True DhammaLibrary · Community
SN 12.31PTS SN 2.472 min read

What Has Come to Be

Bhūtasutta

The Buddha asks Sāriputta to explain a verse from “The Questions of Ajita” in the Parāyana (Snp 5.2). At first, Sāriputta hesitates, but proceeds when the Buddha indicates he is looking for an answer in terms of conditionality.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 12.31Linked Discourses 12.31
  • 0.24. Kaḷārakhattiyavagga4. Kaḷāra the Aristocrat

0.3BhūtasuttaWhat Has Come to Be

1.1Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī.

1.2Tatra kho bhagavā āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ āmantesi:Then the Buddha said to Venerable Sāriputta,1.3“vuttamidaṁ, sāriputta, pārāyane ajitapañhe:“Sāriputta, this was said in ‘The Way to the Far Shore’, in ‘The Questions of Ajita’:1

2.1‘Ye ca saṅkhātadhammāse,‘There are those who have appraised the teaching,2.2ye ca sekkhā puthū idha;and many kinds of trainees here.2.3Tesaṁ me nipako iriyaṁ,Now you, being alert, are asked2.4puṭṭho pabrūhi mārisā’ti.to tell me their behavior, good fellow.’

3.1Imassa nu kho, sāriputta, saṅkhittena bhāsitassa kathaṁ vitthārena attho daṭṭhabbo”ti?How should we see the detailed meaning of this brief statement?”2

3.2Evaṁ vutte, āyasmā sāriputto tuṇhī ahosi.When he said this, Sāriputta kept silent.3

4.1Dutiyampi kho bhagavā āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ āmantesi …pe…For a second time …4.2dutiyampi kho āyasmā sāriputto tuṇhī ahosi.

4.3Tatiyampi kho bhagavā āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ āmantesi:For a third time …4.4“vuttamidaṁ, sāriputta, pārāyane ajitapañhe:

5.1‘Ye ca saṅkhātadhammāse,5.2ye ca sekkhā puthū idha;5.3Tesaṁ me nipako iriyaṁ,5.4puṭṭho pabrūhi mārisā’ti.

6.1PTS 2.48Imassa nu kho, sāriputta, saṅkhittena bhāsitassa kathaṁ vitthārena attho daṭṭhabbo”ti?6.2Tatiyampi kho āyasmā sāriputto tuṇhī ahosi.Sāriputta kept silent.

7.1“Bhūtamidanti, sāriputta, passasī”ti?“Sāriputta, do you see that this has come to be?”4

7.2“Bhūtamidanti, bhante, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.“Sir, one truly sees with right wisdom that this has come to be.7.3Bhūtamidanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā bhūtassa nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya paṭipanno hoti.Seeing this, one is practicing for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding what has come to be.7.4Tadāhārasambhavanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.One truly sees with right wisdom that it came to be with that as fuel.57.5Tadāhārasambhavanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā āhārasambhavassa nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya paṭipanno hoti.Seeing this, one is practicing for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding the fuel for its origination.7.6Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ taṁ nirodhadhammanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.One truly sees with right wisdom that when that fuel ceases, what has come to be is liable to cease.7.7Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ taṁ nirodhadhammanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā nirodhadhammassa nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya paṭipanno hoti.Seeing this, one is practicing for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding what is liable to cease.7.8Evaṁ kho, bhante, sekkho hoti.In this way one is a trainee.6

8.1PTS 2.49Kathañca, bhante, saṅkhātadhammo hoti?And how, sir, has one appraised the teaching?8.2Bhūtamidanti, bhante, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.Sir, one truly sees with right wisdom that this has come to be.8.3Bhūtamidanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā bhūtassa nibbidā virāgā nirodhā anupādā vimutto hoti.Seeing this, one is freed by not grasping through disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding what has come to be.78.4Tadāhārasambhavanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.One truly sees with right wisdom that it came to be with that as fuel.8.5Tadāhārasambhavanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā āhārasambhavassa nibbidā virāgā nirodhā anupādā vimutto hoti.Seeing this, one is freed by not grasping through disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding the fuel for its origination.8.6Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ taṁ nirodhadhammanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.One truly sees with right wisdom that when that fuel ceases, what has come to be is liable to cease.8.7Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ taṁ nirodhadhammanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā nirodhadhammassa nibbidā virāgā nirodhā anupādā vimutto hoti.Seeing this, one is freed by not grasping through disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding what is liable to cease.8.8Evaṁ kho, bhante, saṅkhātadhammo hoti.In this way one has appraised the teaching.

8.9Iti kho, bhante, yaṁ taṁ vuttaṁ pārāyane ajitapañhe:Sir, regarding what was said in ‘The Way to the Far Shore’, in ‘The Questions of Ajita’:

9.1‘Ye ca saṅkhātadhammāse,‘There are those who have appraised the teaching,9.2ye ca sekkhā puthū idha;and many kinds of trainees here.9.3Tesaṁ me nipako iriyaṁ,Now you, being alert, are asked9.4puṭṭho pabrūhi mārisā’ti.to tell me their behavior, good fellow.’

10.1Imassa khvāhaṁ, bhante, saṅkhittena bhāsitassa evaṁ vitthārena atthaṁ ājānāmī”ti.This is how I understand the detailed meaning of what was said in brief.”

11.1“Sādhu sādhu, sāriputta, bhūtamidanti, sāriputta, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.“Good, good, Sāriputta! (The Buddha repeated all of Sāriputta’s explanation, concluding:)11.2Bhūtamidanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā bhūtassa nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya paṭipanno hoti.11.3Tadāhārasambhavanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.11.4Tadāhārasambhavanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā āhārasambhavassa nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya paṭipanno hoti.11.5Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ taṁ nirodhadhammanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.11.6Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ taṁ nirodhadhammanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā nirodhadhammassa nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya paṭipanno hoti.11.7Evaṁ kho, sāriputta, sekkho hoti.

12.1PTS 2.50Kathañca, sāriputta, saṅkhātadhammo hoti?12.2Bhūtamidanti, sāriputta, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.12.3Bhūtamidanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā bhūtassa nibbidā virāgā nirodhā anupādā vimutto hoti.12.4Tadāhārasambhavanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.12.5Tadāhārasambhavanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya disvā āhārasambhavassa nibbidā virāgā nirodhā anupādā vimutto hoti.12.6Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ taṁ nirodhadhammanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.12.7Tadāhāranirodhā yaṁ bhūtaṁ taṁ nirodhadhammanti yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññā disvā nirodhadhammassa nibbidā virāgā nirodhā anupādā vimutto hoti.12.8Evaṁ kho, sāriputta, saṅkhātadhammo hoti.12.9Iti kho, sāriputta, yaṁ taṁ vuttaṁ pārāyane ajitapañhe:

13.1‘Ye ca saṅkhātadhammāse,13.2ye ca sekkhā puthū idha;13.3Tesaṁ me nipako iriyaṁ,13.4puṭṭho pabrūhi mārisā’ti.

14.1Imassa kho, sāriputta, saṅkhittena bhāsitassa evaṁ vitthārena attho daṭṭhabbo”ti.This is how to see the detailed meaning of what was said in brief.”

14.2Paṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Ajita was one of a group of contemplative brahmins from a school that identified the cosmic divinity with the state of purified formless consciousness experienced in deep meditation. Their story is recounted in “The Way to the Far Shore”, where Ajita was the first to question the Buddha (Snp 5.2). The title is given in the text itself (Snp 5.18:8.4, Snp 5.19:1.1), and it is cited also in AN 3.32, AN 3.33, AN 4.41, AN 7.53, and AN 6.61.

    ↩ sn12.31:1.3

  2. In reply to Ajita, the Buddha already answered the question: a mendicant without greed, skillful, would wander mindful. Here he asks for a detailed analysis, presumably as a teaching method: the dialogue was probably in front of an assembly.

    ↩ sn12.31:3.1

  3. Sāriputta hesitates, according to the commentary, because he is unsure of the mode of analysis that the Buddha wants him to pursue. This is typical of Sāriputta’s circumspection; he himself explains a similar hesitation in the next Sutta (SN 12.32:16.2).

    ↩ sn12.31:3.2

  4. See MN 38:9.1, where “this has come to be” refers to dependently originated consciousness. There, the Buddha is refuting Sāti, who believed consciousness is “the one who speaks, the one who knows, who experiences the results of good and bad deeds in all the different realms.” This is the Upaniṣadic view, which was apparently shared by both Ajita and Sāti, and against which the Buddha posited dependent origination.

    ↩ sn12.31:7.1

  5. “Originated with that as fuel” is also at MN 38:9.3, cementing the connection between these two texts.

    ↩ sn12.31:7.4

  6. Note that Sāriputta does not answer Ajita’s question on practice; rather, he analyzes the terms. This illustrates how analytical commentary developed from practical advice.

    ↩ sn12.31:7.8

  7. The stream-enterer sees the truth, the arahant is fully freed.

    ↩ sn12.31:8.3