Saṃyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
12. Nidāna Saṃyutta
3. Dasa-Balā 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
3. The 'Ten Powers' Suttas
Sutta 22
Dutiya Dasa-Balā Suttaṃ
The Ten Powers (2)
Translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Assisted by F. L. Woodward
Originally Published by
The Pali Text Society
Public Domain
[1][bodh][olds] Thus have I heard:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī at the Jeta Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
And there the Exalted One addressed the brethren, saying:
"Brethren!"
"Master!" responded those brethren.
The Exalted One said:
"The Tathāgata, brethren,
endowed with the ten powers,
and the four confidences,
claims the Place of the Bull;
he roars the Lion's Roar amid the congregations;
he turns the Divine Wheel,
saying:
'Such is material shape,
such is its arising,
such is its passing away;
such is feeling,
such is its arising,
such is its passing away;
such is perception,
such is its arising,
such is its passing away;
such are activities,
such is its arising,
such is its passing away;
such is consciousness,
such is its arising,
such is its passing away.'
Thus:
'This' being,
'that' becomes;
from the arising of this,
that arises;
this not being,
that becomes not;
from the ceasing of this,
that ceases.
That is to say,
Conditioned by ignorance activities come to pass;
conditioned by activities consciousness,
conditioned by consciousness name-and-shape,
conditioned by name-and-shape sense,
conditioned by sense contact,
conditioned by contact feeling,
conditioned by feeling craving,
conditioned by craving [24] grasping,
conditioned by grasping becoming,
conditioned by becoming birth,
conditioned by birth old age-and death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow, despair come to pass.
Such is the uprising of this entire mass of ill.
But from the utter fading away and ceasing of ignorance [comes] ceasing of activities;
from ceasing of activities ceasing of consciousness;
from ceasing of consciousness ceasing of name-and-shape;
from ceasing of name-and-shape ceasing of sense;
from ceasing of sense ceasing of contact;
from ceasing of contact ceasing of feeling;
from ceasing of feeling ceasing of craving;
from ceasing of craving ceasing of grasping;
from ceasing of grasping ceasing of becoming;
from ceasing of becoming ceasing of birth;
from ceasing of birth,
old age-and-death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow, despair cease.
Such is the ceasing of this entire mass of ill."
§
"Thus, brethren, the Norm being well declared by me,
made manifest,
disclosed,
brought to light,
stripped of its swathings,[1]
it is enough for the clansman
who has left the world through faith
to stir up energy
and vow:
'Verily let skin and sinews and bones wilt in my body,
let flesh and blood dry up,
yet shall there be upkeep of energy
till I have won
that which by man's strength,
by man's energy,
by man's progress
may be won!'[2]
Sadly, brethren,
lives the man of sloth,
involved in bad,
wicked things.
Great is the salvation
which he fails to win.
But he of stirred up energy
lives happily,
aloof from bad,
wicked things.
Great is the salvation
that he makes perfect.
Not by that which is low, brethren,
may the highest be won;
by that which is highest
may the highest be won.
Worthy of praise, brethren,
is this divine life.
The Teacher has come to you
face to face.
Wherefore stir up energy
that ye may win
what is not won,
that ye may attain
what is not attained,
that ye may realize
what is unrealized.
Thus will this
our leaving the world
not be barren,
but a fruitful
and a growing thing.
Verily the necessaries that we enjoy:
the equipment of robes,
alms,
lodging
and medicine,
though they be humble,
shall be to us
of great profit
and advantage.'
For thus, brethren,
must ye train yourselves:
If a man discern his own good,[3]
this is enough to call up earnestness;
if [25] he discern another's good,
this is enough to call up earnestness;
if he discern both his own and another's good,
this is enough to call up earnestness.
[1] Chinna-püotiko, having a cut-off tailored garment. See * Pilotiko. Cf. Jāt. i, 220.
[2] Cf. xxi, § 3. This adjuration recurs in other books (M. i, 481; A. i, 50) as a learner's maxim, and in the later Jātaka Comy. (i, 71) is said to have been vowed by Gotama himself in his mental wrestling beneath the Bo-tree. Cf. 'The Will in Buddhism,' JRAS, 1898, p. 50.
[3] 'Good' and 'salvation' (above) are attha and sadattha respectively. Att'attha, viz., arahantship. Comy.
Of Related Interest:
The Ten Powers and the Four Confidences of the Tathāgata,
MN 12: The Greater Discourse on the Lion's Roar
AN 10.21
