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#### Saṁyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
12. Nidāna Saṁyutta
4. Kaḷara-Khattiya Vagga

#### The Book of the Kindred Sayings
Part II. The Book Called the Nidāna-Vagga
Containing Kindred sayings on Cause
and Other Subjects
12. The Kindred Sayings on Cause
4. Kaḷāra the Nobleman[1]

#### Sutta 31

#### Bhūta Suttaṁ

# Become

Translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Assisted by F. L. Woodward

Originally Published by
The Pali Text Society
Public Domain

[1][than][bodh] Thus have I heard:

The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī.

And there the Exalted One addressed the venerable Sāriputta:

[36] "It is said, Sāriputta,
in the Parāyana[2]
in the Question of Ajita:

'They who have mastered well the truth of things[3]
And they the many learning in thy Rule,
Of these the wisdom in the way they fare
I ask, dear sir. Speak thou of this to me.'[4][ed1]

Of that which is here concisely uttered, Sāriputta,
how should the meaning be regarded in detail?"

When he has thus said, Sāriputta was silent.

■

And a second time the Exalted One addressed the venerable Sāriputta:

"It is said, Sāriputta,
in the Parāyana
in the Question of Ajita:

'They who have mastered well the truth of things
And they the many learning in thy Rule,
Of these the wisdom in the way they fare
I ask, dear sir. Speak thou of this to me.'

Of that which is here concisely uttered, Sāriputta,
how should the meaning be regarded in detail?"

And a second time, when he has thus said, Sāriputta was silent.

■

And a third time the Exalted One addressed the venerable Sāriputta:

"It is said, Sāriputta,
in the Parāyana
in the Question of Ajita:

'They who have mastered well the truth of things
And they the many learning in thy Rule,
Of these the wisdom in the way they fare
I ask, dear sir. Speak thou of this to me.'

Of that which is here concisely uttered, Sāriputta,
how should the meaning be regarded in detail?"

And a third time, when he has thus said, Sāriputta was silent.[4]

§

"See you, Sāriputta, that 'this has come to be'?

See you, Sāriputta, that 'this has come to be'?"

"'This has come to be' lord -
thus by right insight he sees,
as it really is;
and seeing
'This has come to be',
as it really is;
he practises revulsion from it,
that it may fade away and cease.

'Continual becoming from a certain sustenance' lord -
thus by right insight he sees,
as it really is;
and seeing
'continual becoming from a certain sustenance',
as it really is;
he practises revulsion from it,
that it may fade away and cease.

'From the ceasing of a certain sustenance
that [37] which has come to be
is liable to cease' lord -
thus by right insight he sees,
as it really is;
and seeing
'from the ceasing of a certain sustenance
that which has come to be
is liable to cease',
as it really is;
he practises revulsion from it,
that it may fade away and cease.

Of such, lord, is the man who is being trained.

■

And how, lord, is a man one who has 'mastered well the truth of things'?

'This has come to be,' lord -
thus by right insight he sees as it really is,
and seeing
'This has come to be,'
in this way,
because of revulsion at that which has come to be,
because of its fading away and ceasing
he becomes free,
grasping at nothing.[5]

'Continual becoming from a certain sustenance,' lord -
thus by right insight he sees as it really is,
and seeing
'Continual becoming from a certain sustenance,'
in this way,
because of revulsion at that which has come to be,
because of its fading away and ceasing
he becomes free,
grasping at nothing.

'From the ceasing of a certain sustenance
that which has come to be
is liable to cease,' lord -
thus by right insight he sees as it really is,
and seeing
'From the ceasing of a certain sustenance
that which has come to be
is liable to cease,'
in this way,
because of revulsion at that which has come to be,
because of its fading away and ceasing
he becomes free,
grasping at nothing.

Of such, lord, is the man who has 'mastered well the truth of things.'

Now thus, lord, of that which is said concisely in the Parāyana
in the Question of Ajita, to wit, -

'They who have mastered well the truth of things
And they the many learning in thy Rule,
Of these the wisdom in the way they fare
I ask, dear sir. Speak thou of this to me,'

I do judge to be the meaning in detail."

§

"Well done, well done, Sāriputta!

'This has come to be' Sāriputta -
thus by right insight he sees,
as it really is;
and seeing
'This has come to be',
as it really is;
he practises revulsion from it,
that it may fade away and cease.

'Continual becoming from a certain sustenance' Sāriputta -
thus by right insight he sees,
as it really is;
and seeing
'continual becoming from a certain sustenance',
as it really is;
he practises revulsion from it,
that it may fade away and cease.

'From the ceasing of a certain sustenance
that which has come to be
is liable to cease' Sāriputta -
thus by right insight he sees,
as it really is;
and seeing
'from the ceasing of a certain sustenance
that which has come to be
is liable to cease',
as it really is;
he practises revulsion from it,
that it may fade away and cease.

Of such, Sāriputta, is the man who is being trained.

■

And how, Sāriputta, is a man one who has 'mastered well the truth of things'?

'This has come to be,' Sāriputta -
thus by right insight he sees as it really is,
and seeing
'This has come to be,'
in this way,
because of revulsion at that which has come to be,
because of its fading away and ceasing
he becomes free,
grasping at nothing.

'Continual becoming from a certain sustenance,' Sāriputta -
thus by right insight he sees as it really is,
and seeing
'Continual becoming from a certain sustenance,'
in this way,
because of revulsion at that which has come to be,
because of its fading away and ceasing
he becomes free,
grasping at nothing.

'From the ceasing of a certain sustenance
that which has come to be
is liable to cease,' Sāriputta -
thus by right insight he sees as it really is,
and seeing
'From the ceasing of a certain sustenance
that which has come to be
is liable to cease,'
in this way,
because of revulsion at that which has come to be,
because of its fading away and ceasing
he becomes free,
grasping at nothing.

Of such, Sāriputta, is the man who has 'mastered well the truth of things.'

Thus, Sāriputta, of that which was said concisely in the Parāyana
in the Question of Ajita, to wit, -

'They who have mastered well the truth of things
And they the many learning in thy Rule,
Of these the wisdom in the way they fare
I ask, dear sir. Speak thou of this to me,'

This is the meaning in detail."

[1] Sutta No. (2) gives the name to this chapter.

historical priority. Here Mrs. Rhys Davids, who is continuously complaining about editorial revision, opts to believe that no revision could have occurred in this case.

— p.p.

This does not show the historical priority of SNP to SN at all. It shows the historical priority of the question to the occurance of this dialogue. Both were put into their collections later and there is no information in this as to which of those collections was formed first.

— p.p.

[2] This is the last section in the Sutta Nipāta. The citation shows the historical priority of at least this portion of it to this portion of the Kindred Sayings. It is noteworthy that Buddhaghosa does not refer to the Sutta-Nipāta, nor even name the Parāyana. This may suggest that his readers would know it well enough. But in none of the 19 quotations from this work in the Visuddhi-Magga does he name either the work, or any section save certain Suttas in it. Parāyana may be roughly rendered 'The Quest.'

[3] Sankhāta-dhammā.

[4] The Comy. attributes this hesitation of the chief disciple not to the nature of the problem, but to the intention of the Master: - by which way is he wishing to teach through me? By khandhas, by elements, by external perception, by causal law? The Master gives the required hint: bhūtaṁ, become (i.e., says B., 'born, produced, a name for the mental and bodily organism'). And Sāriputta follows up with the terms 'becoming' (sambhavaṁ, the prefix sam means for the Comy. continuity or increased intensity), āhāra (sustenance, i.e. cause), and the principle of causation. See M. i, 260. Cf. my Buddhism, 225.

[5] Anupādā.

[ed1]Norman's translation:

'Those who have considred the doctrine, and the many under training here; [being] zealous, tell me when asked, sir, their way of life?

'A bhikkhu would not be greedy for sensual pleasures. He would be undisturbed in mind. Skilled in all mental states, he would wander about, mindful[ly].'

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