The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
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1256 This phrase is identical in both the Majjhima and Saṁyutta versions.
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1257 This is substantially identical with the proclamation with which the newly enlightened Buddha opened his first discourse to the five bhikkhus, before teaching them the Four Noble Truths.
1258 This is a more complicated expression for the pursuit of sensual pleasure.
1259 MA: It is “beset by suffering, vexation,” etc., through the suffering and vexation, etc., of its results and the suffering and vexation, etc., of its attendant defilements.
1260 This is craving for being. Just below we should read again bhavasaṁyojanaṁ (with BBS and SBJ) as against PTS vibhavasaṁyojanaṁ.
1261 That is, extolling and disparaging come about when one frames one’s statements in terms of persons, some of whom are praised and others blamed. One teaches “only the Dhamma” when one frames one’s statements in terms of the state (dhamma)—the mode of practice—without explicit references to persons.
1262 This problem of “insistence on local language” must have been particularly acute in the Sangha, when the bhikkhus lived a life of constant wandering and had to pass through many localities each with their distinct dialects.
1263 Ven. Subhūti was the younger brother of Anāthapi˚ḍika and became a bhikkhu on the day Jeta’s Grove was offered to the Sangha. The Buddha appointed him the foremost disciple in two categories—those who live without conflict and those who are worthy of gifts.
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1264 According to MA, Pukkusāti had been the king of Takkasilā and had entered into a friendship with King Bimbisāra of Magadha through merchants who travelled between the two countries for purposes of trade. In an exchange of gifts Bimbisāra sent Pukkusāti a golden plate on which he had inscribed descriptions of the Three Jewels and various aspects of the Dhamma. When Pukkusāti read the inscription, he was filled with joy and decided to renounce the world. Without taking formal ordination, he shaved his head, put on yellow robes, and left the palace. He went to Rājagaha intending to meet the Buddha, who was then in Sāvatthı̄, about 300 miles away. The Buddha saw Pukkusāti with his clairvoyant knowledge, and recognising his capacity to attain the paths and fruits, he journeyed alone on foot to Rājagaha to meet him. To avoid being recognised, by an act of will the Buddha caused his special physical attributes such as the marks of a Great Man to be concealed, and he appeared just like an ordinary wandering monk. He arrived at the potter’s shed shortly after Pukkusāti had arrived there intending to leave for Sāvatthı̄ the next day in order to meet the Buddha.
1265 Pukkusāti, unaware that the new arrival is the Buddha, addresses him by the familiar appellation “āvuso.”
1266 MA: The Buddha asked these questions merely as a way to start a conversation, as he already knew that Pukkusāti had gone forth on account of himself.
1267 MA: Since Pukkusāti had already purified the preliminary practice of the path and was able to attain the fourth jhāna through mindfulness of breathing, the Buddha began directly with a talk on insight meditation, expounding the ultimate voidness that is the foundation for arahantship.
1268 MA: Here the Buddha expounds the non-truly existent by way of the truly existent; for the elements are truly existent but the person is not truly existent. This is meant: “That which you perceive as a person consists of six elements. Ultimately there is no person here. ‘Person’ is a mere concept.”
1269 As at MN 137.8.
1270 Paññạ̄dhiṭṭhāna, saccādhiṭṭhāna,cāgādhiṭṭāna, upasamādhiṭṭhāna . Ñm, in Ms, had first rendered adhiṭṭāna as “resolve,” and then replaced it with “mode of expression,” neither of which seems suitable for this context. MA glosses the word with patiṭṭhā, which clearly means foundation, and explains the sense of the statement thus: “This person who consists of the six elements, the six bases of contact, and the eighteen kinds of mental approach—when he turns away from these and attains arahantship, the supreme accomplishment, he does so established upon these four bases.” The four foundations will be individually elucidated by the sequel, §§12–29.
1271 MA: From the start one should not neglect the wisdom born of concentration and insight in order to penetrate through to the wisdom of the fruit of arahantship. One should preserve truthful speech in order to realise Nibbāna, the ultimate truth. One should cultivate the relinquishment of defilements in order to relinquish all defilements by the path of arahantship. From the start one should train in the pacification of defilements in order to pacify all defilements by the path of arahantship. Thus the wisdom, etc., born of serenity and insight are spoken of as the preliminary foundations for achieving the foundations of wisdom, etc. (distinctive of arahantship).
1272 MA: The non-neglecting of wisdom is explained by way of the meditation on the elements. The analysis of the elements here is identical with that of MN 28.6, 11, 16, 21 and MN 62.8–12.
1273 MA: This is the sixth element, which “remains” in that it has yet to be expounded by the Buddha and penetrated by Pukkusāti. Here it is explained as the consciousness that accomplishes the work of insight contemplation on the elements. Under the heading of consciousness, the contemplation of feeling is also introduced.
1274 This passage shows the conditionality of feeling and its impermanence through the cessation of its condition.
1275 MA identifies this as the equanimity of the fourth jhāna. According to MA, Pukkusāti had already achieved the fourth jhāna and had a strong attachment to it. The Buddha first praises this equanimity to inspire Pukkusāti’s confidence, then he gradually leads him to the immaterial jhānas and the attainment of the paths and fruits.
1276 The sense is: If he attains the base of infinite space and should pass away while still attached to it, he would be reborn in the plane of infinite space and would live there for the full lifespan of 20,000 aeons specified for that plane. In the higher three immaterial planes the lifespan is respectively 40,000 aeons, 60,000 aeons, and 84,000 aeons.
1277 MA: This is said in order to show the danger in the immaterial jhānas. By the one phrase, “This would be conditioned,” he shows: “Even though the lifespan there is 20,000 aeons, that is conditioned, fashioned, built up. It is thus impermanent, unstable, not lasting, transient. It is subject to perishing, breaking up, and dissolution; it is involved with birth, ageing, and death, grounded upon suffering. It is not a shelter, a place of safety, a refuge. Having passed away there as a worldling, one can still be reborn in the four states of deprivation.”
1278 So n’eva abhisankharoti nābhisañcetayati bhavāya vā vibhavāya . The two verbs suggest the notion of volition as a constructive power that builds up the continuation of conditioned existence. Ceasing to will for either being or non-being shows the extinction of craving for eternal existence and annihilation, culminating in the attainment of arahantship.
1279 MA says that at this point Pukkusāti penetrated three paths and fruits, becoming a non-returner. He realised that his teacher was the Buddha himself, but he could not express his realisation since the Buddha still continued with his discourse.
1280 This passage shows the arahant’s abiding in the Nibbāna element with a residue remaining (of the factors of conditioned existence, sa-upādisesa nibbānadhātu). Though he continues to experience feelings, he is free from lust towards pleasant feeling, from aversion towards painful feeling, and from ignorance about neutral feeling.
1281 That is, he continues to experience feeling only as long as the body with its life faculty continues, but not beyond that.
1282 This refers to his attainment of the Nibbāna-element with no residue remaining (anupādisesa nibbānadhātu)—the cessation of all conditioned existence with his final passing away.
1283 This completes the exposition of the first foundation, which began at §13. MA says that the knowledge of the destruction of all suffering is the wisdom pertaining to the fruit of arahantship.
1285 The “tides of conceiving” (maññussavā), as the following paragraph will show, are thoughts and notions originating from the three roots of conceiving—craving, conceit, and views. For a fuller explanation, see n.6. The “sage at peace” (muni santo) is the arahant.
1286 That which is not present in him is craving for being, which leads those who have not eradicated it back to a new birth following death.
1287 MA says that he was reborn in the Pure Abode called Avihā and attained arahantship as soon as he took rebirth there. It quotes a verse from the Saṁyutta Nikāya (SN 1:50/i.35) mentioning Pukkusāti as one of seven bhikkhus who were reborn in Avihā and attained deliverance by transcending the celestial bonds.
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1288 This refers to the Buddha’s first sermon, delivered to the five bhikkhus in the Deer Park at Isipatana.
1289 MA: Ven. Sāriputta trains them until he knows they have attained the fruit of stream-entry, then he lets them develop the higher paths on their own and he takes on a new batch of pupils. But Ven. Moggallāna continues to train his pupils until they have attained arahantship.
1290 The definitions of birth, ageing, and death are also found at MN 9.22, 26. This entire detailed analysis of the Four Noble Truths is included in the Mahāsatịhāna Sutta, with an even more elaborate exposition of the second and third truths. See DN 22.18–21/ii.305–13.
SUTTA 142
1291 Mahāpajāpatı̄ Gotamı̄ was the younger sister of Queen Mahāmāyā, the Buddha’s mother, and was also the wife of King Suddhodana. After Mahāmāyā’s death, she became the Buddha’s foster mother. The present sutta takes place at an early point in the Buddha’s ministry, on one of his return visits to his native city. After King Suddhodana’s death, Mahāpajāpatı̄ pleaded with the Buddha to admit women into the Sangha, and her acceptance marked the beginning of the Bhikkhunı̄ Sangha, the Order of Nuns. The story is found at Vin Cv Kh 10/ii.253–5 6 (see Ñā˚amoli, The Life of the Buddha, pp. 104–7).An interesting anachronism in this sutta was brought to my notice by Ven. Ajahn Sucitto of Cittaviveka Monastery. The sutta depicts Mahāpajāpatı̄ Gotamı̄ as a devout lay Buddhist and refers to the Bhikkhunı̄ Sangha as if it were an existing reality, yet the canonical account of the founding of the Bhikkhunı̄ Sangha shows Mahāpajāpatı̄ to have been the first historical bhikkhunı̄. Thus the Bhikkhunı̄ Sangha could not have existed at the time the sutta was spoken if Mahāpajāpatı̄ was still a lay woman. We might resolve the discrepancy (unnoticed by the commentator) by supposing that the original discourse was later modified after the founding of the Bhikkhunı̄ Sangha to bring the latter into the scheme of offerings to the Sangha.
1292 MA: The Buddha asked her to give the gift to the Sangha because he wanted her volition of generosity to be directed both to the Sangha and to himself, as the combined volition would yield merit conducive to her welfare and happiness for a long time to come. He also said this so that later generations would be inspired to show respect towards the Sangha, and by supporting the Sangha with the four physical requisites would contribute towards the longevity of the Dispensation.
1293 These are the four factors of stream-entry. Thus it is clear that at the time this sutta takes place, Mahāpajāpatı̄ Gotamı̄ was already a stream-enterer.
1294 MA: The Buddha undertakes this teaching because the sutta began with a personal gift presented to him, and he wishes to make clear the comparative value of personal gifts and gifts offered to the Sangha.
1295 MA and MṬ explain that this term can be loosely extended to include even a lay follower who has gone for refuge to the Triple Gem, as well as lay people and monks intent on fulfilling the moral training and the practice of concentration and insight. In the strict technical sense it refers only to those possessing the supramundane path of stream-entry.
1296 This is a non-Buddhist contemplative who attains the jhānas and the mundane kinds of direct knowledge.
1297 MA: In a hundred existences it gives long life, beauty, happiness, strength, and intelligence, and it makes one free of agitation. The following attainments should be understood accordingly.
1298 MA says that although the results of giving in each of these cases is incalculable, there is still an ascending gradation in their incalculability, similar to the ascending incalculability of the waters in a great river, etc., up to that of the waters in the ocean. Perhaps the “incalculable, immeasurable” value of these gifts consists in their becoming a supporting condition for attainment of the paths, fruits, and Nibbāna.
1299 MA: There is no gift equal in measure to this gift. This is the kind of gift Mahāpajāpatı̄ would be giving by offering the pair of cloths to the Sangha.
1300 MA: “Members of the clan” (gotrabhuno) are those who are monks merely in name. They will go about with a piece of yellow cloth tied around their necks or arms, and will support their wives and children by engaging in trade and farming, etc.
1301 The gift is incalculable and immeasurable in value because it is offered, by way of the intention of the donor, not to the “ yellow - necks ” as individuals but to the Sangha as a corporate whole. Thus the recipient body includes all the virtuous bhikkhus of the past, even those who have long passed away.
1302 MA states that a gift offered to an immoral bhikkhu taken to represent the entire Sangha is more fruitful than a gift offered on a personal basis to an arahant. But for the gift to be properly presented to the Sangha, the donor must take no account of the personal qualities of the recipient but must see him solely as representing the Sangha as a whole.
1303 MA: Here the word “purified” has the meaning “made fruitful.”
1304 MA: This last verse refers to the gift one arahant gives to another arahant. Although the arahant believes in the fruit of kamma, because he is without desire and lust for existence his own act of giving is not productive of any fruits. It is a mere functional action (kiriya) that leaves no traces behind.
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1305 MA says that clinging to the eye takes place by way of desire and lust; consciousness is dependent on the eye by way of craving and views. However, since Anā tha - pi˚ḍika was already a stream-enterer, dependence for him would have involved only craving, views having been eradicated by the path of stream-entry.
1306 This statement does not imply that there is any inherent exclusiveness or arbitrary discrimination in the Buddha’s way of presenting his teaching. But as those who remain in lay life must look after their families, possessions, and occupations, such talk leading to complete detachment would not have been appropriate for them.
SUTTA 144
1307 This is an elliptical expression for committing suicide.
1308 By making this statement he is implicitly claiming arahantship, as will be made clear at §13. Whether his claim at this point was valid or not is uncertain, the commentary regarding it as a case of self-overestimation.
1309 MA says that Ven. Mahā Cunda gave him this instruction thinking that he must still be an ordinary person, since he could not endure the deadly pains and wanted to commit suicide.
1310 The sense of this instruction might be explained with the help of MA thus: One is dependent because of craving and views and becomes independent by abandoning them with the attainment of arahantship. Bias (nati, lit. bending) comes about through craving, and its absence means there is no inclination or desire for existence. There is no coming and going by the ending of rebirth and death, no here nor beyond nor in between by the transcendence of this world, the world beyond, and the passage between one and the other. This is the end of the suffering of defilements and the suffering of the round.
1311 MA: He cut his throat, and just at that moment the fear of death descended on him and the sign of future rebirth appeared. Recognising that he was still an ordinary person, he was aroused and developed insight. Comprehending the formations, he attained arahantship j
ust before he expired.
1312 MA: Although this declaration (of blamelessness) was made while Channa was still a worldling, as his attainment of final Nibbāna followed immediately, the Buddha answered by referring to that very declaration.It should be noted that this commentarial interpretation is imposed on the text from the outside, as it were. If one sticks to the actual wording of the text it seems that Channa was already an arahant when he made his declaration, the dramatic punch being delivered by the failure of his two brother-monks to recognise this. The implication, of course, is that excruciating pain might motivate even an arahant to take his own life—not from aversion but simply from a wish to be free from unbearable pain.
1313 The terms used to describe the lay families which supported the Venerable Channa—mittakulāni suhajjakulāni upavajjakulāni—are obviously synonymous. The third term gives the opportunity for a word play. MA glosses it upasankamitabbakulāni, “families to be approached” (that is, for his requisites). According to CPD, upavajja here represents Skt upavrajya; the word in this sense is not in PED, though this may be the only instance where it bears such a meaning. The word is homonymous with another word meaning “blameworthy,” representing Skt upavadya, thus linking up with Channa’s earlier avowal that he would kill himself blamelessly (anupavajja). See the following note.