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SN 22.37PTS SN 3.371 min read

With Ānanda

Ānandasutta

The Buddha speaks to Ānanda on what at AN 3.47 described as the “characteristics of conditioned phenomena”: arising, ceasing, and change while persisting. This was to become a critical aspect of later theories on the nature of change. Ānanda explains in terms of the aggregates.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 22.37Linked Discourses 22.37
  • 0.24. Natumhākavagga4. It’s Not Yours

0.3ĀnandasuttaWith Ānanda

1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Atha kho āyasmā ānando …pe…And then Venerable Ānanda …1.3ekamantaṁ nisinnaṁ kho āyasmantaṁ ānandaṁ bhagavā etadavoca:sitting to one side, the Buddha said to him:

2.1PTS 3.38“Sace taṁ, ānanda, evaṁ puccheyyuṁ:“Ānanda, suppose they were to ask you:2.2‘katamesaṁ, āvuso ānanda, dhammānaṁ uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṁ paññāyatī’ti?‘Reverend Ānanda, what are the things for which arising is evident, vanishing is evident, and change while persisting is evident?’12.3Evaṁ puṭṭho tvaṁ, ānanda, kinti byākareyyāsī”ti?How would you answer?”

2.4“Sace maṁ, bhante, evaṁ puccheyyuṁ:“Sir, suppose they were to ask me:2.5‘katamesaṁ, āvuso ānanda, dhammānaṁ uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṁ paññāyatī’ti?‘What are the things for which arising is evident, vanishing is evident, and change while persisting is evident?’2.6Evaṁ puṭṭhohaṁ, bhante, evaṁ byākareyyaṁ:I’d answer like this:

2.7‘rūpassa kho, āvuso, uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṁ paññāyati.‘Reverend, the arising of form is evident, its vanishing is evident, and change while persisting is evident.22.8Vedanāya …The arising of feeling …2.9saññāya …perception …2.10saṅkhārānaṁ …choices …2.11viññāṇassa uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṁ paññāyati.consciousness is evident, its vanishing is evident, and change while persisting is evident.2.12Imesaṁ kho, āvuso, dhammānaṁ uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṁ paññāyatī’ti.These are the things for which arising is evident, vanishing is evident, and change while persisting is evident.’

2.13Evaṁ puṭṭhohaṁ, bhante, evaṁ byākareyyan”ti.That’s how I’d answer such a question.”

3.1“Sādhu sādhu, ānanda.“Good, good, Ānanda.3.2Rūpassa kho, ānanda, uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṁ paññāyati.The arising of form is evident, its vanishing is evident, and change while persisting is evident.3.3Vedanāya …The arising of feeling …3.4saññāya …perception …3.5saṅkhārānaṁ …choices …3.6viññāṇassa uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṁ paññāyati.consciousness is evident, its vanishing is evident, and change while persisting is evident.3.7Imesaṁ kho, ānanda, dhammānaṁ uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṁ paññāyatīti.These are the things for which arising is evident, vanishing is evident, and change while persisting is evident.

3.8Evaṁ puṭṭho tvaṁ, ānanda, evaṁ byākareyyāsī”ti.That’s how you should answer such a question.”

3.9Pañcamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. At AN 3.47:1.3 these are called “three characteristics of the conditioned”, for which this Sutta can be seen as a further analysis. These characteristics apply equally on the scale of a moment, the unfolding of an experience, a lifetime, or a cosmic eon.

    This apparently innocuous formulation became the subject of controversy between the different Abhidhamma schools as they tried to specify their theory of momentariness. Some, such as the Theravada of the Mahāvihāra in Sri Lanka, defined these as sub-moments of a single moment. The Sarvāstivādins added a fourth sub-moment (decaying), while the Sautrāntikas had just arising and ceasing. These explanations are not relevant for the Suttas, which have no theory of momentariness.

    ↩ sn22.37:2.2

  2. See SN 12.61:3.3: “This body is seen to last for … a hundred years, or even longer.”

    ↩ sn22.37:2.7