Being born in India, one is often taught to do the right things in the right spirit without expecting immediate rewards. Cause and effect are not always visible in our short-term observations. My father advised me throughout my life not to sit idle, to avoid obsessive thinking, and to keep trying even when success seemed elusive. For him, while certain goals may be destined, our actions can still shape outcomes through a complex and mysterious process. This idea lies at the heart of one of Buddhism’s most powerful teachings: every action has consequences. This principle, known as karma, asserts that what people do, whether good or bad eventually returns to them. Karma is not merely a system of reward and punishment. It is a moral law of cause and effect that shapes human life across time and even across multiple lifetimes.
An ancient Buddhist story preserved in the early texts illustrates this profound idea through the tragic yet enlightening account of Moggallana, one of the Buddha’s closest disciples. The narrative begins with a clear warning: anyone who harms innocent people or mistreats those who have done nothing wrong will eventually face serious consequences. These may include illness, loss of wealth, mental anguish, destruction of family, punishment by authorities, or even rebirth in hellish realms. The message is both simple and powerful: injustice and cruelty always carry repercussions.
Moggallana was revered for his wisdom and extraordinary spiritual powers. According to the story, he could visit heavenly worlds and hellish realms. After witnessing how beings were reborn according to their actions, he would return to teach ordinary people about the fruits of good and bad deeds. He explained how generosity, kindness, and moral conduct lead to happiness and peace, while greed, violence, and selfishness result in suffering. His teachings inspired many to support the Buddhist monks with gifts and offerings. As Buddhism gained popularity, rival religious groups grew jealous of Moggallana’s growing influence.
Determined to undermine the Buddha’s community, a group of rival ascetics hired thieves to murder Moggallana. They believed that eliminating him would stop people from supporting the monks. The assassins tracked him to the forest where he lived and attempted to capture him on several occasions. However, Moggallana escaped each time using his miraculous spiritual powers. Once, he slipped through the keyhole of a house; another time, he flew through the roof and vanished into the sky. For two months, the thieves failed repeatedly. Then, in the third month, Moggallana realized that the effects of a terrible deed from one of his previous lives were finally catching up with him. He understood that it was time to stop evading the consequences of his past karma.
Eventually, the thieves caught him. They attacked him brutally, beating him severely and shattering his bones, leaving him on the brink of death. Believing him dead, they discarded his body in the forest and fled. Even in that dire condition, Moggallana summoned his meditative strength and inner resolve to visit the Buddha one final time. He bowed before his teacher and announced that he was about to attain Nirvana, the final liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth. Before passing away, he delivered the Buddhist teachings once more and then peacefully entered Nirvana.
News of the murder spread rapidly across the kingdom. King Ajatasatru ordered a thorough investigation. The thieves were eventually caught after they drunkenly argued about the crime in a tavern. They confessed that the rival ascetics had paid them to kill Moggallana. The king punished both the murderers and the instigators harshly.
When the monks later discussed the tragedy, many felt that Moggallana’s violent death was unfair. After all, he was a holy man and one of the Buddha’s most accomplished disciples. Why should such a person suffer so terribly? The Buddha then revealed the deeper truth behind the event. Although Moggallana was innocent in his present life, the suffering he endured stemmed from a horrific crime he had committed many lifetimes earlier.
In that distant past life, Moggallana had been born as a devoted son who cared deeply for his elderly parents. He cooked for them, worked for them, and attended to their needs personally. His love was so profound that he initially refused to marry, fearing it might interfere with his duty toward them. Eventually, his parents arranged a marriage for him. At first, his wife treated the elderly couple with respect. However, she soon grew irritated by their presence and began complaining constantly. She told her husband that she could no longer live in the same house with them.
To turn him against his parents, she scattered dirt and rubbish around the house and blamed the old couple for the mess. Day after day, she poisoned her husband’s mind with anger and resentment. Gradually, the once-loving son began to change. Finally, he resolved to eliminate his parents.
One day, he placed them in a cart, claiming he was taking them to visit relatives. Instead, he drove them deep into a forest. There, he pretended that robbers were nearby by shouting loudly and creating frightening noises. His terrified parents begged him to save himself and flee. But rather than protecting them, he pretended to be one of the robbers and beat his own parents to death. He abandoned their bodies in the forest and returned home alone.
According to the Buddha, this heinous act created powerful karma that followed Moggallana across many lifetimes. He endured immense suffering in hellish realms as a direct result of murdering his parents. Even after that retribution ended, the karma was not fully exhausted. In subsequent lives, he experienced violent deaths that mirrored his original crime.
The story underscores a fundamental Buddhist belief: no action disappears without consequences. Karma may take years, lifetimes, or even eons to ripen, but eventually every action bears fruit. Beneficial actions generate happiness, while harmful ones produce suffering.
At the same time, Buddhism does not promote despair or fatalism. Although Moggallana could not entirely escape the consequences of his past deeds, he transformed himself through wisdom, meditation, and compassion. He rose to become one of the Buddha’s greatest disciples and attained enlightenment. This demonstrates that human beings are not eternally trapped by their mistakes. Through right action and self-awareness, people always retain the capacity to change their trajectory.
The story also serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of anger, manipulation, and compromised moral judgment. Moggallana’s downfall in his past life began gradually. Under constant emotional pressure from his wife, he slowly abandoned compassion and committed an unthinkable crime. Even inherently good people can fall if they lose their moral clarity.
In today’s world, the teachings of karma remain profoundly relevant. Violence, dishonesty, greed, and hatred continue to generate widespread suffering. Buddhism reminds us that our actions affect not only others but also ourselves in profound ways. Kindness, truthfulness, and compassion foster peace, while cruelty inevitably returns to the one who initiates it.
The story of Moggallana is far more than an ancient religious narrative. It is a timeless reflection on human responsibility and moral consequence. It teaches that every action matters, every choice shapes the future, and no deed is ever truly forgotten. The cycle of karma explains both the roots of suffering and the path to hope. Harmful actions bind us to the wheel of suffering, while wisdom and compassion lead toward freedom. The ultimate goal in Buddhism is to break free from this endless cycle and attain lasting peace through enlightenment.
Even after thousands of years, this message endures. The way we live today directly shapes the life we will experience tomorrow.
Dr. Bishnupada Sethi
The author is the Chairman of OFDC and Chief Administrator of KBK districts of Odisha.
