Index of the Suttas of the
Saṃyutta Nikāya
Khandha Vagga,
Okkantika Saṃyutta
III. Khandha Vagga
PTS: Saṃyutta Nikāya Volume 3, Khandha Vagga ed. by M. Léon Feer, London: Pāḷi Text Society 1890. The html formatted Pāḷi Text Society edition of the Pāḷi text.
BJT: Saṃyutta Nikāya Volume 3, Khandha Vagga The Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series Pāḷi text.
The Pāḷi text for individual suttas listed below is adapted from the Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series [BJT], not from the PTS version.
Each translation is linked to its Pāḷi version and to the PTS, Sister Upalavanna, Olds and where available to the ATI Bhk. Thanissaro translation, and each of these is in turn linked back to each of the others. Many, but not all have been checked against the Pāḷi Text Society edition, and many have been reformatted to include the original Pāḷi (and/or organizational) phrase and sentence breaks.
PTS: The Kindred Sayings on Elements, translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids assisted by F.L. Woodward,
WP: The Book of the Aggregates, translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi
BD: The translations of M. Olds
ATI: The translations of Bhikkhu Thanissaro and others originally located on Access to Insight.
IV. Okkantika Saṃyutta, III.225
The sharp-eyed reader will note that the first portion of this samyutta forms the basis for the understanding of where taṇha (thirst) arises and is to be put away as found in the Mahā Satipaṭṭhana Sutta
PTS: The Kindred Sayings on Entering, III.177
WP: Connected Discourses on Entering, I.1004
1. Cakkhu Suttaṃ, III.225
The Buddha first lays out the doctrine of the inconstance of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind, and then states that any one who moderately approves of this doctrine is called a Streamwinner by faith, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one has a certain amount of insight into this doctrine one is called one who is a Streamwinner by Dhamma, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one sees these things as they are, one is called a Streamwinner.
PTS: The Eye, III.177
WP: The Eye, III.004
ATI: The Eye, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.
2. Rūpa Suttaṃ, III.225
The Buddha first lays out the doctrine of the inconstance of sights, sounds, scents, savours, touches and things (objects of the mind), and then states that anyone who moderately approves of this doctrine is called a Streamwinner by faith, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one has a certain amount of insight into this doctrine one is called one who is a Streamwinner by Dhamma, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one sees these things as they are, one is called a Streamwinner.
There are two poor translations by Woodward in this sutta which the reader should keep in mind: He translates 'rūpa' as body, but what is being spoken of here are the objects of the senses and that would be 'visible objects' 'sights,' not just the body. Rūpa is basically 'light', and it can be said that at its most fundamental sight is the perception of light.
'States of Mind' for 'Dhammā'. The term must mean an object of the mind sense (mano), not a state of the heart (citta). 'Things.' 'Phenomena.' It cannot be 'The Dhamma' as the use pre-dates the appearance of such. 'Good Form' or 'Norm' is too narrow. The confusion may arise by the association with the fourth of the Satipaṭṭhanas where 'Living observing Dhammas in the The Dhamma' is described as observing the arising and passing away of several elements of The Dhamma. There is a general tendency among the translators to translate the Four Satipaṭṭhanas as though all four were aspects of the physical being (so the attempt to force 'dhammesu dhammānupassī' into being the observation of all things mental and by that causing a conflict with the previous, (citta)) where what is being described is 'Dhammesu dhammānupassī' 'observing the Dhamma in or through The Dhamma' making the Satipaṭṭhana a progression of observation from the body to sense experience to mental states to the abstract realm of The Dhamma. The object of the quest is to become like the Buddha: "Dhamma become." This is not a state downbound to the body or any form of the experience of existence through the senses including the mind as a sense.
PTS: Body, III.178
WP: Forms, I.1004
ATI: Forms, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.
3. Viññāṇam Suttaṃ, III.226
The Buddha first lays out the doctrine of the inconstance of eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness and mind-consciousness, and then states that anyone who moderately approves of this doctrine is called a Streamwinner by faith, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one has a certain amount of insight into this doctrine one is called one who is a Streamwinner by Dhamma, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one sees these things as they are, one is called a Streamwinner.
PTS: Consciousness, III.178
WP: Consciousness, I.1005
ATI: Consciousness, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.
4. Phassa Suttaṃ, III.226
The Buddha first lays out the doctrine of the inconstance of eye-contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact and mind-contact, and then states that anyone who moderately approves of this doctrine is called a Streamwinner by faith, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one has a certain amount of insight into this doctrine one is called one who is a Streamwinner by Dhamma, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one sees these things as they are, one is called a Streamwinner.
PTS: Contact, III.178
WP: Contact, I.1005
ATI: Contact, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.
5. Vedanā Suttaṃ, III.226
The Buddha first lays out the doctrine of the inconstance of eye-contact-born sense-experience, ear-contact-born sense-experience, nose-contact-born sense-experience, tongue-contact-born sense-experience, body-contact-born sense-experience and mind-contact-born sense-experience, and then states that anyone who moderately approves of this doctrine is called a Streamwinner by faith, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one has a certain amount of insight into this doctrine one is called one who is a Streamwinner by Dhamma, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one sees these things as they are, one is called a Streamwinner.
PTS: Feeling, III.178
WP: Feeling, I.1005
ATI: Feeling, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.
6. Saññā Suttaṃ, III.227
The Buddha first lays out the doctrine of the inconstance of perceptions of sights, sounds, scents, savours, touches and phenomena, and then states that anyone who moderately approves of this doctrine is called a Streamwinner by faith, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one has a certain amount of insight into this doctrine one is called one who is a Streamwinner by Dhamma, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one sees these things as they are, one is called a Streamwinner.
Here Woodward again uses 'body' for 'rūpa', but changes his translation of 'dhamma' to 'phenomena'. See discussion of #2 above.
PTS: Perception, III.178
WP: Perception, I.1006
ATI: Perception, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.
7. Cetanā Suttaṃ, III.227
The Buddha first lays out the doctrine of the inconstance of intentions with regard to sights, sounds, scents, savours, touches and phenomena, and then states that anyone who moderately approves of this doctrine is called a Streamwinner by faith, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one has a certain amount of insight into this doctrine one is called one who is a Streamwinner by Dhamma, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one sees these things as they are, one is called a Streamwinner.
Woodward had, as even translators today have, the choice to changehis translations as he went along knowing how raggedy it looks, or not publishing at all which would be of benefit to no one ... maybe, depends on if the translation is really misleading. The alternative, to go back and alter all previous occurrences of a term, would stifle completion of even one book. Further, it is a wonderful phenomena with regard to this Dhamma that if the intent is to provide a true translation the word will likely be of benefit even when it is not quite the precise term that would yield the most insight or magic. This results in a picture of the evolution of understanding of the translator which may actually serve to benefit the serious reader who is likely to go through the same evolution himself even when faced with the most precisely true translation possible. In any case the work is so vast as to make inconsistencies unavoidable until the time when the whole work can be subjected to some kind of analysis that catches all the instances of a term throughout and substitutes the best translation, one that works in all cases. Work for the next generation of translators. "Talking my own position!"
— p.p.
In this translation Woodward references a point of controversy which appears to be an argument arising from an understanding that '~sañcetanā' implies an intrinsic moral value within or attached to ((sañ)) sights, etc. The counter-argument points to AN 4.171. where it is explained that kamma (good or bad action) is essentially defined by 'sañcetanā' ('intent with regard to' or even possibly 'own-intent' 'identified-with intent'.) Woodward attempts to clarify the matter with his 'acts occasioned by'. Intent is an act (kamma) but this goes too far from the Pāḷi. The literal translation of cetana would be something like 'having the heart for' and this sutta does not go further than that into such things as acts of body related to sights etc. Again in this sutta Woodward speaks of 'body' where he should be speaking of 'sights' and in this sutta he has again switched his translation of dhamma, this time to 'ideas.'
PTS: Volition, III.179
WP: Volition, I.1006
ATI: Intention, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.
8. Taṇhā Suttaṃ, III.227
The Buddha first lays out the doctrine of the inconstance of thirst for sights, sounds, scents, savours, touches and phenomena, and then states that anyone who moderately approves of this doctrine is called a Streamwinner by faith, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one has a certain amount of insight into this doctrine one is called one who is a Streamwinner by Dhamma, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one sees these things as they are, one is called a Streamwinner.
PTS: Craving, III.179
WP: Craving, I.1006
ATI: Craving. Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.
9. Dhātu Suttaṃ, III.227
The Buddha first lays out the doctrine of the inconstance of the earth, water, firelight, and wind characteristics, and then states that anyone who moderately approves of this doctrine is called a Streamwinner by faith, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one has a certain amount of insight into this doctrine one is called one who is a Streamwinner by Dhamma, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one sees these things as they are, one is called a Streamwinner.
The word to understand in this sutta is Dhātu, 'data', an informative characteristic of things or an element or aspect of their nature. We more commonly speak of these things in more abstract terms: solidity, liquidity, heat, motion, space and consciousness. Woodward has translated 'vāyo' as 'air' which is not correct and precludes the ability to understand it as 'motion'. It is 'wave-form'. You can hear it in the term.
PTS: Element, III.179
WP: Elements, I.1006
ATI: Properties, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.
10. Khandhena Suttaṃ, III.227
The Buddha first lays out the doctrine of the inconstance of the khandhas: form, sense-experience, perception, own-making and consciousness, and then states that anyone who moderately approves of this doctrine is called a Streamwinner by faith, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one has a certain amount of insight into this doctrine one is called one who is a Streamwinner by Dhamma, one who will become a Streamwinner at or before death; if one sees these things as they are, one is called a Streamwinner.
PTS: By the (Fivefold) Group, III.179
WP: Aggregates, I.1006
ATI: Aggregates, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.
