Saṃyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
48. Indriya Saṃyutta
2. Mudatara Vagga
Sutta 15
Paṭhama Vitthāra[1] Suttaṃ
In Detail (1)
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
Once upon a time Bhagava,
Sāvatthī-town revisiting.
There then the Lucky Man addressed the bhikkhus:
"Beggars!"
And the beggars responding:
"Bhadante"
The Lucky man said to them:
"There are these five forces,[2] beggars.
What five?
The force of faith,
the force of energy,
the force of mind,
the force of serenity,
the force of wisdom.
These, then, beggars,
are the five forces.
§
These five forces, then, beggars,
brought to completeness
culminate in becoming an arahant.[3]
Short of this, thorough Nibbāna midway.[4]
Short of this, thorough Nibbāna in less time.[5]
Short of this, thorough Nibbāna without own-making.[6]
Short of this, thorough Nibbāna with own-making.
Short of this, going upstream to the Akaniṭṭha[7] Realm.
Short of this becoming a Once Returner.
Short of this becoming a Streamwinner
Short of this becoming a Dhamma-follower.
Short of this becoming a faith-follower.[8]
[1] Vitthāra. The Buddha teaches either in brief or in detail.
[2] See the Glssology entry Indriyāni for a discussion of the difference (and how they can also be thought of as the same) between Indriya and Bala. PED for Indriya.
[3] Arahantship is here placed as the ultimate goal with those below being lesser accomplishments. Arahantship is in most other places said to be attained by persons still living in this world where in that case they would not yet be thought of as having fully attained the "culminating" point (parinibbāna) of the Dhamma.
[4] Antarā. Midway or in the middle. This means either between death here and thorough Nibbāna, or half way through the next life. Woodward: "release" (for parinibbāna) "midway"; Bhikkhu Bodhi: "in the interval". None of this, including my own here and elsewhere is clearly explained. My personal belief is that this means beween death of the body here and attainment of thoroughgoing Nibbāna. I justify this to myself by pointing to the state of the Non-Returner going to the Pure Abodes four steps below this, where such a one is described as attaining Nibbāna half-way (midway) through that life. A much lower attainment.
[5] Upahacca. Reduced. Broken up. Partly destroyed. This is understood to mean that the individual's time either here or in some other world is reduced. But there is nothing in the term that speaks of time. Woodward: "reduction of his time", Bhikkhu Bodhi: "upon landing". Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation makes no sense to me at all. There is no mention of "landing" in the Pāḷi.
[6] Saṅkhāra: a-saṅkhāra, sa-saṅkhāra Identification with the intent to create personal pleasurable sense experience through acts of thought, word, and deed and the identified with result. I translate with "own-making" because that is what it means and there is some justification in the etymology: saṅ = self =own; khāra = making. Bhkkhu Thanissaro: fabrications; Woodward here: trouble; PTS generally: conditioning, activities; Bhikkhu Bodhi: exertion, usually volitional or intentional activities. I explain this to myself in this way: the person without own-making does no longer do stuff, but may have stuff from past own-making that has yet to be dealt with; in the second case the person is still identifying with the making or doing of things to be experienced.
[7] Akaniṭṭha. No youngsters here. The highest of the Brahmā realms which is also the highest of the Pure Abodes; the Suddhavasa Realms: Aviha, Attappa, Sudassa, Sudassi, and Akaniṭṭha: — (listed in ascending order) special abodes where Non-Returners gather in an atmosphere highly conducive to attaining final Nibbāna. Life in these realms always ends in realizing Nibbāna.
PED: akaniṭṭha "not the smaller" i.e. the greatest, highest; in akaniṭṭhagāmin going to the highest gods.
[8] Elsewhere (SN 5.55.24) these latter two are also spoken of as Stream-winners.
