Saṃyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
12. Nidāna Saṃyutta
III. Dasa-Balā Vagga
Sutta 27
Paccaya Suttaṃ
Rebounds
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
Once upon a time, The Lucky Man, Sāvatthi-town residing:
There then The Lucky Man addressed the beggars, saying:
"Beggars!"
And the beggars responding "Bhante!"
The Lucky Man said this to them:
"The rebound off blindness, beggars,
is own-making;
the rebound off own-making,
consciousness;
the rebound off consciousness,
named-form;
the rebound off named-form,
the six-spheres;
the rebound off the six-spheres,
touch;
the rebound off touch,
sensation;
the rebound off sensation,
thirst;
the rebound off thirst,
bind-ups;
the rebound off bind-ups,
existence;
the rebound off existence,
birth;
the rebound off birth,
old-age and death,
grief and lamentation
pain and misery
and despair.
Even thus
is the self-arising
of this pile of pain
made to be.
§
And what, beggars, is aging?
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.'
We say: 'Giving up the ghost.
Kicking the bucket
That's all she wrote,
Meeting your maker,
Game Over.'
US/Mexican subculture: "Have a nice day."
— p.p.
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'.
■
Birth arising,
aging and death arises
birth ending,
aging and death ends.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of aging and death.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
■
And what, beggars, is birth?[1]
Whatsoever for this or that being
of this or that group of beings
is birth,
origin,
descent,
coming into existence,
coming into further existence,
the reappearance of the stockpiles,[2]
the attaining of the sense realms.
This, beggars, is what is called 'birth.'
■
Existence arising,
birth arises;
existence ending,
birth ends.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of birth.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
■
And what, beggars, is existence?[3]
Three, beggars, are the existences:
Sense-pleasure-existence,[4]
formed-existence,
formless-existence.
This is what is called 'existence.'
Bind-ups arising,
existence arises;
bind-ups ending,
existence ends.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of existence.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
■
And what, beggars, are bind-ups?[5]
Four, beggars, are the bind-ups:
Sense-pleasure-bind-ups,
view-bind-ups,
ethical practices-bind-ups,
self-experience-bind-ups.
This is what is called 'bind-ups.'
Thirst arising,
bind-ups arise;
thirst ending,
bind-ups end.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of bind-ups.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
■
And what, beggars, is thirst?[6]
Six, beggars, are the thirsts:
Visual objects-thirsts,
sounds-thirsts,
scents-thirsts,
savours-thirsts,
touches-thirsts,
things-thirsts.[7]
This is what is called 'thirst.'
Sensation arising,
thirst arises;
sensation ending,
thirst ends.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of thirst.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
■
And what, beggars, is sensation?
Six, beggars, embody sensation:
Own-eye-touch sensation,
own-ear-touch sensation,
own-nose-touch sensation,
own-tongue-touch sensation,
own-body-touch sensation,
own-mind-touch sensation.
This is what is called 'sensation.'
Touch arising,
sensation arises;
touch ending,
sensation ends.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of sensation.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
■
And what, beggars, is touch?
Six, beggars, are the touches:
Own-eye-touch,
own-ear-touch,
own-nose-touch,
own-tongue-touch,
own-body-touch,
own-mind-touch.
This is what is called 'touch.'
The six-spheres arising,
touch arises;
the six-spheres ending,
touch ends.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of touch.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
■
And what, beggars, are 'the six-spheres'?
The sphere of the eye,
the sphere of the ear,
the sphere of the nose,
the sphere of the tongue,
the sphere of the body,
the sphere of the mind.
This is what is called 'the six-spheres.'
Named-form arising,
the six-spheres appear;
named-form ending,
the six-spheres end.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of the six-spheres.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
■
And what, beggars, is 'named-form'?[8]
Sense-experience,
perception,
intent
contact
work of mind
these are what is called 'name.'
The Four Great Elements
and the forms supported by the Four Great Elements,
this is what is called 'form'.
It is this 'name',
and this 'form,' beggars,
that is called 'named-form'.
Consciousness arising,
named-forms appear;
consciousness ending,
named-forms end.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of named-form.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
■
And what, beggars, is 'consciousness'?
Eye-consciousness,
ear-consciousness,
nose-consciousness,
tongue-consciousness,
body-consciousness,
mind-consciousness.
This is what is called 'consciousness'.
Own-making arising,
consciousness arises;
own-making ending,
consciousness ends.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of consciousness.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
■
And what, beggars, is 'own-making'?[9]
Three, beggars, are own-makings:
Bodily-own-making,
speech-own-making,
heart-own-making.
This is what is called 'own-making'.
Blindness arising,
own-making arises;
blindness ending,
own-making ends.
And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of own-making.
That is to say:
High view,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.
Then, beggars,
when the student of the Aristocrats
thus understands rebounds,
thus understands the arising of rebounds,
thus understands the ending of rebounds,
thus understands the path to walk
to go to the ending of rebounds,
such a student of the Aristocrats is called a view-winner,
a getter of the true Dhamma,
a shaman who has got knowledge,
a shaman who has got vision,
an attainer of the Dhamma-ear,[10]
an aristocrat of penetrating wisdom
who stands knocking at the door of the Deathless."[11]
[1] Jāti. Birth, re-birth. The identical definition is found in the Satipaṭṭhana Suttanta. A little more clarity is provided by the Māha Nidana Suttaṃ where the wording is: If there were no being born at all of any sort, by any being of any sort, whatever, however; that is: of gods to godhood, spirits to spirithood, daemons to daemonhood, beings to beinghood, man to manhood, quadrupeds to quadrupedhood, of birds to birdhood, snakes to snakehood — if there were no being born by any being of thus and such a sort at all — with the non-existence of all birth, with the eradication of birth, could there then be any discerning of aging and death?
[2] 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.
[3] Bhava. Being, living, becoming, existing. The identical definition is found in the Satipaṭṭhana Suttanta. A little more clarity is provided by the Māha Nidana Suttaṃ where the wording is: If there were no existence at all of any sort, by any being of any sort, whatever, however; that is: sensate existence, existence in forms, existence without form — with the non-existence of all existence, with the eradication of existence, could there then be any discerning of birth?
[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. Up-hold, up-bind. Bhk. Thanissaro: 'fuel;' Bhk Bodhi: 'clinging'; Mrs. Rhys Davids: 'grasping'. The idea is that upon experience of a sensation and the arising of desire to re-experience that sensation, or to et way from it if it is painful, these things provide excuses or reasons or bases ... supports ... plans ... intentions ... fuel ... for rationalizing the taking up of a new existence. They uphold existence. 'Support ending, existence ends' is what is indicated when through taking up a device like investigation of the foulness of the body, or finding no basis for ambition in any aspect of the world, one finds existence repulsive and finding it repulsive one lets it go. Existence no longer has the illusion of pleasure or beauty or reasons for ambition as support and without that support there is no taking the action that is required to enter existence.
[6] Taṇhā. Thirst, hunger, desire to experience through the senses.
[7] Dhamma-taṇhā. Lower-case 'd'. Things. In this case mental objects. But 'things' rather than 'The Dhamma' or just 'Ideas' because the objects of the mind where, as here, limited to mind as it relates to existence, are the forms of consciousness arising from the contact of the other senses with their objects as well as thoughts, ideas, consciousness itself, and consciousness of the formless spheres.
[8] Nāma-rūpa. Name-form or shape. Phe-nomena. A close approximation of what we understand to be perception. The identification of a 'thing' by its 'name'. The two are co-terminus, cannot exist one without the other. All existing things consist of name/form + consciousness and the combined three are called 'contact'. In the Māha Nidana Suttaṃ the Buddha describes how it is contact of consciousness with named form that constitutes existence. It is the separation of consciousness from named-form-consciousness (or consciousness through the senses) that stops the progression of the chain of interdependent factors bringing pain to an end, that is, Nibbāna.
[9] Saṇkhāra. Identification with the intent to create personal experience through acts of body, speech and mind and the identified-with result. A near synonym of kamma, but with emphasis on the process of personalization. Mrs. Rhys Davids 'activities' conveys only half the meaning; Bhk. Bodhi's 'volitional formations' conveys only the other half. Volitional activities and their resultant identified-with formations.
[10] Dhamma-sota. I say 'Dhamma-ear'. PED and most translators say "Dhamma-stream" or "Stream of the". Sotāpatti is almost always translated 'Streamwinner', including by me, but I believe the earlier version was 'Dhamma-ear' and 'stream' was used primarily to symbolize the pull (āpo) of worldly life.
[11] Mrs. Rhys Davids translation.
