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SN 55.21PTS SN 5.3692 min read

With Mahānāma (1st)

Paṭhamamahānāmasutta

Mahānāma the Sakyan expresses his fear that if he dies unmindful he may go to a bad rebirth. The Buddha tells him not to fear, as he will definitely go to a good place, since he has long practiced the Dhamma.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 55.21Linked Discourses 55.21
  • 0.23. Saraṇānivagga3. About Sarakāni

0.3PaṭhamamahānāmasuttaWith Mahānāma (1st)

1.1PTS 5.369Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.1.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sakkesu viharati kapilavatthusmiṁ nigrodhārāme.At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Sakyans, near Kapilavatthu in the Banyan Tree Monastery.1.3Atha kho mahānāmo sakko yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho mahānāmo sakko bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:Then Mahānāma the Sakyan went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him:

1.4“idaṁ, bhante, kapilavatthu iddhañceva phītañca bāhujaññaṁ ākiṇṇamanussaṁ sambādhabyūhaṁ.“Sir, this Kapilavatthu is successful and prosperous, populous and full of people, with cramped cul-de-sacs.11.5So khvāhaṁ, bhante, bhagavantaṁ vā payirupāsitvā manobhāvanīye vā bhikkhū sāyanhasamayaṁ kapilavatthuṁ pavisanto;In the late afternoon, after paying homage to the Buddha or an esteemed mendicant, I enter Kapilavatthu.1.6bhantenapi hatthinā samāgacchāmi;I encounter a stray elephant,1.7bhantenapi assena samāgacchāmi;horse,1.8bhantenapi rathena samāgacchāmi;chariot,1.9bhantenapi sakaṭena samāgacchāmi;cart,1.10bhantenapi purisena samāgacchāmi.or person.1.11Tassa mayhaṁ, bhante, tasmiṁ samaye mussateva bhagavantaṁ ārabbha sati, mussati dhammaṁ ārabbha sati, mussati saṅghaṁ ārabbha sati.At that time I lose mindfulness regarding the Buddha, the teaching, and the Saṅgha.1.12Tassa mayhaṁ, bhante, evaṁ hoti:I think:1.13‘imamhi cāhaṁ samaye kālaṁ kareyyaṁ, kā mayhaṁ gati, ko abhisamparāyo’”ti?‘If I were to die at this time, where would I be reborn in my next life?’”2

2.1PTS 5.370“Mā bhāyi, mahānāma, mā bhāyi, mahānāma.“Do not fear, Mahānāma, do not fear!2.2Apāpakaṁ te maraṇaṁ bhavissati apāpikā kālaṅkiriyā.Your death will not be a bad one; your passing will not be a bad one.2.3Yassa kassaci, mahānāma, dīgharattaṁ saddhāparibhāvitaṁ cittaṁ sīlaparibhāvitaṁ cittaṁ sutaparibhāvitaṁ cittaṁ cāgaparibhāvitaṁ cittaṁ paññāparibhāvitaṁ cittaṁ, tassa yo hi khvāyaṁ kāyo rūpī cātumahābhūtiko mātāpettikasambhavo odanakummāsūpacayo aniccucchādanaparimaddanabhedanaviddhaṁsanadhammo.Take someone whose mind has for a long time been imbued with faith, ethics, learning, generosity, and wisdom. Their body is formed, made up of the four principal states, produced by mother and father, built up from rice and porridge, liable to impermanence, to wearing away and erosion, to breaking up and destruction.2.4Taṁ idheva kākā vā khādanti gijjhā vā khādanti kulalā vā khādanti sunakhā vā khādanti siṅgālā vā khādanti vividhā vā pāṇakajātā khādanti;Right here the crows, vultures, hawks, hounds, jackals, and many kinds of little creatures devour it.2.5yañca khvassa cittaṁ dīgharattaṁ saddhāparibhāvitaṁ …pe… paññāparibhāvitaṁ taṁ uddhagāmi hoti visesagāmi.But their mind rises up, headed for a higher place.

3.1PTS 5.371Seyyathāpi, mahānāma, puriso sappikumbhaṁ vā telakumbhaṁ vā gambhīraṁ udakarahadaṁ ogāhitvā bhindeyya.Suppose a person was to sink a pot of ghee or oil into a deep lake and break it open.3.2Tatra yā assa sakkharā vā kaṭhalā vā sā adhogāmī assa, yañca khvassa tatra sappi vā telaṁ vā taṁ uddhagāmi assa visesagāmi.Its shards and chips would sink down, while the ghee or oil in it would rise up, headed for a higher place.3

3.3Evameva kho, mahānāma, yassa kassaci dīgharattaṁ saddhāparibhāvitaṁ cittaṁ …pe…In the same way, take someone whose mind has for a long time been imbued with faith, ethics, learning, generosity, and wisdom. Their body is formed, made up of the four principal states, produced by mother and father, built up from rice and porridge, liable to impermanence, to wearing away and erosion, to breaking up and destruction.3.4paññāparibhāvitaṁ cittaṁ tassa yo hi khvāyaṁ kāyo rūpī cātumahābhūtiko mātāpettikasambhavo odanakummāsūpacayo aniccucchādanaparimaddanabhedanaviddhaṁsanadhammo taṁ idheva kākā vā khādanti gijjhā vā khādanti kulalā vā khādanti sunakhā vā khādanti siṅgālā vā khādanti vividhā vā pāṇakajātā khādanti;Right here the crows, vultures, hawks, hounds, jackals, and many kinds of little creatures devour it.3.5yañca khvassa cittaṁ dīgharattaṁ saddhāparibhāvitaṁ …pe… paññāparibhāvitaṁ taṁ uddhagāmi hoti visesagāmi.But their mind rises up, headed for a higher place.4

3.6Tuyhaṁ kho pana, mahānāma, dīgharattaṁ saddhāparibhāvitaṁ cittaṁ …pe… paññāparibhāvitaṁ cittaṁ.Your mind, Mahānāma, has for a long time been imbued with faith, ethics, learning, generosity, and wisdom.3.7Mā bhāyi, mahānāma, mā bhāyi, mahānāma.Do not fear, Mahānāma, do not fear!3.8Apāpakaṁ te maraṇaṁ bhavissati, apāpikā kālaṅkiriyā”ti.Your death will not be a bad one; your passing will not be a bad one.”

3.9Paṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Byūha (“cul-de-sac”) is defined in the Vinaya: “one departs the same way one enters” (Bi Pc 14:2.1.8).

    ↩ sn55.21:1.4
  2. This relates to the commonly-held idea in modern Theravada that rebirth is determined by one’s “last mind-moment” or “final thought”. This idea is incorrect on a number of grounds. First, there’s no such thing as “mind moments” in early Buddhism. Second, rebirth is determined not by “thought” (citta) but by “deed” (kamma). So it would only apply in the case of someone who was actually committing good or bad kamma at the time of death, which most people are not, like Mahānāma here; he is simply returning home. Finally, what normally prevails at the time of death is habitual kamma (like keeping precepts every day) or very strong kamma (such as attaining jhāna). In the Suttas, deathbed kamma prevails only in rare cases when someone is creating very good (MN 97:38.7) or very bad (SN 42.3:2.7) kamma at the time of death; see too the case of Sarakāni in SN 55.24:9.11 and SN 55.25:11.10.

    ↩ sn55.21:1.13
  3. There is a parallel for this simile at SN 42.6:7.1.

    ↩ sn55.21:3.2
  4. Here citta (“mind”) continues from one life to the next, in the role that viññāṇa plays elsewhere (eg. DN 28:7.13).

    ↩ sn55.21:3.5