha offered the following advice in Dammapada verse 3 and 4

Verse 3: “He abused me, he ill-treated me, he got the better of me, he stole my belongings;”… the enmity of those harbouring such thoughts cannot be appeased.

Verse 4: “He abused me, he ill-treated me, he got the better of me, he stole my belongings;”… the enmity of those not harbouring such thoughts can be appeased.

Reflection:

Devala shows how easily we can fall into the trap of resentment when we refuse to forgive, even when others offer sincere apologies. His anger blinded him to reason, causing him to lash out in ways that ultimately harmed him. This serves as a powerful reminder that clinging to thoughts of being wronged only deepens our suffering.

The Buddha’s wisdom, captured in the verses from the Dhammapada, invites us to reflect on our own lives. When we hold onto grievances—”He abused me, he wronged me”—we fuel our enmity, allowing it to grow and control us.

But when we let go of these thoughts, we create space for peace and understanding to flourish. True freedom lies in releasing the heavy burden of resentment and replacing it with kindness and forgiveness.

Otherwise, animosity will eat away at us, cloud our perceptions, and our world becomes filled with hostility.

May all be well and happy.