What are the karmic consequences of attacking a bodhisattva?

That’s a profound question. In Buddhism, especially Mahāyāna traditions where bodhisattvas hold a central role, attacking or harming a holy bodhisattva is considered extremely serious because of who a bodhisattva is and what they represent.

Here are some perspectives from traditional sources and commentary:

1. Karmic consequences

• Harming any being already creates negative karma. Harming a bodhisattva magnifies this exponentially because bodhisattvas are beings dedicated to liberating countless sentient beings.
• Some texts say that attacking a bodhisattva creates karmic obstacles so great they can lead to rebirth in lower realms (hell, hungry ghost, animal) because the act is equivalent to obstructing the liberation of countless beings.
• Since bodhisattvas are motivated by compassion, the attack is not only against them but symbolically against compassion, wisdom, and the Dharma itself.

2. Spiritual consequences

• Hurting a bodhisattva creates a deep karmic link, but in a very twisted way. Instead of receiving their blessings, one receives the karmic backlash of rejecting compassion.
• However, because bodhisattvas are said to respond with compassion and forgiveness, they may not generate anger toward the attacker — the harm rebounds primarily on the attacker’s own karmic stream.
• In some Mahāyāna texts (like the Lotus Sutra), those who slander, insult, or attack bodhisattvas and teachers of the Dharma are said to incur very long-term karmic consequences.

3. Relative vs. ultimate perspective

• Relative truth: Attacking a holy bodhisattva creates immense negative karma.
• Ultimate truth: From the bodhisattva’s view, there is no self to be harmed and no enemy to retaliate against. They see the attacker with compassion, as a being deeply trapped in ignorance, sowing seeds of suffering for themselves.

4. Possible eventual benefit

Paradoxically, Buddhist traditions sometimes note that even hostile contact with a bodhisattva can plant seeds of liberation, because it forges a karmic connection. But this doesn’t cancel the heavy negative karma created in the short term.

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 Summary: Attacking a holy bodhisattva is seen as creating extremely heavy negative karma, obstructing one’s own spiritual progress, and causing long-term suffering. Yet, because bodhisattvas respond only with compassion, they may still eventually guide the attacker toward liberation — but after much karmic purification.