Vinaya (2): The Mahavagga
by T. W. Rhys Davids | 1881 | 156,382 words
The Mahavagga (part of the Vinaya collection) includes accounts of Gautama Buddha’s and the ten principal disciples’ awakenings, as well as rules for ordination, rules for reciting the Patimokkha during uposatha days, and various monastic procedures....
Mahavagga, Khandaka 1, Chapter 1
1. At that time the blessed Buddha dwelt at Uruvelā, on the bank of the river Nerañjarā[1] at the foot of the Bodhi tree (tree of wisdom), just after he had become Sambuddha. And the blessed Buddha sat cross-legged at the foot of the Bodhi tree uninterruptedly during seven days, enjoying the bliss of emancipation[2].
2. Then the Blessed One (at the end of these seven days) during the first watch of the night fixed his mind upon the Chain of Causation[3], in direct and in reverse order: 'From Ignorance[4] spring the saṃkhāras[5], from the saṃkhāras springs Consciousness, from Consciousness spring Name-and-Form, from Name-and-Form spring the six Provinces (of the six senses[6]), from the six Provinces springs Contact, from Contact springs Sensation, from Sensation springs Thirst (or Desire), from Thirst springs Attachment, from Attachment springs Existence, from Existence springs Birth, from Birth spring Old Age and Death, grief, lamentation, suffering, dejection, and despair. Such is the origination of this whole mass of suffering. Again, by the destruction of Ignorance, which consists in the complete absence of lust, the saṃkhāras are destroyed, by the destruction of the saṃkhāras Consciousness is destroyed, by the destruction of Consciousness Name-and-Form are destroyed, by the destruction of Name-and-Form the six Provinces are destroyed, by the destruction of the six Provinces Contact is destroyed, by the destruction of Contact Sensation is destroyed, by the destruction of Sensation Thirst is destroyed, by the destruction of Thirst Attachment is destroyed, by the destruction of Attachment Existence is destroyed, by the destruction of Existence Birth is destroyed, by the destruction of Birth Old Age and Death, grief, lamentation, suffering, dejection, and despair are destroyed. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.'
3. Knowing this the Blessed One then on that occasion pronounced this solemn utterance: 'When the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardent, meditating Brāhmaṇa, then all his doubts fade away, since he realises what is that nature and what its cause.'
4. Then the Blessed One during the middle watch of the night fixed his mind upon the Chain of Causation, in direct and reverse order: 'From Ignorance spring the saṃkhāras, &c. Such is the origination of this whole mass of suffering, &c. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.'
5. Knowing this the Blessed One then on that occasion pronounced this solemn utterance: 'When the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardent, meditating Brāhmaṇa, then all his doubts fade away, since he has understood the cessation of causation.'
6. Then the Blessed One during the third watch of the night fixed his mind, &c.
7. Knowing this the Blessed One then on that occasion pronounced this solemn utterance: 'When the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardent, meditating Brāhmaṇa, he stands, dispelling the hosts of Māra, like the sun that illuminates the sky.'
Here ends the account of what passed under the Bodhi tree.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
The Lilayan or Phalgu river in Behar; see General Cunningham's map, Archaeological Reports, vol. i. plate iii.
[2]:
After having reached the sambodhi and before preaching to the world the truth he has acquired, the Buddha remains, according to the tradition, during some weeks at Uruvelā, 'enjoying the bliss of emancipation.' The Mahāvagga, which contains these legends in their oldest forms, assigns to this stay a period of four times seven days; the later tradition is unanimous in extending it to seven times seven days (Buddhaghosa in the commentary on the Mahāvagga; Jātaka Atthav. vol. i. p. 77 seq.; Dīpavaṃsa I, 29, 30; Lalita Vistara, p. 488 seq.; Beal, Romantic Legend, p. 236 seq., &c.)
[3]:
The Chain of Causation, or the doctrine of the twelve nidānas (causes of existence), contains, as has often been observed, in a more developed form an answer to the same problem to which the second and third of the four Noble Truths (ariyasacca) also try to give a solution, viz. the problem of the origin and destruction of suffering. The Noble Truths simply reduce the origin of suffering to Thirst, or Desire (Taṇhā), in its threefold form, thirst for pleasure, thirst for existence, thirst for prosperity (see I, 6, 20). In the system of the twelve nidānas Thirst also has found its place among the causes of suffering, but it is not considered as the immediate cause. A concatenation of other categories is inserted between toṇhā and its ultimate effect; and on the other hand, the investigation of causes is carried on further beyond toṇhā. The question is here asked, What does toṇhā come from? and thus the series of causes and effects is led back to aviggā (Ignorance), as its deepest root. We may add that the redactors of the Piṭakas, who of course could not but observe this parallelity between the second and third ariyasaccas and the system of the twelve nidānas, go so far, in one instance (Aṅguttara-Nikāya, Tika-Nipāta, fol. ce of the Phayre MS.), as to directly replace, in giving the text of the four ariyasaccas, the second and third of them by the twelve nidānas, in direct and reverse order respectively. Professor Childers has furnished a valuable note on the nidānas; see Colebrooke, Miscellaneous Essays (second edition), II, 453 seq.
[4]:
In the Sammādiṭṭhisuttanta (Majjhima-Nikāya, fol. khū of Turnour's MS.) we find the following explanation of what Ignorance is: 'Not to know Suffering, not to know the Cause of suffering, not to know the Cessation of suffering, not to know the Path which leads to the cessation of suffering, this is called Ignorance.' The same is repeated in the explanation of the nidāna formula, which is given in the Vibhaṅga (Abhidhamma-Piṭaka, Paṭiccasamuppāda-vibhaṅga, fol. ci of the Phayre MS.), and we must accept it, therefore, as the authentic expression of Buddhistical belief. It is obvious, however, that this explanation leaves room for another question. Ignorance, we are told, is the source of all evil and of all suffering, and the subject ignored is stated to be the four Truths. But who is the subject that ignores them? All attributes (as the viññāṇa, &c.), that constitute sentient beings and enable them to know or to ignore, are said to be first produced by Ignorance, and we shou1d conclude, therefore, that they cannot exist before Ignorance has begun to act. Or are we to understand that it is the Ignorance incurred by a sentient being in a preceding existence, that causes the saṃkhāras and Consciousness, the connecting links between the different existences, to act and to bring about the birth of a new being?
As is well known, this Ignorance (Avidyā) plays a great part also in the Brahmanical philosophy of the Upaniṣads; and the Buddhist belief is, no doubt, founded to a considerable extent on older theories. But we cannot venture in a note to touch upon one of the most difficult and interesting questions which await the research of Indianists.
[5]:
It is very frequently stated that there are three saṃkhāras or productions: kāyasaṃkhāra, vacisaṃkhāra, and cittasaṃkhāra, or, productions of body, of speech, and of thought (see, for instance, the Sammādiṭṭhisuttanta, Majjhima-Nikāya, fol. khū of Turnour's MS.) The kāyasaṃkhāra consists, according to the Saṃkhāra-Yamaka (Abhidhamma-Piṭaka), in inhalation and expiration (assāsapassāsā); the vacīsaṃkhāra in attention and investigation (vitakkavicārā); the cittasaṃkhāra in ideas, sensations, and all attributes of mind except attention and investigation (saññā ca vedanā ca ṭhapetvā vitakkavicāre sabbe pi cittasampayuttakā dhammā). The Vibhaṅga (Abhidhamma-Piṭaka, Paṭiccasamuppādavibhaṅga, I.I.{sic. ?}) gives, when discussing the saṃkhāras, six categories instead of the three: 'Now which are the saṃkhāras that are produced by Ignorance? Saṃkhāras (or, productions) that lead to righteousness, saṃkhāras that lead to sinfulness, saṃkhāras that lead to immovability, productions of body, of speech, and of thought.' The Pāli words are: 'Tattha katame avijjāpaccayā saṃkhārā? puññābhisaṃkhāro apuññābhisaṃkhāro āṇañjābhisaṃkhāro kāyasaṃkhāro vacisaṃkhāro cittasaṃkhāro.' The list of fifty-five categories belonging to the saṃkhāra-khandha, which Sp. Hardy gives in his Manual (p. 404 seq.; comp. also Rh. D., 'Buddhism,' p. 91 seq., and 'Buddhist Suttas from the Pāli,' p. 242), is not founded, as far as we know, on the authority of the Piṭakas themselves, but on later compendia and commentaries.
[6]:
I.e. eye, ear, nose, tongue, body (or the faculty of touch), and mind.