Much appreciation to Tenzin‘s queries into the story of Queen Mallika’s rebirth that I share in class, it got me piqued and first thing when I got to the library, I checked up on the section from the text “Great Disciples of the Buddha“, page 262 – 263.
I made a mistake in missing out the part that Queen Mallika’s rebirth in hell was due to a “twofold transgression”, “1) her sexual contact with the dog and 2) her mendacious attempt to free herself from blame”, and not merely due to bestiality.
My sincere apologies for the forgetful omission. See picture below for reference.
May this clarify and lead to right understanding. Sabbe satta sukhita hontu!
References
- Great Disciples of the Buddha in Amazon.com
- Reference of this incident found in the Dhammapad. Search for “Queen Mallikā” in the link below.
http://blogs.cf.ac.uk/birthstories/entry/birth_stories_in_the_dhammapada