Saṃyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
12. Nidāna-Saṃyutta
1. Buddha Vagga
Sutta 6
Vessabhu Suttaṃ
Vessabhu
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
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:
"To Vessabhu, beggars,
Lucky Man,
Arahant,
Consummately Self-Awakened,
before his self-awakening,
not yet self-awakened,
came this thought:
'Living in misery is the world,
subject to
birth and
aging and
death and
cessation and
rebirth.
And still
the escape from
this painful aging and death
is not known.
Surely the
escape from
this painful aging and death
can be fully understood.'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there aging and death?
What rebounds as aging and death?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being birth,
aging and death comes to be.
Birth rebounds as
aging and death.'
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there birth?
What rebounds as birth?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being existence, birth comes to be.
Existence rebounds as birth.'
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there existence?
What rebounds as existence?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being getting bound-up,
existence comes to be.
Getting bound-up
rebounds as existence.'
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there getting bound-up?
What rebounds as getting bound-up?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being thirst,
getting bound-up comes to be.
Thirst rebounds as
getting bound-up.'
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there thirst?
What rebounds as thirst?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being sensation,
thirst comes to be.
Sensation rebounds as
thirst.'
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there sensation?
What rebounds as sensation?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being touch,
sensation comes to be.
Touch rebounds as
sensation.'
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there touch?
What rebounds as touch?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being the six-realms,
touch comes to be.
The six-realms rebounds as
touch.'
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there the six-realms?
What rebounds as the six-realms?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being named forms,
the six-realms comes to be.
Named forms rebounds as
the six-realms.'
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there named form?
What rebounds as named form?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being consciousness,
named forms come to be.
Consciousness rebounds as
named form.'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there consciousness?
What rebounds as consciousness?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being own-making,
consciousness comes to be.
Own-making rebounds as
consciousness.'
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There being what,
is there own-making?
What rebounds as own-making?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There being blindness,
own-making comes to be.
Blindness rebounds as
own-making.'
-◦-
So
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.
Even thus
is the self-arising
of this pile of pain
made to be.
Then, thinking:
'Self-arising! Self-arising!'
to Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
of things not heard before,
eye arose,
knowledge arose,
wisdom arose,
vision arose,
light arose.
■
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no aging and death?
What ending ends aging and death?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being birth,
aging and death is ended.
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no birth?
What ending ends birth?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being existence, birth is ended.
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no existence?
What ending ends existence?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being getting bound-up,
existence is ended.
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no getting bound-up?
What ending ends getting bound-up?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being thirst,
getting bound-up is ended.
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no thirst?
What ending ends thirst?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being sensation,
thirst is ended.
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no sensation?
What ending ends sensation?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being touch,
sensation is ended.
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no touch?
What ending ends touch?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being the six-realms,
touch is ended.
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no the six-realms?
What ending ends the six-realms?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being named forms,
the six-realms is ended.
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no named form?
What ending ends named form?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being consciousness,
named form is ended.
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no consciousness?
What ending ends consciousness?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being own-making,
consciousness is ended.
-◦-
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
addressed this to himself:
'There not being what,
is there no own-making?
What ending ends own-making?'
There then, beggars,
Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
tracing things to their point of origin,
there came the penetrating knowledge:
'There not being blindness,
own-making is ended.
-◦-
So
ending blindness,
ends own-making
ending own-making,
ends consciousness
ending consciousness,
ends named-form
ending named-form,
ends the six-realms
ending the six-realms,
ends touch
ending touch,
ends sensation
ending sensation,
ends thirst
ending thirst,
ends bind-ups
ending bind-ups,
ends existence
ending existence,
ends birth
ending birth,
ends aging and death
grief and lamentation
pain and misery
and despair
becoming one's own.
Even thus
is the ending
of this pile of pain
made to be.
Then, thinking:
'Ending! Ending!'
to Vessabhu, the Awakened to Be,
of things not heard before,
eye arose,
knowledge arose,
wisdom arose,
vision arose,
light arose."
