Aṅguttara-Nikāya
III. Tika Nipāta
XI. Sambodhi Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
or
More-Numbered Suttas
III. The Book of the Threes
XI. Enlightenment
Sutta 107
Paṭhama Nidāna Suttaɱ
Three Causes (a)[1]
Translated from the Pali by
F.L. Woodward, M.A.
Copyright The Pali Text Society
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Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī.
There the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks."
"Yes, lord," they replied,
and the Exalted One said:
Nidānās, something from which something originates, begins — not cause. Down-bound: things to which kamma is bound. If lust were a cause, it would always cause, there would be no escape from kamma. Lust arises and is intentionally abandoned, got rid of, exterminated, ended, understood to such a degree as to cause detachment from it, to stop it in it's tracks, to see it coming before it arises and thereby to end kamma.
— p.p.
"Monks, there are these three causes
of the origin of actions.
What three?
Lust is a cause of the origin of actions.
Malice is a cause of the origin of actions.
Delusion is a cause of the origin of actions.
An action done in lust,
born of lust,
caused by lust,
originated by lust
is not profitable:
it is blameworthy,
it has sorrow for its result,
it conduces to the arising of (further) action,
not to the ceasing of action.
An action done with malice,
born of malice,
caused by malice,
originated by malice
is not profitable:
it is blameworthy,
it has sorrow for its result,
it conduces to the arising of (further) action,
not to the ceasing of action.
An action done in delusion,
born of delusion,
caused by delusion,
originated by delusion
is not profitable:
it is blameworthy,
it has sorrow for its result,
it conduces to the arising of (further) action,
not to the ceasing of action.
These, monks, are the three causes of action."
[1] Nidānāni = kāraṇāni. Comy. (which accumulate actions leading to the round of rebirth). Cf. text 134 f.
