Pañcattayasutta

Majjhima Nikāya 102

The Five and Three · Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral

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Evaṁ me sutaṁ—
ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.
Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:
“bhikkhavo”ti.
“Bhadante”ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ.
Bhagavā etadavoca:

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:

“santi, bhikkhave, eke samaṇabrāhmaṇā aparantakappikā aparantānudiṭṭhino aparantaṁ ārabbha anekavihitāni adhivuttipadāni abhivadanti.
‘Saññī attā hoti arogo paraṁ maraṇā’ti—
ittheke abhivadanti;
‘asaññī attā hoti arogo paraṁ maraṇā’ti—
ittheke abhivadanti;
‘nevasaññīnāsaññī attā hoti arogo paraṁ maraṇā’ti—
ittheke abhivadanti;
sato vā pana sattassa ucchedaṁ vināsaṁ vibhavaṁ paññapenti, diṭṭhadhammanibbānaṁ vā paneke abhivadanti.
Iti santaṁ vā attānaṁ paññapenti arogaṁ paraṁ maraṇā, sato vā pana sattassa ucchedaṁ vināsaṁ vibhavaṁ paññapenti, diṭṭhadhammanibbānaṁ vā paneke abhivadanti.
Iti imāni pañca hutvā tīṇi honti, tīṇi hutvā pañca honti—
ayamuddeso pañcattayassa.

“Mendicants, there are some ascetics and brahmins who speculate and theorize about the final end, and propose various hypotheses concerning the final end. Some propose this: ‘The self is percipient and healthy after death.’ Some propose this: ‘The self is non-percipient and healthy after death.’ Some propose this: ‘The self is neither percipient nor non-percipient and healthy after death.’ But some assert the annihilation, eradication, and nonexistence of an existing being, while others propose extinguishment in this life. Thus they assert an existent self that is healthy after death; or they assert the annihilation of an existing being; while some propose extinguishment in this life. In this way five become three, and three become five. This is the summary recital of the five and three.

Now, the ascetics and brahmins who propose a self that is percipient and healthy after death describe it as formed, or formless, or both formed and formless, or neither formed nor formless. Or they propose a self of unified perception, or of diverse perception, or of limited perception, or of limitless perception. Or some among those who go beyond this propose universal consciousness, limitless and imperturbable.

Tayidaṁ, bhikkhave, tathāgato abhijānāti.

The Realized One understands this as follows.

There are ascetics and brahmins who assert a self that is percipient and healthy after death, describing it as formed, or formless, or both formed and formless, or neither formed nor formless. Or they describe it as of unified perception, or of diverse perception, or of limited perception, or of limitless perception.

yadi rūpasaññānaṁ yadi arūpasaññānaṁ yadi ekattasaññānaṁ yadi nānattasaññānaṁ.
‘Natthi kiñcī’ti ākiñcaññāyatanameke abhivadanti appamāṇaṁ āneñjaṁ.
‘Tayidaṁ saṅkhataṁ oḷārikaṁ atthi kho pana saṅkhārānaṁ nirodho atthetan’ti—
iti viditvā tassa nissaraṇadassāvī tathāgato tadupātivatto.

Or some, aware that ‘there is nothing at all’, propose the dimension of nothingness, limitless and imperturbable. They declare that this is the purest, highest, best, and supreme of all those perceptions, whether of form or of formlessness or of unity or of diversity. ‘That much is conditioned and crude. But there is the cessation of conditions—that is real.’ Understanding this and seeing the escape from it, the Realized One has gone beyond all that.

Tatra, bhikkhave, ye te samaṇabrāhmaṇā asaññiṁ attānaṁ paññapenti arogaṁ paraṁ maraṇā, rūpiṁ vā te bhonto samaṇabrāhmaṇā asaññiṁ attānaṁ paññapenti arogaṁ paraṁ maraṇā, arūpiṁ vā te bhonto samaṇabrāhmaṇā asaññiṁ attānaṁ paññapenti arogaṁ paraṁ maraṇā, rūpiñca arūpiñca vā te bhonto samaṇabrāhmaṇā asaññiṁ attānaṁ paññapenti arogaṁ paraṁ maraṇā, nevarūpiṁ nārūpiṁ vā te bhonto samaṇabrāhmaṇā asaññiṁ attānaṁ paññapenti arogaṁ paraṁ maraṇā.

Now, the ascetics and brahmins who assert a self that is non-percipient and healthy after death describe it as formed, or formless, or both formed and formless, or neither formed nor formless.

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