The Connected Discourses of the Buddha

by Bhikkhu Bodhi

  16 This fourfold pattern of conceiving also underlies the Mūlapariyāya Sutta, though the latter does not apply the pattern explicitly to the sense bases. Spk: He does not conceive the eye (cakkhụ na maññati): He does not conceive the eye as “I” or “mine,” or as “another” or “another’s.” He does not conceive in the eye (cakkhusmị na maññati): He does not conceive, “I am in the eye, my appurtenances are in the eye; another is in the eye, another’s appurtenances are in the eye.” He does not conceive from the eye (cakkhuto na maññati): He does not conceive, “I have emerged from the eye, my appurtenances have emerged from the eye; another has emerged from the eye, another’s appurtenances have emerged from the eye.” He does not arouse even one of the conceivings of craving, conceit, or views.

  17 See I, n. 376 and II, n. 137. Spk: In this sutta, insight culminating in arahantship is discussed in forty-four cases. Spkpṭ: In the eye door there are seven items: eye, forms, eye-consciousness, eye-contact, and pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling. So too in the other five doors, making forty-two. The passage on “not conceiving the all” makes forty-three, and the phrase “he does not cling to anything in the world” brings the total to forty-four.

  18 Sabbamaññitasamugghātasappāyapaṭipadā.

  19 Tato taṃ hoti aññathā; aññathābhāvı̄ bhavasatto loko bhavam ev’ ābhinandati. There seems to be a word play here revolving around the two ideas of “being/becoming otherwise.” According to Spk, the first sentence asserts that the object exists in a different mode (aññen’ ̄k̄rena hoti) from that in which it is conceived [Spk-pṭ: the object conceived in the mode of permanence actually exists in the mode of impermanence, etc.]. In the second sentence, I take aññathābhāvı̄ to mean “undergoing alteration,” i.e., becoming other than it was before. As Spk explains, “It is becoming otherwise by arriving at alteration, at change” (aññath̄bh̄vạ vipariṇāmaṃ upagamanena aññathābhāvı̄ hutv̄). In the expression bhavasatto, satto is the past participle of sajjati, glossed laggo, laggito, paḷibuddho. See in this connection Ud 32,29–32 (where the text should be corrected to bhavasatto ), Sn 756–57, and MN III 42,28–29. Here “world” (loko) is obviously intended in the sense of sattaloka, “the world of beings.”

  20 Spk: In this sutta, insight culminating in arahantship is discussed in forty-eight cases. Spk-pṭ: The “that is otherwise” passage should be added to each section, making eight items per section. Thus there are forty-eight cases. (Spk-pṭ does not explain why the combined passage on the aggregates, etc., and the phrase “he does not cling ...” could not be counted separately to give a total of fifty cases, which would correspond to the method adopted in the preceding sutta.)

  21 Spk: It is also abandoned for one who knows and sees by way of suffering and nonself, but impermanence is stated out of consideration for the inclination of the person being instructed.

  22 On the ten fetters (sạyojana), see 45:179–80.

  23 On the three taints (̄sava), see 38:8, 45:163; for the seven underlying tendencies (anusaya), see 45:175.

  24 For the four kinds of clinging (up̄d̄na), see 12:2, 45:173; for the three kinds of full understanding (pariññā), see n. 11 above. Spk paraphrases: “For the full understanding of all four kinds of clinging by the three kinds of full understanding.”

  25 Vimokkhā. An unusual construction. One would have expected vimuttiyā, the noun more directly related to vimuccati.

  26 He was the son of Visākhā, the chief patroness of the Saṅgha. His verses are at Th 417–22.

  27 Ekavihārı̄ ekavihārı̄. Cp. 21:10.

  28 Sadutiyavihārı̄. Dutiya, lit. “a second,” often signifies a spouse.

  29 See 1:20, 4:22.

  30 Māro vā assa mārapaññatti vā. Spk: By “Māra” he asks about death (marạa); “the description of Māra” is the description, name, appellation “Māra.” Cp. 23:11–12.

  31 Upasena was Sāriputta’s younger brother. His verses are at Th 577–86. Spk explains that the grotto was called “Snake’s Hood Grotto” (sappasonḍikapabbhāra) because of its shape.

  32 Spk: After his meal the elder had taken his large robe and was sitting in the shade of the cave doing some sewing. At that moment two young vipers were playing in the thatch over the cave; one fell and landed on the elder’s shoulder. Its mere touch was poisonous, and the poison spread over the elder’s body. He addressed the bhikkhus thus so that his body would not perish inside the cave.

  33 There is a word play in the exchange between Sāriputta and Upasena. The expression indriyānaṃ aññathatta, “alteration of the faculties,” is sometimes used as a euphemism meaning “profoundly distressed,” “not in one’s right mind” (see MN II 106,12). Here the text reads kāyassa vā aññathattaṃ indriyānaṃ vā vipariṇāmaṃ, but I think the implications are very similar. Sāriputta, then, is speaking literally while Upasena intends his words to be taken figuratively, as meaning that for one free from the notions of “I” and “mine” there is no distress even in the face of death. On being free from “I-making,” etc., see 21:2 (II 275,1–5) and II, n. 340.

  34 Sandiṭṭhiko dhammo. What follows is the standard formula for reflection on the Dhamma, minus only the first term, svākkhāto; see I, n. 33. Upavāṇa was the Buddha’s attendant when he was suffering from a wind ailment; see 7:13.

  35 Spk says that this sutta discusses the reflections of the trainee (in the first part) and of the arahant (in the second part).

  36 Be: anassasaṃ; Se and Ee: anassāsiṃ. This is the first person aorist of nassati. Spk glosses: naṭṭho nāma ahaṃ.

  37 Āyatiṃ apunabbhavāya. Spk: Here, “no future renewed existence” is Nibbāna. The meaning is, “It will be abandoned by you for the sake of Nibbāna.”

  38 See III, n. 167. The sequel is also at 22:87.

  39 Rāgavirāgatthaṃ. The sense of the expression is almost reiterative, since virāga itself means the absence of rāga or lust. But virāga originally meant the removal of colour, and thus the whole expression could be taken to mean the “fading away” of the “colour” spread by lust.

  40 The arising of the vision of the Dhamma (dhammacakkhu) means the attainment of one of the three lower stages of awakening, usually stream-entry.

  41 Anupādāparinibbānatthaṃ. Here there is a double entendre, for the Pāli upādā (or upādāna) means both clinging and fuel, so the goal of the Dhamma can also be understood as “the quenching (of a fire) through lack of fuel.” The fire, of course, is the threefold fire of lust, hatred, and delusion (see 35:28). Ee omits the next paragraph on the assumption that it is identical with the corresponding section of the preceding sutta, and Woodward follows suit at KS 4:25. This is not the case, however, in Be and Se. The preceding sutta mentions only the six internal bases, but this one enumerates all the phenomena that originate through each sense base. This may explain (at least in part) why the bhikkhu here attained arahantship, while the bhikkhu in the preceding sutta gained only the vision of the Dhamma.

  42 Though it may sound redundant to say that ignorance must be abandoned in order to abandon ignorance, this statement underscores the fact that ignorance is the most fundamental cause of bondage, which must be eliminated to eliminate all the other bonds.

  43 The first part of this instruction, as far as “he fully understands everything,” is included in the “brief advice on liberation through the extinction of craving” at MN I 251,21–25 and AN IV 88,11–15; the sequel is different. Spk: “He sees all signs differently” (sabbanimitt̄ni aññato passati): He sees all the signs of formations (saṅkhāranimitāni) in a way different from that of people who have not fully understood the adherences. For such people see all signs as self, but one who has fully understood the adherences sees them as nonself, not as self. Thus in this sutta the characteristic of nonself is discussed.

  44 See II, n. 72.

  45 Lujjatı̄ ti kho bhikkhu tasmā loko ti vuccati. On the playful didactic
attempt to derive loka from lujjati, see III, n. 186. On the six sense bases as “the world,” see 35:116.

  46 Spk explains chinnapapañca, “cut through proliferation,” as referring to “the proliferation of craving,” and chinnavaṭuma , “cut through the rut,” as referring to “the rut of craving.” The meaning of the question seems to be: Do the Buddhas of the past, on attaining the Nibbāna element without residue, still retain the six sense faculties?

  47 Yaṃ kho Ānanda palokadhammaṃ ayaṃ vuccati ariyassa vinaye loko. Paloka is from palujjati, “to disintegrate,” an augmented form of lujjati, and has no etymological connection with loka, world; see 35:82 just above.

  48 The sutta is also at MN No. 144, entitled the Channovāda Sutta. Obviously, this Channa is different from the one who appears at 22:90.

  49 What follows is the stock description of unbearable pain.

  50 Satthaṃ āharissāmi. An expression for committing suicide.

  51 Anupavajjaṃ Channo bhikkhu satthaṃ āharissati. By this he seems to be insinuating that he is an arahant. Spk glosses “blamelessly” (anupavajjạ) with “without continued existence, without rebirth (appavattikạ appạtisandhikaṃ).”

  52 Spk: Channa replied to Sāriputta’s questions by ascribing arahantship to himself, but Sāriputta, while knowing that he was still a worldling, just kept quiet. Mahācunda, however, gave him an exhortation to convince him of this.

  53 This “teaching of the Blessed One” is at Ud 81,6–10. Spk explains the connection between the teaching and the present situation thus: For one who is dependent (nissitassa): “dependent” on account of craving, conceit, and views; there is wavering (calitạ): palpitation. As Channa is unable to endure the arisen pain, there is now the palpitation of one who isn’t free from the grip of such thoughts as “I am in pain, the pain is mine.” By this, he is telling him, “You’re still a worldling.” No inclination (nati): no inclination of craving. No coming by way of rebirth, no going by way of death. This itself is the end of suffering: this itself is the end, the termination, the limit, of the suffering of defilements and of the suffering of the round. As to those who argue that the phrase “in between the two” (ubhayamantarena) implies an intermediate state (antar̄bhava), their statement is nonsense, for the existence of an intermediate state is rejected in the Abhidhamma. Therefore the meaning is: “Neither here, nor there, nor both—the other alternative.”Though the Theravāda Abhidhamma (see Kvu 362–66) and the commentaries argue against the existence of an antarābhava, a number of canonical texts seem to support this notion. See below n. 382, and V, n. 65.

  54 Spk: He cut his jugular vein and just then the fear of death entered him. As the sign of his rebirth destiny appeared, he realized he was still a worldling and his mind became agitated. He set up insight, discerned the formations, and reaching arahantship, he attained final Nibbāna as a “same-header” (saması̄sı̄; see I, n. 312).

  55 Spk: 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 recognize 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.

  56 The name of the village differs slightly among the various eds.; I follow Ee here. I take mittakulāni suhajjakulāni upavajjakul̄ni —the terms used to describe the lay families that supported the Venerable Channa—to be synonyms. The third term gives the opportunity for a word play. Spk glosses it as upasaṅkamitabbakulāni, “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.

  57 When the Buddha speaks about the conditions under which one is blameworthy (sa-upavajja), upavajja represents upavadya. Though earlier Spk explained the correct sense of upavajjakulāni, here the commentator seems oblivious to the pun and comments as if Channa had actually been at fault for associating too closely with lay people: “The Elder Sāriputta, showing the fault of intimacy with families (kulasạsaggadosa) in the preliminary stage of practice, asks: ‘When that bhikkhu had such supporters, could he have attained final Nibbāna?’ The Blessed One answers showing that he was not intimate with families.” For intimacy with families as a fault in monks, see 9:7, 16:3, 16:4, 20:9, 20:10.

  58 Also at MN No. 145, entitled Puṇṇovāda Sutta; the opening and closing paragraphs of the two versions are slightly different. According to Spk, Puṇṇa had been a merchant from the Sunāparanta country who came to Sāvatthı̄ on business. Hearing the Buddha preach, he decided to become a bhikkhu. After his ordination he found the area around Sāvatthı̄ uncongenial to his meditation and wished to return to his home country to continue his practice. He approached the Buddha to obtain guidance before departing. For biographical details, see DPPN 2:220–21. Sunāparanta was on the west coast of India. Its capital was Suppāraka, modern Sopāra in the district of Thāna near modern Mumbai.

  59 See 54:9.

  60 See I, n. 650.

  61 Ee omits ten’ ev’ antaravassena pañcamattāni upāsikāsatāni paṭipādesi, found in Be and Se (but in the latter with the verb paṭivedesi). At MN III 269,28–29 it is said that he attained final Nibbāna “at a later time” (aparena samayena), without specifying that this occurred during the same rains.

  62 Spk: Stirring (ej̄) is craving, so called in the sense of moving (calanạ̣hena). Anejā, “unstirred,” is a common description of an arahant.

  63 As at 35:30; see n. 16.

  64 As at 35:31; see n. 19.

  65 As at 35:23; see n. 8.

  66 I read with Be calañ c’eva byathañ ca. Se and Ee read vyayañ in place of byathañ, but Be seems to have the support of Spk and Spk-pṭ. Spk (Be): Calañ c’ eva byathañ cā ti attano sabhāvena asaṇṭhahanato calati c’ eva byathati ca; “Moving and tottering: it moves and totters because it does not remain stable in its own nature.” (Spk (Se) is the same, but with the v.l. asạvahanato.) Spk-pṭ: Byathatı̄ ti jarāya maraṇena ca pavedhati; “[It] totters: it trembles because of aging and death.” See too MW, s.v. vyath, to tremble, waver, come to naught, fail.

  67 Phuṭṭho bhikkhave vedeti phuṭṭho ceteti phuṭṭho sañjānāti. This shows the three aggregates of feeling, volitional formations, and perception respectively. Thus in regard to each physical sense base, all five aggregates are introduced: the sense base and its object belong to the aggregate of form; the corresponding consciousness to the aggregate of consciousness; and the other three aggregates arise from contact. In the case of the mind base, the physical basis of mind (vatthur̄pa) and, in certain cases, the object are the form aggregate.

  68 The title follows Be. In Se this sutta is called Cha phassāyatana, “The Six Bases for Contact,” and in Ee this sutta and the next are called Saṅgayha, “Including,” i.e., including verses.

  69 Dukkhādhivāhā. Spk: They are bringers (̄vahanak̄) of extreme suffering (adhidukkha), classified as infernal, etc.

  70 Sukhādhivāhā. Spk: They are bringers of extreme happiness, classified as jhāna, path, and fruit.

  71 Pāda a reads, papañcasaññā itarı̄tarā narā, on which Spk comments: “Common beings become ‘of proliferated perception’ on account of defiled perception (kilesasaññ̄ya).” On how “perceptions and notions affected by proliferation” arise
and obsess a person, see MN I 111,35–112,13. Papañca is explained by the commentaries as of threefold origin: through craving, conceit, and views (taṇh̄, māna, diṭṭhi) in their capacity to cause mental distortion and obsession. “Proliferated perception” might be interpreted as the distorted perception of permanence, pleasure, self, and beauty in relation to what is really impermanent, suffering, nonself, and foul (see the treatment of saññāvipallāsa at AN II 52). Such distorted perception is caused by the proliferating defilements.“Mind-state” renders manomaya, an adjective meaning “mind-made,” with the qualified noun left implicit. Spk glosses the second couplet thus: “Having dispelled every mind-made thought (manomayạ vitakkaṃ) connected to the ‘home life’ of the five cords of sensual pleasure, a competent bhikkhu travels on [the way] bound up with renunciation.” The contrast between worldly pleasure and the pleasure of renunciation is developed at MN III 217,13–218,6.