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Ud 7.7PTS Ud 771 min read

The Ending of Proliferation

Papañcakhayasutta

The Buddha contemplates his own abandoning of the perceptions and categories of proliferation.

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

  • 0.1Udāna 7.7Heartfelt Sayings 7.7

0.2PapañcakhayasuttaThe Ending of Proliferation

1.1Evaṁ 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.1.3Tena kho pana samayena bhagavā attano papañcasaññāsaṅkhāpahānaṁ paccavekkhamāno nisinno hoti.Now at that time the Buddha was sitting reviewing his own giving up of the judgments driven by the proliferation of perceptions.1

2.1Atha kho bhagavā attano papañcasaññāsaṅkhāpahānaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:Then, understanding his own giving up of the judgments driven by the proliferation of perceptions, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:

3.1“Yassa papañcā ṭhiti ca natthi,“There is no proliferation remaining in those3.2Sandānaṁ palighañca vītivatto;who have passed beyond the halter and cross-bar.3.3Taṁ nittaṇhaṁ muniṁ carantaṁ,The sage who lives without craving3.4Nāvajānāti sadevakopi loko”ti.is never scorned by the world with its gods.”

3.5Sattamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. “Judgment” (saṅkhā) refers to the way we “appraise” or “assess” ourselves, especially in relation to others (cf. MN 1:3.3, DN 1:1.3.2).

    “Proliferation” (papañca) is the compulsion of the mind to spread out in endless inner commentary that hides reality.

    “Perceptions” refer to the underlying tendencies that cause us to interpret the present in terms of the past. See MN 18 for a detailed explanation.

    ↩ ud7.7:1.3