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SN 23.3PTS SN 3.1901 min read

The Leash to Existence

Bhavanettisutta

Rādha asks the Buddha about the tie or conduit to rebirth, and the Buddha explains in terms of craving for the five aggregates.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 23.3Linked Discourses 23.3
  • 0.21. Paṭhamamāravagga1. About Māra

0.3BhavanettisuttaThe Leash to Existence

1.1PTS 3.191Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā rādho bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:Seated to one side, Venerable Rādha said to the Buddha:

1.3“‘bhavanettinirodho, bhavanettinirodho’ti, bhante, vuccati.“Sir, they speak of this thing called ‘the cessation of the leash to existence’.11.4Katamā nu kho, bhante, bhavanetti, katamo bhavanettinirodho”ti?What is the leash to existence? And what is the cessation of the leash to existence?”

1.5“Rūpe kho, rādha, yo chando yo rāgo yā nandī yā taṇhā ye upayupādānā cetaso adhiṭṭhānābhinivesānusayā—“Rādha, any desire, greed, relishing, and craving for form; and any attraction, grasping, mental fixation, insistence, and underlying tendencies—1.6ayaṁ vuccati bhavanetti.this is called the leash to existence.1.7Tesaṁ nirodho bhavanettinirodho.Their cessation is the cessation of the leash to existence.

1.8Vedanāya …Any desire, greed, relishing, and craving for feeling …1.9saññāya …perception …1.10saṅkhāresu …choices …1.11viññāṇe yo chando …pe… adhiṭṭhānābhinivesānusayā—consciousness; and any attraction, grasping, mental fixation, insistence, and underlying tendencies—1.12ayaṁ vuccati bhavanetti.this is called the leash to existence.1.13Tesaṁ nirodho bhavanettinirodho”ti.Their cessation is the cessation of the leash to existence.”

1.14Tatiyaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. The bhavanetti is “that which leads to continued existence”. Early Sanskrit netrī always retains the expected grammatical sense, a noun from the root “to lead”, i.e. a “leader” (Rig Veda 1.113.4, 4.56.2, 5.50.2, 7.76.6, 7.77.2). Compare the English concept of the psychopomp or ferryman who leads you to the afterlife. Here, the commentary explains, “It is a name for craving. For by it beings are bound in their heart and lead on to life after life, like an ox tethered by the throat.” This suggests the sense of “lead” as in “leash”.

    ↩ sn23.3:1.3