12th April

102. These seven conditions overwhelm an angry man or woman and are gratifying and helpful to their rival. What seven? One may wish of a rival: ‘May he be ugly!’ And why? Because one does not like a handsome rival. Overwhelmed and undermined by anger that person becomes ugly despite being well bathed and perfumed, with hair and beard trimmed and dressed in clean clothes.

Then one may wish this of a rival: ‘I hope he sleeps badly!’ And why? Because one does not like a rival to sleep well. Overwhelmed and undermined by anger that person sleeps badly even though he is lying on a bed spread with fleecy cover, spread with white blankets and woolen cover embroidered with flowers, covered by an antelope skin, with awning above and red cushions at each end.

Then one may wish this of a rival: ‘I hope he is a failure!’ And why? Because one does not like a rival to be successful. Overwhelmed and undermined by anger that person gets everything mixed up. When he succeeds, he thinks he has failed and when he fails, he thinks he has succeeded because he is overwhelmed by anger.

Again, one may wish this of a rival: ‘I hope he becomes poor!’ And why? Because one does not like a rich rival. Overwhelmed and undermined by anger that person becomes poor because whatever wealth he has acquired by energetic striving, won by strength of arm and sweat of brow, justly and lawfully, the king will order it all sent to the royal treasury because he is overwhelmed by anger.

Once again, one may wish this of a rival: ‘I hope he was without fame!’ And why? Because one does not like a famous rival. Overwhelmed and undermined by anger, whatever reputation that person has earned falls away because he is overwhelmed by anger.

Again, one may wish this of a rival: ‘I hope he is friendless!’ And why? Because one does not like a rival with friends. Overwhelmed and undermined by anger, whatever friends, intimates, relatives and kin that person has will all avoid him and keep away from him because he is overwhelmed by anger.

And finally, one may wish this of a rival: ‘I hope he goes to hell!’ And why? Because one does not like a rival to go to heaven. Overwhelmed and undermined by anger, that person misconducts himself in body, speech, and mind and thus goes to hell himself. These are the seven conditions that overwhelm an angry man or woman and are gratifying and helpful to their rival.

A.IV,94 (AN 7.64)