Leigh Brasington
/ 
/ Revised 18 May 14
|
M i 167 |
Translated from the Pali by
Bhikkhu Bodhi and The Middle Length Discourses © 2005 |
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu © 1997–2004 |
Translated from the Pali by
Sister Upalavanna |
Adapted from these translations and the Pali by Leigh Brasington |
18. So kho ahaṃ bhikkhave attanā jātidhammo samāno jātidhamme ādīnavaṃ viditvā ajātaṃ anuttaraṃ yogakkhemaṃ nibbānaṃ pariyesamāno ajātaṃ anuttaraṃ yogakkhemaṃ nibbānaṃ ajjhagamaṃ. Attanā jarādhammo ... Attanā byādhidhammo ... Attanā maraṇadhammo ... Attanā sokadhammo ... Attanā saṅkilesadhammo samāno saṅkilesa dhamme ādīnavaṃ viditvā asaṅkiliṭṭhaṃ anuttaraṃ yogakkhemaṃ nibbānaṃ pariyesamāno asaṅkiliṭṭhaṃ anuttaraṃ yogakkhemaṃ nibbānaṃ ajjhagamaṃ. | 18. (sumarized) "Then, bhikkhus, being myself subject to birth, ageing, sickness, death, sorrow, defilement, having understood the danger in what is subject to birth, ageing, sickness, death, sorrow, defilement, seeking the unborn, unageing, unailing, deathless, sorrowless, undefiled supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna, I attained the unborn, unageing, unailing, deathless, sorrowless, undefiled supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; | (sumarized) "Then, monks, being subject myself to birth... aging... illness... death... sorrow... defilement, seeing the drawbacks of birth... aging... illness... death... sorrow... defilement, seeking the unborn, aging-less, illness-less, deathless, sorrow-less, unexcelled rest from the yoke, Unbinding, I reached the unborn, aging-less, illness-less, deathless, sorrow-less, unexcelled rest from the yoke: Unbinding. | (sumarized) "Then bhikkhus, I a subject of birth, decay, illness, death, grief, defiling, knowing the dangers of birth, decay, illness, death, grief, defiling was searching the not-born, non-decaying not-ailing, not-dying, not-grieving, not-defiling noble end of the yoke and attained extinction. |
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| Ñāṇañca pana me dassanaṃ udapādi: 'akuppā me vimutti. Ayamantimā jāti. Natthidāni punabbhavo'ti. | The knowledge and vision arose in me: ‘My deliverance is unshakeable; this is my last birth; now there is no renewal of being.’ | Knowledge & vision arose in me: 'Unprovoked is my release. This is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.' | Then knowledge and vision arose to me, my release is unchanged, this is my last birth, there is no more birth. | |
| 19. Tassa mayhaṃ bhikkhave etadahosi: adhigato kho myāyaṃ dhammo gambhīro duddaso duranubodho santo paṇīto atakkāvacaro nipuṇo paṇḍitavedanīyo. | 19. “I considered: ‘This Dhamma that I have attained is profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise.305 | "Then the thought occurred to me, 'This Dhamma that I have attained is deep, hard to see, hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise.3 | "Bhikkhus, it occurred to me. This Teaching that I have realised is deep, difficult to see, and understand, appeasing and exalted, it cannot be realised logically. It is clever and should be understood by the wise. | |
| Ālayarāmā kho panāyaṃ pajā ālayaratā ālayasammuditā. | But this generation delights in attachment, takes delight in attachment, rejoices in attachment.306 | But this generation delights in attachment, is excited by attachment, enjoys attachment. | The populace fond of settling and attached to settling, | "But this generation delights in its lifestyle,1 takes delight in its lifestyle, rejoices in its lifestyle. |
| Ālayarāmāya kho pana pajāya ālayaratāya ālayasammuditāya duddasaṃ idaṃ ṭhānaṃ yadidaṃ idappaccayatāpaṭiccasamuppādo. | It is hard for such a generation to see this truth, namely, specific conditionality, dependent origination. | For a generation delighting in attachment, excited by attachment, enjoying attachment, this/that conditionality & dependent co-arising are hard to see. | does not see this difficult point, that dependent arising is from this cause. | For a generation delighting in, excited by and enjoying its lifestyle, it is hard to see this/that conditionality,2 dependent origination. |
| Idampi kho ṭhānaṃ duddasaṃ yadidaṃ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhakkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānaṃ. | And it is hard to see this truth, namely, the stilling of all formations, the relinquishing of all acquisitions,299 the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nibbāna." | This state, too, is hard to see: the resolution of all fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding." | This point too is difficult to see, that is the appeasement of all determinations and the giving up of all endearments, destruction of craving, detachment, cessation and extinction." | This too is hard to see: the calming of all fabrications, the relinquishing of all assets,3 the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nibbāna." |
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299. Upadhi: The root meaning is foundation, basis, ground (PED). In the commentaries various kinds of upadhi are enumerated, among them the five aggregates, objects of sensual pleasure, defilements, and kamma. Ñm renders the term consistently throughout as “essentials of existence,” which often obscures its clear contextual meaning. I have tried to capture the several connotations of the word by rendering it “acquisitions” where its objective meaning is prominent (as it is here) and as “acquisition” where its subjective meaning is prominent. Nibbāna is called “the relinquishing of all acquisitions” (sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo), with both meanings intended.
305. MA identifies “this Dhamma” with the Four Noble Truths. The two truths or states (ṭhana) spoken of just below—dependent origination and Nibbāna—are the truths of the origin of suffering and the cessation of suffering, which respectively imply the truths of suffering and the path. 306. Ālaya. It is difficult to find for this word a suitable English equivalent that has not already been assigned to a more frequently occurring Pali term. Horner renders it as “sensual pleasure,” which appropriates the usual rendering of kāma and may be too narrow. In Ms and in other published works Ñm translates it as “something to rely on,” which may draw upon a connotation of the word that is not the one intended here. MA explains ālaya as comprising both objective sense pleasures and the thoughts of craving concerned with them. |
3. The section is recounted in the third person at SN 6.1. | 1. As Bhikkhu Bodhi says in note 306, Ālaya is a difficult word to translate. According to the PED, it means both "roosting place, perch, i. e. abode settling place, house" and "'hanging on', attachment, desire, clinging, lust." I suspect both meanings are meant here, so have chosen the word "lifestyle" to translate it.
2. Idappaccayatā - having its foundation in this, i. e. causally connected. 3. Upadhi. Upadhi has two distinct shades of meaning. Primarily, in accordance with its etymology it means ‘foundation’, ‘basis’, ‘ground’, ‘substratum’ or ‘support’. Secondarily, in verse 6 of MN 26, ‘wife and children, men and women slaves, goats and sheep, fowl and pigs, elephants, cattle, horses, and mares, gold and silver’ are referred to a upadhi. Perhaps the term ‘assets’ will do justice to both senses, since assets are ‘things’ laid by which one ‘relies on’ as supports. Upadhi covers the whole gamut of footholds or assets, which culture provides for measuring self-identity: gender, nationality, ethnicity, rank, occupation, power, wealth and status symbols. (From John Peacock's The Ubiquity of Dukkha: The Aetiology of Distress in Early Buddhism.) See also Bhikkhu Bodhi's note 299. |
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Leigh Brasington
/
/ Revised 18 May 14