Mahādukkhakkhandhasutta

Majjhima Nikāya 13

Mahādukkhakkhandhasutta

The Longer Discourse on the Mass of Suffering · Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral

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Puna caparaṁ, bhikkhave, kāmahetu kāmanidānaṁ kāmādhikaraṇaṁ kāmānameva hetu kāyena duccaritaṁ caranti, vācāya duccaritaṁ caranti, manasā duccaritaṁ caranti.
Te kāyena duccaritaṁ caritvā, vācāya duccaritaṁ caritvā, manasā duccaritaṁ caritvā, kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā apāyaṁ duggatiṁ vinipātaṁ nirayaṁ upapajjanti.
Ayampi, bhikkhave, kāmānaṁ ādīnavo samparāyiko, dukkhakkhandho kāmahetu kāmanidānaṁ kāmādhikaraṇaṁ kāmānameva hetu.

Furthermore, for the sake of sensual pleasures, they conduct themselves badly by way of body, speech, and mind. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell. This is a drawback of sensual pleasures to do with lives to come, a mass of suffering caused by sensual pleasures.

Kiñca, bhikkhave, kāmānaṁ nissaraṇaṁ?
Yo kho, bhikkhave, kāmesu chandarāgavinayo chandarāgappahānaṁ—idaṁ kāmānaṁ nissaraṇaṁ.

And what is the escape from sensual pleasures? Removing and giving up desire and greed for sensual pleasures: this is the escape from sensual pleasures.

Ye hi keci, bhikkhave, samaṇā vā brāhmaṇā vā evaṁ kāmānaṁ assādañca assādato ādīnavañca ādīnavato nissaraṇañca nissaraṇato yathābhūtaṁ nappajānanti te vata sāmaṁ vā kāme parijānissanti, paraṁ vā tathattāya samādapessanti yathā paṭipanno kāme parijānissatīti—netaṁ ṭhānaṁ vijjati.
Ye ca kho keci, bhikkhave, samaṇā vā brāhmaṇā vā evaṁ kāmānaṁ assādañca assādato ādīnavañca ādīnavato nissaraṇañca nissaraṇato yathābhūtaṁ pajānanti, te vata sāmaṁ vā kāme parijānissanti paraṁ vā tathattāya samādapessanti yathā paṭipanno kāme parijānissatīti—ṭhānametaṁ vijjati.

There are ascetics and brahmins who don’t truly understand sensual pleasures’ gratification, drawback, and escape in this way for what they are. It’s impossible for them to completely understand sensual pleasures themselves, or to instruct another so that, practicing accordingly, they will completely understand sensual pleasures. There are ascetics and brahmins who do truly understand sensual pleasures’ gratification, drawback, and escape in this way for what they are. It is possible for them to completely understand sensual pleasures themselves, or to instruct another so that, practicing accordingly, they will completely understand sensual pleasures.

Ko ca, bhikkhave, rūpānaṁ assādo?
Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, khattiyakaññā vā brāhmaṇakaññā vā gahapatikaññā vā pannarasavassuddesikā vā soḷasavassuddesikā vā, nātidīghā nātirassā nātikisā nātithūlā nātikāḷī nāccodātā paramā sā, bhikkhave, tasmiṁ samaye subhā vaṇṇanibhāti?
‘Evaṁ, bhante’.
Yaṁ kho, bhikkhave, subhaṁ vaṇṇanibhaṁ paṭicca uppajjati sukhaṁ somanassaṁ—
ayaṁ rūpānaṁ assādo.

And what is the gratification of forms? Suppose there was a girl of the brahmins, aristocrats, or householders in her fifteenth or sixteenth year, neither too tall nor too short, neither too thin nor too fat, neither too dark nor too fair. Is she not at the height of her beauty and prettiness?” “Yes, sir.” “The pleasure and happiness that arise from this beauty and prettiness is the gratification of forms.

Ko ca, bhikkhave, rūpānaṁ ādīnavo?
Idha, bhikkhave, tameva bhaginiṁ passeyya aparena samayena āsītikaṁ vā nāvutikaṁ vā vassasatikaṁ vā jātiyā, jiṇṇaṁ gopānasivaṅkaṁ bhoggaṁ daṇḍaparāyanaṁ pavedhamānaṁ gacchantiṁ āturaṁ gatayobbanaṁ khaṇḍadantaṁ palitakesaṁ, vilūnaṁ khalitasiraṁ valinaṁ tilakāhatagattaṁ.
Taṁ kiṁ maññatha, bhikkhave,
yā purimā subhā vaṇṇanibhā sā antarahitā, ādīnavo pātubhūtoti?
‘Evaṁ, bhante’.
Ayampi, bhikkhave, rūpānaṁ ādīnavo.

And what is the drawback of forms? Suppose that some time later you were to see that same sister—eighty, ninety, or a hundred years old—bent double, crooked, leaning on a staff, trembling as they walk, ailing, past their prime, with teeth broken, hair grey and scanty or bald, skin wrinkled, and limbs blotchy. What do you think, mendicants? Has not that former beauty vanished and the drawback become clear?” “Yes, sir.” “This is the drawback of forms.

Puna caparaṁ, bhikkhave, tameva bhaginiṁ passeyya ābādhikaṁ dukkhitaṁ bāḷhagilānaṁ, sake muttakarīse palipannaṁ semānaṁ, aññehi vuṭṭhāpiyamānaṁ, aññehi saṁvesiyamānaṁ.
Taṁ kiṁ maññatha, bhikkhave,
yā purimā subhā vaṇṇanibhā sā antarahitā, ādīnavo pātubhūtoti?
‘Evaṁ, bhante’.
Ayampi, bhikkhave, rūpānaṁ ādīnavo.

Furthermore, suppose that you were to see that same sister sick, suffering, gravely ill, collapsed in her own urine and feces, being picked up by some and put down by others. What do you think, mendicants? Has not that former beauty vanished and the drawback become clear?” “Yes, sir.” “This too is the drawback of forms.

Puna caparaṁ, bhikkhave, tameva bhaginiṁ passeyya sarīraṁ sivathikāya chaḍḍitaṁ—
ekāhamataṁ vā dvīhamataṁ vā tīhamataṁ vā, uddhumātakaṁ vinīlakaṁ vipubbakajātaṁ.
Taṁ kiṁ maññatha, bhikkhave,
yā purimā subhā vaṇṇanibhā sā antarahitā, ādīnavo pātubhūtoti?
‘Evaṁ, bhante’.
Ayampi, bhikkhave, rūpānaṁ ādīnavo.

Furthermore, suppose that you were to see that same sister as a corpse discarded in a charnel ground. And it had been dead for one, two, or three days, bloated, livid, and festering. What do you think, mendicants? Has not that former beauty vanished and the drawback become clear?” “Yes, sir.” “This too is the drawback of forms.

Furthermore, suppose that you were to see that same sister as a corpse discarded in a charnel ground. And it was being devoured by crows, hawks, vultures, herons, hounds, tigers, leopards, jackals, and many kinds of little creatures …

Furthermore, suppose that you were to see that same sister as a corpse discarded in a charnel ground. And it had been reduced to a skeleton with flesh and blood, held together by sinews … A skeleton rid of flesh but smeared with blood, and held together by sinews … A skeleton rid of flesh and blood, held together by sinews … Bones rid of sinews scattered in every direction. Here a hand-bone, there a foot-bone, here an ankle bone, there a shin-bone, here a thigh-bone, there a hip-bone, here a rib-bone, there a back-bone, here an arm-bone, there a neck-bone, here a jaw-bone, there a tooth, here the skull. …

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