Saɱyutta Nikāya
4. Saḷāyatana Vagga
35. Saḷāyatana Saɱyutta
§ I: Mūla-Paññāsa
2. Yamaka Vagga
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
IV. The Book of the Six Sense Bases
35: Connected Discourses on the Six Sense Bases
The Root Fifty
2. The Pairs
Suttas 13-14
Sambodha Suttaɱ 1-2
Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Copyright Bhikkhu Bodhi 2000, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)
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Sutta 13
Sambodha Suttaɱ 1
Before My Enlightenment 1
"Bhikkhus, before my enlightenment, [7] while I was still a bodhisatta, not yet fully enlightened, it occurred to me:
'What is the gratification, what is the danger, what is the escape in the case of the eye?
What is the gratification, what is the danger, what is the escape in the case of the ear ... the nose ... the tongue ... the body ... the mind?'
"Then, bhikkhus, it occurred to me:
'The pleasure and joy that arise in dependence on the eye: this is the gratification in the eye.
That the eye is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change: this is the danger in the eye.
The removal and abandonment of desire and lust for the eye: this is the escape from the eye.
"'The pleasure and joy that arise in dependence on the ear ... the nose ... the tongue ... the body ... the mind: this is the gratification in the mind.
That the mind is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change: this is the danger in the mind.
The removal and abandonment of desire and lust for the mind: this is the escape from the mind.'
"So long, bhikkhus, as I did not directly know as they really are the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these six internal sense bases, I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans.
But when I directly knew all this as it really is, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with ... its devas and humans.
[8] "The knowledge and vision arose in me:
'Unshakable is my liberation of mind; this is my last birth; now there is no more renewed existence."
Sutta 14
Sambodha Suttaɱ 2
Before My Enlightenment 2
(The same is repeated for the six external sense bases.)
