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SN 54.20PTS SN 5.3401 min read

The Ending of Defilements

Āsavakkhayasutta

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 54.20Linked Discourses 54.20
  • 0.22. DutiyavaggaChapter Two

0.3ĀsavakkhayasuttaThe Ending of Defilements

1.1PTS 5.341“… Āsavānaṁ khayāya saṁvattati.“Mendicants, when immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated it leads to the ending of defilements.” …11.2Kathaṁ bhāvito ca, bhikkhave, ānāpānassatisamādhi kathaṁ bahulīkato saṁyojanappahānāya saṁvattati …“And how is immersion due to mindfulness of breathing developed and cultivated so as to lead to giving up the fetters,21.3anusayasamugghātāya saṁvattati …uprooting the underlying tendencies,1.4addhānapariññāya saṁvattati …completely understanding the course of time,1.5āsavānaṁ khayāya saṁvattati?and ending the defilements?

1.6Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā …pe…It’s when a mendicant—gone to a wilderness, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut—sits down cross-legged, sets their body straight, and establishes mindfulness in front of them. …

1.7paṭinissaggānupassī assasissāmīti sikkhati, paṭinissaggānupassī passasissāmīti sikkhati.They practice like this: ‘I’ll breathe in observing letting go.’ They practice like this: ‘I’ll breathe out observing letting go.’

1.8Evaṁ bhāvito kho, bhikkhave, ānāpānassatisamādhi evaṁ bahulīkato saṁyojanappahānāya saṁvattati …pe…That’s how immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated so as to lead to giving up the fetters,1.9anusayasamugghātāya saṁvattati …pe…uprooting the underlying tendencies,1.10addhānapariññāya saṁvattati …pe…completely understanding the course of time,1.11āsavānaṁ khayāya saṁvattatī”ti.and ending the defilements.”

1.12Dasamaṁ.

1.13Dutiyo vaggo.

2.0Tassuddānaṁ

2.1Icchānaṅgalaṁ kaṅkheyyaṁ,2.2ānandā apare duve;2.3Bhikkhū saṁyojanānusayā,2.4addhānaṁ āsavakkhayanti.

2.5Ānāpānasaṁyuttaṁ dasamaṁ.The Linked Discourses on Mindfulness of Breathing, the tenth section.

Translator’s notes

  1. See SN 48.64 and notes. I believe this opening fragment is a separate discourse, and what follows is a distinct discourse combining the items of SN 54.17–20.

    ↩ sn54.20:1.1
  2. Unlike SN 48.64:2.1, the text does not coherently present a complete separate Sutta. Nonetheless, I believe this is due to faulty editing. This should start with, “Mendicants, when immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated it leads to …”, but this is not found in any edition I have seen.

    ↩ sn54.20:1.2