Pañcattayasutta

Majjhima Nikāya 102

The Five and Three · Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral

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just asSeyyathāpi indeednāma of a tradervāṇijassa for tradingvāṇijjāya goinggacchato thusevaṁ it occurshoti:
from this‘ito for meme thisidaṁ will bebhavissati, with thisiminā thisidaṁ I shall getlacchāmī’ti;
just so theseevamevime sirsbhonto ascetics and brahminssamaṇabrāhmaṇā like tradersvāṇijūpamā I thinkmaññe they appearpaṭibhanti:
thus‘iti after deathpecca we will bebhavissāma, thusiti after deathpecca we will bebhavissāmā’ti.
that thisTayidaṁ, monksbhikkhave, the Realized Onetathāgato understandsabhijānāti.
thoseYe indeedkho thosete sirsbhonto ascetics and brahminssamaṇabrāhmaṇā of an existingsato beingsattassa annihilationucchedaṁ eradicationvināsaṁ nonexistencevibhavaṁ they assertpaññapenti thosete from fear of substantial realitysakkāyabhayā from disgust with substantial realitysakkāyaparijegucchā around substantial reality itselfsakkāyaññeva they keep running aroundanuparidhāvanti they keep circling aroundanuparivattanti.
just asSeyyathāpi indeednāma thatsā mutt on a leashgaddulabaddho to a strongdaḷhe postthambhe orvā pillarkhile orvā tetheredupanibaddho, around that sametameva postthambhaṁ orvā pillarkhilaṁ orvā it keeps running aroundanuparidhāvati it keeps circling aroundanuparivattati;
just so theseevamevime sirsbhonto ascetics and brahminssamaṇabrāhmaṇā from fear of substantial realitysakkāyabhayā from disgust with substantial realitysakkāyaparijegucchā around substantial reality itselfsakkāyaññeva they keep running aroundanuparidhāvanti they keep circling aroundanuparivattanti.
that this‘Tayidaṁ conditionedsaṅkhataṁ crudeoḷārikaṁ there isatthi indeedkho butpana of conditionssaṅkhārānaṁ cessationnirodho that is realatthetan’ti—
thusiti having understoodviditvā of thattassa seeing the escapenissaraṇadassāvī the Realized Onetathāgato gone beyond thattadupātivatto.

Suppose a trader was going to market, thinking: “With this, that shall be mine! This way, I shall get that!” In the same way, those ascetics and brahmins seem to be like traders when they say: “After death we shall be like this! After death we shall be like that!”’ The Realized One understands this as follows. The ascetics and brahmins who assert the annihilation, eradication, and nonexistence of an existing being; from fear and disgust with substantial reality, they just keep running and circling around substantial reality. Suppose a mutt on a leash was tethered to a strong post or pillar. It would just keeping running and circling around that post or pillar. In the same way, those ascetics and brahmins, from fear and disgust with substantial reality, just keep running and circling around substantial reality. ‘All that 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.

whoeverYe indeedhi anykeci, O monksbhikkhave, asceticssamaṇā orvā brahminsbrāhmaṇā orvā speculating about the final endaparantakappikā theorizing about the final endaparantānudiṭṭhino the final endaparantaṁ concerningārabbha various hypothesesanekavihitāni proposalsadhivuttipadāni proposeabhivadanti, allsabbe theyte just theseimāneva five topicspañcāyatanāni proposeabhivadanti of theseetesaṁ orvā one or otheraññataraṁ.

Whatever ascetics and brahmins speculate and theorize about the final end, and propose various hypotheses concerning the final end, all of them propose one or other of these five topics.

There are some ascetics and brahmins who speculate and theorize about the first beginning, and propose various hypotheses concerning the first beginning. They propose the following, each insisting that theirs is the only truth and that everything else is wrong. ‘The self and the cosmos are eternal.’ ‘The self and the cosmos are not eternal.’ ‘The self and the cosmos are both eternal and not eternal.’ ‘The self and the cosmos are neither eternal nor not eternal.’ ‘The self and the cosmos are finite.’ ‘The self and the cosmos are infinite.’ ‘The self and the cosmos are both finite and infinite.’ ‘The self and the cosmos are neither finite nor infinite.’

‘The self and the cosmos are unified in perception.’ ‘The self and the cosmos are diverse in perception.’ ‘The self and the cosmos have limited perception.’ ‘The self and the cosmos have limitless perception.’ ‘The self and the cosmos experience nothing but happiness.’ ‘The self and the cosmos experience absolute suffering.’ ‘The self and the cosmos experience both happiness and suffering.’ ‘The self and the cosmos experience neither happiness nor suffering.’

thereTatra, monksbhikkhave, whoye thosete ascetics and brahminssamaṇabrāhmaṇā holding such a doctrineevaṁvādino holding such a viewevaṁdiṭṭhino:
eternal‘sassato the selfattā andca the cosmosloko andca, this veryidameva truthsaccaṁ anything else is futilemoghamaññan’ti, for themtesaṁ indeedvata apart from faith itselfaññatreva from faithsaddhāya apart fromaññatra from endorsementruciyā apart fromaññatra from oral transmissionanussavā apart fromaññatra from reasoned train of thoughtākāraparivitakkā apart fromaññatra from acceptance of a view after deliberationdiṭṭhinijjhānakkhantiyā personal knowledge itselfpaccattaṁyeva knowledgeñāṇaṁ will bebhavissati pureparisuddhaṁ bright—that is notpariyodātanti—netaṁ a possibilityṭhānaṁ existsvijjati.
personalPaccattaṁ indeedkho butpana, monksbhikkhave, in knowledgeñāṇe being absentasati pureparisuddhe brightpariyodāte whateveryadapi thosete honorablebhonto ascetics and brahminssamaṇabrāhmaṇā theretattha only the portion of knowledgeñāṇabhāgamattameva they illuminatepariyodapenti that tootadapi of themtesaṁ of the honorablebhavataṁ of the ascetics and brahminssamaṇabrāhmaṇānaṁ is said to be graspingupādānamakkhāyati.
that too‘Tayidaṁ conditionedsaṅkhataṁ coarseoḷārikaṁ there isatthi indeedkho butpana of conditionssaṅkhārānaṁ the cessationnirodho this is realatthetan’ti—
thusiti having understoodviditvā of ittassa seeing the escapenissaraṇadassāvī the Realized Onetathāgato has gone beyond thattadupātivatto.

Now, consider the ascetics and brahmins whose view is as follows. ‘The self and the cosmos are eternal. This is the only truth, anything else is futile.’ It’s simply not possible for them to have personal knowledge of this that is pure and bright, apart from faith, endorsement, oral transmission, reasoned train of thought, or acceptance of a view after deliberation. But in the absence of personal knowledge that is pure and bright, even the portion of knowledge they illuminate is said to be grasping on their part. ‘All that 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.

Now, consider the ascetics and brahmins whose view is as follows. The self and the cosmos are not eternal, or both eternal and not eternal, or neither eternal nor not-eternal, or finite, or infinite, or both finite and infinite, or neither finite nor infinite, or of unified perception, or of diverse perception, or of limited perception, or of limitless perception, or experience nothing but happiness, or experience absolute suffering,

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