Yodhājīva Sutta
1. Yodhājīva Sutta.– Records the visit of the headman Yodhājīva to the Buddha. S.iv.308.
A headman (gāmaṇī) visits the Buddha and asks if it is true that men who fall fighting in battle are reborn among the Parajita devā.
At first the Buddha refused to answer the question, but finding that Yodhājīva insisted, explained to him that fighting men were reborn after death either in the Parajita niraya or among animals.
The headman became the Buddha’s follower.¹ S.iv.308.
¹ The Hatthāroha Sutta (S.iv.309) and Assāroha Sutta (S.iv.310), which follow the Yodhājīva Sutta, are very similar. The PTS dictionary gives “jockey” for the translation of Assāroha, but the context is clearly about the destiny of those killed while striving in battle (saṅgāme ussahati vāyamati), as for the preceding discourse. So these two questioners must be soldiers of the elephant and horse calvary (ed.)
2. Yodhājīva Sutta.– On five kinds of warriors: those who are frightened by a cloud of dust, by the sight of a flag, by tumult, by conflict, and those who fight victoriously; and on five similar kinds of monks. A.iii.87 f.
3. Yodhājīva Sutta.– On five kinds of warriors: those who go down into the thick of the fight where they are overpowered, those who are wounded and die on the way to their home, those who survive for some time but die of their wounds, those who are cured of their wounds, those that are victorious in battle and continue to fight. There are five corresponding kinds of monks. A.iii.94 ff.