Saṃyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
12. Nidāna-Saṃyutta
1. Buddha Vagga
Sutta 2
Vibhaṇga Suttaṃ
Analysis
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
[1][rhyc][than][bodh] I HEAR TELL:
Once upon a time, The Lucky man,
Sāvatthi-town revisiting,
Jeta Grove,
Anathapiṇḍika's Sporting Grounds.
There then The Lucky Man addressed the beggars, saying:
"Beggars!"
And the beggars responding
"Bhante!"
The Lucky Man said this to them:
"I will teach you
rebounding self-arising and
its analysis.
Give ear!
Give your mind over to
studious attention!
I will speak!"
And the beggars responding:
"Even so, Bhante!"
The Lucky Man then said:
"And what, Beggars,
is rebounding self-arising?
Rebounding off blindness, beggars,
own-making
rebounding off own-making,
consciousness
rebounding off consciousness,
named-form
rebounding off named-form,
the six-realms
rebounding off the six-realms,
touch
rebounding off touch,
sensation
rebounding off sensation,
thirst
rebounding off thirst,
bind-ups
rebounding off bind-ups,
existence
rebounding off existence,
birth
rebounding off birth,
aging and death
grief and lamentation
pain and misery
and despair
become one's own.
Even thus
is the self-arising
of this pile of pain
made to be.
Thus told, beggars,
is self-arising.
■
And what, beggars is 'aging and death'?[1]
A human being in the realm of man, a god in the deva-worlds, an animal in the animal worlds ...
— p.p.
Whatsoever for this or that being
of this or that group of beings
is aging,
agedness,
the breaking down,
the graying,
the wrinkling of the skin,
the drawing to a close of the lifespan,
the collapse of the forces.
This is called 'aging.'
And what, beggars, is death?
Whatsoever for this or that being
of this or that group of beings
is the quittance,
passing away,
breaking up,
disappearance,
the moment of death in
the process of dying,
having done one's time,
the breaking up of the stockpiles,
the laying down of the body,
the cutting off of the life force.
This is called 'death.'
This is that aging and
this that death.
This, beggars, is what is called 'aging and death'.
■
And what, beggars, is 'birth'?
Whatsoever for this or that being
of this or that group of beings
is birth,
origin,[2]
descent,
coming into existence,
coming into further existence,
the reappearance of the stockpiles,[3]
the attaining of the sense realms.
This, beggars, is what is called 'birth.'
■
And what, beggars is existence?
Three, beggars, are the existences:[4]
sensual-existence,
form-existence,
formless-existence.
This, beggars, is what is called 'existence'.
■
And what, beggars, are 'bind-ups'?
There are, beggars, four bind-ups:[5]
sensual-bind-ups,
view-bind-ups,
ethics and ritual-bind-ups,
self-experience-bind-ups.
This, beggars, is what is called 'getting-bound-up'.
■
And what, beggars is 'thirst'?
Six, beggars, embody thirst:
thirst for the visible;
thirst for the audible;
thirst for the smellable;
thirst for the tasteable;
thirst for the tangible;
thirst for mental objects.
This, beggars, is what is called 'thirst'.
■
And what, beggars is 'sensation'?[6]
Six, beggars, embody sensation:
sensation born of contact with the eye;
sensation born of contact with the ear;
sensation born of contact with the nose;
sensation born of contact with the tongue;
sensation born of contact with the body;
sensation born of contact with the mind.
This, beggars, is what is called 'sensation'.
■
And what, beggars, is 'touch'?
Six, beggars, embody touch:
eye-contact;
ear-contact;
nose-contact;
tongue-contact;
body-contact;
mind-contact.
This, beggars, is what is called 'touch'.
■
And what, beggars, are 'the six-realms'?
The realm of the eye;
the realm of the ear;
the realm of the nose;
the realm of the tongue;
the realm of the body;
the realm of the mind.
This, beggars, is what is called 'the six-realms.'
■
And what, beggars, is 'named form?'
Identifying or labeling objects or experiences or thoughts with such expressions as: Vedanā, "This is pleasant, unpleasant, neither unpleasant nor unpleasant;" saññā "this is blue, red, green, etc.;" cetanā, "I will get or get away from such and such;" phasso, "Oh what a pleasure it would be to touch or be touched by ...;" mana-sikāro "the way I see it is that the Tathagata exists after death".
—p.p.
Sensation,
perception,
intention,
contact
work of mind.
This is what is called "name".
The Four Basic Components of Existence [cattāro mahā-bhūtā,]: Earth, Water, Firelight and Wind; or Solidity, liquidity, heat and motion = the four Great Elements [cattāro mahā-dhātu].
— p.p.
The four basic components and
that which is derived from
the four basic components.
This is called 'form'
This, then, is that 'name',
this then that 'form'.
This, beggars,
is what is called 'named form'
■
And what, beggars, is 'consciousness'?
Six, beggars, embody consciousness:
eye-consciousness;
ear-consciousness;
nose-consciousness;
tongue-consciousness;
body-consciousness;
mind-consciousness.
This beggars is what is called 'consciousness'.
■
And what, beggars, is own-making?
Note that the 3rd own-making is by 'heart' [citta], not 'mind' which would be [mano] as usually translated (including by myself). The difference points to a possible distinction between the identified-with heart and the un-individualized mind - heart is a much more personalized term than is mind - . Put aside the thought that today it makes little difference; in those days (and even in more recent times in English) it appears to have had much more significance.
— p.p.
Three, beggars, are the own-makings:[7]
bodily own-making,
speech own-making,
heart own-making.
These, beggars are called 'own-makings'.
■
And what, beggars is 'blindness'?
Whatever is ignorance of pain,
ignorance about the arising to self of pain,
ignorance about the ending of pain,
ignorance about the walk to walk to the ending of pain.
This, beggars, is called 'blindness'.
§
Thus then, beggars,
rebounding off blindness,
own-making
rebounding off own-making,
consciousness
rebounding off consciousness,
named-form
rebounding off named-form,
the six-realms
rebounding off the six-realms,
touch
rebounding off touch,
sensation
rebounding off sensation,
thirst
rebounding off thirst,
bind-ups
rebounding off bind-ups,
existence
rebounding off existence,
birth
rebounding off birth,
aging and death
grief and lamentation
pain and misery
and despair
become one's own.
Thus in this way
comes the arising to the self
of this whole pile of pain.
But the utter dispassionate
ending of blindness
ends own-making;
own-making ending,
ends consciousness;
consciousness ending,
ends named-form;
named-form ending,
ends the six-realms;
the six-realms ending,
ends touch;
touch ending,
ends sensation;
sensation ending,
ends thirst;
thirst ending,
ends bind-ups
bind-ups ending,
ends existence;
existence ending,
ends birth;
birth ending,
ends aging and death,
grief and lamentation;
pain and misery;
and despair.
Thus in this way comes
the ending to the self
of this whole pile of pain."
[1] Jarā-maraṇa.
[2] Sañjāti. Mrs. Rhys Davids has "continuous birth"; Bhikkhu Bodhi either skips over this term altogether or possibly combines this and the next term with his descent [into the womb]. It is not clear. Bhikkhu Thanissaro has "taking birth" but takes liberties with the "jāti" that comes first.
[3] Khandha. Meaning the appearance of form: rūpa, sense-experience: vedanā, perception: saññā, own-making: saṇkhārā, and consciousness: viññāṇa, in the form of an identified-with living being.
[4] kāma-bhavo: existence focused primarily on sense-pleasures, denizens of Hell, daemons, ghosts, animals and man; little people, fairies, near earth deities, devas such as the beings that reside with the Four Kings of the Four Directions, deities of the Chamber of the Three and Thirty, deities that reside in Yama's Paradise, deities of the Heaven of Delight, deities of Creation, deities of Manipulation; rūpa-bhavo: higher existences but still connected with vision of forms; beings that reside in the Brahmā worlds, the Abhassara Deities, the Subhakinna deities, the Viphapphala deities; the non-percipient deities, and the deities that reside in the Pure Abodes; arūpa-bhavo: existence in purely mental states, the Realm of Space, The Realm of Consciousness, The Realm of No Thing Is To Be Had There, The Realm of Neither-Perceiving-Nor-Non-Perceiving
For a little more on these types of being see The Pali Line, The 10th Question, Part 1; The Realms of the Imagination
[5] Upādāna. Making plans, and taking action in word or deed to obtain sensual pleasures, getting involved in questions of existence and non-existence, belief and action based on the idea that ethics or rituals can bring one to the end of pain, getting involved in ideas concerning personal experience.
[6] Vedanā. See SN 2.12.1 footnote 9 for details.
[7] Saṇkhāra. See SN 2.12.1 footnote 4 for details.
