SN 1.2PTS (1st ed) SN 1.21 min read

Liberation

Nimokkhasutta

Freedom comes when we end attachment to rebirth.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 1.2Linked Discourses 1.2
0.21. Naḷavagga1. A Reed

0.3NimokkhasuttaLiberation

1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.¹

1.2Atha kho aññatarā devatā abhikkantāya rattiyā abhikkantavaṇṇā kevalakappaṁ jetavanaṁ obhāsetvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhāsi. Ekamantaṁ ṭhitā kho sā devatā bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:Then, late at night, a glorious deity, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the Buddha, bowed, stood to one side, and said to him,2.1“Jānāsi no tvaṁ, mārisa, sattānaṁ nimokkhaṁ pamokkhaṁ vivekan”ti?“Good fellow, do you know the liberation, emancipation, and seclusion of sentient beings?”

3.1“Jānāmi khvāhaṁ, āvuso, sattānaṁ nimokkhaṁ pamokkhaṁ vivekan”ti.“I do, good sir.”

4.1“Yathākathaṁ pana tvaṁ, mārisa, jānāsi sattānaṁ nimokkhaṁ pamokkhaṁ vivekan”ti?“But how is it that you know the liberation, emancipation, and seclusion of sentient beings?”

5.1“Nandībhavaparikkhayā,“Due to the ending of relish for rebirth;²5.2Saññāviññāṇasaṅkhayā;due to the finishing of perception and consciousness;³5.3Vedanānaṁ nirodhā upasamā,due to the cessation and stilling of feelings—⁴5.4Evaṁ khvāhaṁ āvuso jānāmi;that, respectable sir, is how I know the liberation,5.5Sattānaṁ nimokkhaṁ pamokkhaṁ vivekan”ti.emancipation, and seclusion of sentient beings.”

Translator’s notes

From here, the Pali gives only the abbreviated setting or none at all. In such cases, we are meant to read the full introduction per SN 1.1.
↩ sn1.2:1.1
The Buddha’s answer seems to mix a few lines of verse with some prose. This line is verse, as it has an unusual structure, best understood as due to the exigencies of metre, and where it occurs elsewhere it is always as verse. Also, this line and the next are metrical (vatta). The Chinese parallels at SA 1268 and SA-2 179 format the whole of the Buddha’s answer as prose, the verse being spoken by the deity at the end. Perhaps the Buddha quoted a couple of lines of verse in a prose sentence.
↩ sn1.2:5.1
With this the Buddha differentiates himself from Yājnavalkya, for whom perception (limited awareness) ends, but consciousness (infinite awareness) is eternal (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.12).
↩ sn1.2:5.2
The Chinese parallels here speak of the liberation of the mind rather than the cessation of feelings. The textual problems seem insoluble and it appears the text is corrupt.
↩ sn1.2:5.3