Hi Jittananto, would first of all like to thank you for sharing all these stories, I take great joy in reading them.
May I know what are the sources of these stories? Am i able to find them in the tipitaka/ find their suttas, or who are they written by? When i look into sutta central for Dhammapada verse 182, there is no story, only the quoted verse.
I am curious to look into their pali- english translation. For example, in the story you sent of the Naga King, they translate “kukkucha” as worry. They give the context given later:
”On seeing the Buddha, Erakapatta related to the Buddha how he had been a bhikkhu during the time of Kassapa Buddha, how he had accidentally caused a grass blade to be broken off while travelling in a boat, and how he had worried over that little offence for having failed to do the act of exoneration as prescribed, and finally how he was reborn as a naga.”
From here, “worry” seems to be an appropriate word to use.
However, in Key to Calming the Mind – Five Hindrances, Lal translates kukkucha as “the tendency to do lowly things such as mistreating others.