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SN 16.13PTS SN 2.2232 min read

The Counterfeit of the True Teaching

Saddhammappatirūpakasutta

Kassapa asks the Buddha why there are now more rules but fewer awakened mendicants. The Buddha replies that it is due to the arising of the counterfeit Dhamma, giving five factors that lead to decline.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 16.13Linked Discourses 16.13
  • 0.21. Kassapavagga1. Kassapa

0.3SaddhammappatirūpakasuttaThe Counterfeit of the True Teaching

1.1PTS 2.224Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.1.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.1.3Atha kho āyasmā mahākassapo yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā mahākassapo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:Then Venerable Mahākassapa went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him:

1.4“ko nu kho, bhante, hetu ko paccayo, yena pubbe appatarāni ceva sikkhāpadāni ahesuṁ bahutarā ca bhikkhū aññāya saṇṭhahiṁsu?“What is the cause, sir, what is the reason why there used to be fewer training rules but more enlightened mendicants?11.5Ko pana, bhante, hetu ko paccayo, yenetarahi bahutarāni ceva sikkhāpadāni appatarā ca bhikkhū aññāya saṇṭhahantī”ti?And what is the cause, what is the reason why these days there are more training rules and fewer enlightened mendicants?”

1.6“Evañcetaṁ, kassapa, hoti sattesu hāyamānesu saddhamme antaradhāyamāne, bahutarāni ceva sikkhāpadāni honti appatarā ca bhikkhū aññāya saṇṭhahanti.“That’s how it is, Kassapa. When sentient beings are in decline and the true teaching is disappearing there are more training rules and fewer enlightened mendicants.1.7Na tāva, kassapa, saddhammassa antaradhānaṁ hoti yāva na saddhammappatirūpakaṁ loke uppajjati.The true teaching doesn’t disappear as long as the counterfeit of the true teaching hasn’t appeared in the world.1.8Yato ca kho, kassapa, saddhammappatirūpakaṁ loke uppajjati, atha saddhammassa antaradhānaṁ hoti.But when the counterfeit of the true teaching appears in the world then the true teaching disappears.2

2.1Seyyathāpi, kassapa, na tāva jātarūpassa antaradhānaṁ hoti yāva na jātarūpappatirūpakaṁ loke uppajjati.It’s like native gold, which doesn’t disappear as long as counterfeit gold hasn’t appeared in the world.32.2Yato ca kho, kassapa, jātarūpappatirūpakaṁ loke uppajjati, atha kho jātarūpassa antaradhānaṁ hoti.But when counterfeit gold appears in the world then native gold disappears.4

2.3Evameva kho, kassapa, na tāva saddhammassa antaradhānaṁ hoti yāva na saddhammappatirūpakaṁ loke uppajjati.In the same way, the true teaching doesn’t disappear as long as the counterfeit of the true teaching hasn’t appeared in the world.2.4Yato ca kho, kassapa, saddhammappatirūpakaṁ loke uppajjati, atha saddhammassa antaradhānaṁ hoti.But when the counterfeit of the true teaching appears in the world then the true teaching disappears.

3.1Na kho, kassapa, pathavīdhātu saddhammaṁ antaradhāpeti, na āpodhātu saddhammaṁ antaradhāpeti, na tejodhātu saddhammaṁ antaradhāpeti, na vāyodhātu saddhammaṁ antaradhāpeti;It’s not the elements of earth, water, fire, or air that make the true teaching disappear.53.2atha kho idheva te uppajjanti moghapurisā ye imaṁ saddhammaṁ antaradhāpenti.Rather, it’s the futile people who appear right here that make the true teaching disappear.3.3Seyyathāpi, kassapa, nāvā ādikeneva opilavati;The true teaching doesn’t disappear like a ship that sinks all at once.3.4na kho, kassapa, evaṁ saddhammassa antaradhānaṁ hoti.

4.1PTS 2.225Pañca khome, kassapa, okkamaniyā dhammā saddhammassa sammosāya antaradhānāya saṁvattanti.There are five detrimental things that lead to the decline and disappearance of the true teaching.4.2Katame pañca?What five?4.3Idha, kassapa, bhikkhū bhikkhuniyo upāsakā upāsikāyo satthari agāravā viharanti appatissā, dhamme agāravā viharanti appatissā, saṅghe agāravā viharanti appatissā, sikkhāya agāravā viharanti appatissā, samādhismiṁ agāravā viharanti appatissā—It’s when the monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen lack respect and reverence for the Teacher, the teaching, the Saṅgha, the training, and immersion.64.4ime kho, kassapa, pañca okkamaniyā dhammā saddhammassa sammosāya antaradhānāya saṁvattanti.These five detrimental things lead to the decline and disappearance of the true teaching.

5.1Pañca khome, kassapa, dhammā saddhammassa ṭhitiyā asammosāya anantaradhānāya saṁvattanti.There are five things that lead to the continuation, persistence, and enduring of the true teaching.5.2Katame pañca?What five?5.3Idha, kassapa, bhikkhū bhikkhuniyo upāsakā upāsikāyo satthari sagāravā viharanti sappatissā, dhamme sagāravā viharanti sappatissā, saṅghe sagāravā viharanti sappatissā, sikkhāya sagāravā viharanti sappatissā, samādhismiṁ sagāravā viharanti sappatissā—It’s when the monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen maintain respect and reverence for the Teacher, the teaching, the Saṅgha, the training, and immersion.5.4ime kho, kassapa, pañca dhammā saddhammassa ṭhitiyā asammosāya anantaradhānāya saṁvattantī”ti.These five things lead to the continuation, persistence, and enduring of the true teaching.”

5.5Terasamaṁ.

5.6Kassapavaggo paṭhamo.

6.0Tassuddānaṁ

6.1Santuṭṭhañca anottappī,6.2candūpamaṁ kulūpakaṁ;6.3Jiṇṇaṁ tayo ca ovādā,6.4jhānābhiññā upassayaṁ;6.5Cīvaraṁ paraṁmaraṇaṁ,6.6saddhammappatirūpakanti.

6.7Kassapasaṁyuttaṁ samattaṁ.The Linked Discourses with Kassapa are complete.

Translator’s notes

  1. Asked by Bhaddāli at MN 65:29.1. There, the Buddha said, as he did to Sāriputta at Bu Pj 1:3.4.6, that decline comes from defiling influences in the Saṅgha. See too the account of the monk Subhadda, whose relief at the Buddha’s passing prompted Mahākassapa to organize the First Council (DN 16:6.20.1).

    ↩ sn16.13:1.4

  2. In an age of commercialized spirituality, counterfeit translations and fake Buddhas generated by AI, proliferation of sects and gurus, and collapse of moral authority of traditional Saṅgha under the weight of institutional corruption, this seems relevant.

    ↩ sn16.13:1.8

  3. Jātarūpa is the natural, unworked gold, for which the technical term is “native gold” (see AN 3.70:38.4, AN 3.101:1.1). I believe jātarūpa stems from the common Vedic sense of rūpa as “form” or “manifestation” of the gods. Jāta is what is “born” or what is part of the “natural” order. Thus jātarūpa is the manifestation of the divine form (of the sun) in nature. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 6.4.25 says that when a child is born, the father whispers “speech” in his ear, then feeds him butter and honey with a piece of jātarūpa. He brings into his child at birth the wisdom of the Vedas and the divine radiance. Compare jātaveda, which is the divine knowledge brought to mortals in nature in the form of “fire”.

    ↩ sn16.13:2.1

  4. Kauṭilya details the regulation of the various kinds of gold and its adulterants in Arthaśāstra 2.13 and 2.14.

    ↩ sn16.13:2.2

  5. Disruptions in the elements create runaway climate change that makes life, and religious practice, impossible on earth (MN 28, AN 7.66).

    ↩ sn16.13:3.1

  6. All four wings of the dispensation are essential.

    Meditative immersion is already included in the threefold training of ethics, immersion, and wisdom, but is specially emphasized here.

    Today, much of Buddhism is deficient in these factors. The order of nuns is rejected by some communities dominated by a male Saṅgha. The Buddha has become a supernatural icon to be worshiped, while study of his teaching in the Suttas is rarely pursued. Monastic discipline is honored more in the breach than the observance. The practice of meditation is popular in some circles, but much of it aims at therapeutic outcomes rather than deep immersion, while some schools reject immersion altogether.

    ↩ sn16.13:4.3