S ii 1. 2. 5.

Kaccānagottasuttaṃ

 

Samyutta Nikaya 12.15
Kaccayanagotta Sutta
To Kaccayana Gotta (on Right View)

translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 1997–2010

For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma

Samyutta Nikaya 12.15
Kaccāyanagotto Sutta
Kaccāyana

translated from the Pali by
Maurice O'Connell Walshe
© 2007–2010

The Pali title of this sutta is based on the PTS (Feer) edition.

Samyutta Nikaya 12.15
Kaccānagotta

translated from the Pali by
Bhikkhu Bodhi
© 2000

The Connected Discourses of the Buddha

Samyutta Nikaya 12.15
Kaccayanagotta-Sutta

translated by
David J. Kalupahana
© 1986

Mūlamadhyamakakārikā of Nāgārjuna

Samyutta Nikaya 12.15
Kaccānagotta

translated by
Bhikkhu Sujato

Sutta Central

Samyutta Āgama 301
Translation by Choong Mun-keat (Wei-keat) (2004)

6. 施設正見 Establishing right view.
T 2, pp. 85c-86a, sūtra No. 301. (Saṃyutta-nikāya 12. 15 Kaccāyanagotta (vol. ii, p. 16). Skt. version, Tripāṭhī, sūtra 19. CSA vol. 2, pp. 41-42; FSA vol. 1, pp. 576-577.)

15. Sāvatthiyaṃ- Dwelling at Savatthi... [At Sāvatthī the Ven. Kaccāyana asked the Blessed One:] At Savatthi... Thus have i heard: the blessed one was once living at Savatthi, in the monastery of Anathapindika, in Jeta’s Grove. At Sāvatthī. Thus have I heard: At one time, the Buddha was staying at the reception hall in the forest of Ñātika.
[PTS Page 017] [\q 17/] atha kho āyasmā kaccānagotto yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami. Upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṃ abhivādetvā ekamantaṃ nisīdi. Ekamantaṃ nisinno kho āyasmā kaccānagotto bhagavantaṃ etadavoca: Then Ven. Kaccayana Gotta approached the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: Then the Venerable Kaccanagotta approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: At that time the venerable Kaccayana of that clan came to visit him, and saluting him, sat down at one side. So seated, he questioned the Exalted one: Then Venerable Kaccānagotta went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: Then, the venerable Katyāyana came to where the Buddha was, saluted him by prostrating with his head to the ground and touching the feet of the Buddha, and sat down at one side. He then asked the Buddha:
''sammādiṭṭhi sammādiṭṭhī''ti bhante vuccati, kittāvatā nu kho bhante sammādiṭṭhi hotīti? "Lord, 'Right view, right view, ' it is said. To what extent is there right view?" "'Right view,1 right view,' it is said, Lord. In what way, Lord, is there right view?" “Venerable sir, it is said, ‘right view, right view.’ In what way, venerable sir, is there right view?” “Sir [people] speak of ‘right view, right view.’ To what extent is there a right view?” “Sir, they speak of this thing called ‘right view’. How is right view defined?” "World Honoured One, you speak of right view. What is right view? How, World Honoured One, does one establish right view?"
2Dvayaṃnissito kho'yaṃ kaccāna loko yebhuyyena atthitañceva natthitañca. "By & large, Kaccayana, this world is supported by (takes as its object) a polarity, that of existence & non-existence. "The world in general, Kaccāyana, inclines to two views, to existence2 or to non-existence.3 "This world, Kaccāna, for the most part depends on a duality -- upon the notion of existence and the notion of non-existence.29 “This world, Kaccayana, is generally inclined towards two [views]: existence and non-existence. “Kaccāna, this world mostly relies on the dual notions of existence and non-existence. The Buddha said to Katyāyana: "There are two [bases] to which people in the world are attached, to which they adhere: existence and non-existence.
Lokasamudayañca kho kaccāna yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya passato yā loke natthitā, sā na hoti. But when one sees the origination of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'non-existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one. But for him who, with the highest wisdom, sees the uprising of the world as it really is,4 'non-existence of the world' does not apply, But for one who sees the origin of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of non-existence in regard to the world. To one who perceives with right wisdom the uprising of the world as it has come to be, the notion of non-existence in the world does not occur. But when you truly see the origin of the world with right understanding, you won’t have the notion of non-existence regarding the world.
[[ the corresponding verses from this Āgama appear below ]]
Lokanirodhaṃ kho kaccāna yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya passato yā loke atthitā, sā na hoti. When one sees the cessation of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one. and for him who, with highest wisdom, sees the passing away of the world as it really is, 'existence of the world' does not apply. And for one who sees the cessation of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of existence in regard to the world.30 Kaccayana, to one who perceives with right wisdom the ceasing of the world as it has come to be, the notion of existence in the world does not occur. And when you truly see the cessation of the world with right understanding, you won’t have the notion of existence regarding the world.
Upāyupādānābhinivesavinibaddho3 khvāyaṃ kaccāna loko yebhuyyena tañca upāyupādānaṃ cetaso adhiṭṭhānaṃ abhinivesānusayaṃ na upeti, na upādiyati, nādhiṭṭhāti 'attā me'ti. "By & large, Kaccayana, this world is in bondage to attachments, clingings (sustenances), & biases. But one such as this does not get involved with or cling to these attachments, clingings, fixations of awareness, biases, or latent tendencies; nor is he resolved on 'my self. ' "The world in general, Kaccāyana, grasps after systems and is imprisoned by dogmas.5 But he6 does not go along with that system-grasping, that mental obstinacy and dogmatic bias, does not grasp at it, does not affirm: 'This is my self.'7 "This world, Kaccāna, is for the most part shackled by engagement, clinging and adherence.31 But this one [with right view] does not become engaged and cling through that engagement and clinging, mental standpoint, adherence, underlying tendency; he does not take a stand about 'my self.'32 The world, for the most part, Kaccayana, is bound by approach, grasping and inclination. And one who does not follow that approach and grasping, that determination of mind, that inclination and disposition, who does not cling to or adhere to a view: ‘This is my self,’ The world is for the most part shackled to attraction, grasping, and insisting. But if—when it comes to this attraction, grasping, mental resolve, insistence, and underlying tendency—you don’t get attracted, grasp, and commit to the notion ‘my self’, "Because of their attachment and adherence, they are based on either existence or non-existence. "In one who has no such attachment, bondage to the mental realm, there is no attachment to self, no dwelling in or setting store by self.
Dukkhameva uppajjamānaṃ uppajjati, dukkhaṃ nirujjhamānaṃ nirujjhatī'ti na kaṅkhati. He has no uncertainty or doubt that, when there is arising, only stress is arising; and that when there is passing away, only stress is passing away. He knows without doubt or hesitation that whatever arises is merely dukkha8 that what passes away is merely dukkha He has no perplexity or doubt that what arises is only suffering arising, what ceases is only suffering ceasing. who [instead] thinks: ‘suffering that is subject to arising, arises; suffering that is subject to ceasing, ceases,’ you’ll have no doubt or uncertainty that what arises is just suffering arising, and what ceases is just suffering ceasing. Then, when suffering arises, it arises; and when it ceases, it ceases.
Na vicikicchati. Aparappaccayā ñāṇamevassa ettha hoti. In this, one's knowledge is independent of others. and such knowledge is his own, not depending on anyone else. His knowledge about this is independent of others. such a person does not doubt, is not perplexed. Herein, his knowledge is not other-dependent. Your knowledge about this is independent of others. "If one does not doubt this, is not perplexed by it, if one knows it in oneself and not from others,
Ettāvatā4 kho kaccāna, sammādiṭṭhi hoti. It is to this extent, Kaccayana, that there is right view. This, Kaccāyana, is what constitutes right view. It is in this way, Kaccāna, that there is right view.33 Thus far, Kaccayana, there is ‘right view.’ This is how right view is defined. this is called right view right view as established by the Tathāgata (the Buddha).
Sabbamatthī'ti kho kaccāna, ayameko anto. "'Everything exists': That is one extreme. "'Everything exists,'9 this is one extreme [view]; ‘All exists’: Kaccana, this is one extreme. ‘Everything exists,’—this, Kaccayana, is one extreme. ‘All exists’: this is one extreme. "Why is this? One who rightly sees and knows, as it really is, the arising of the world, does not hold to the non-existence of the world.
Sabbaṃ natthī'ti ayaṃ dutiyo anto. 'Everything doesn't exist': That is a second extreme. 'nothing exists,' this is the other extreme. ‘All does not exist’: this is the second extreme. ‘Everything does not exist,’—this, Kaccayana, is the second extreme. ‘All doesn’t exist’: this is the second extreme. "One who rightly sees and knows, as it really is, the cessation (passing away) of the world, does not hold to the existence of the world.
Ete te kaccāna ubho ante anupagamma majjhena tathāgato dhammaṃ deseti. Avoiding these two extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma via the middle: Avoiding both extremes the Tathāgata10 teaches a doctrine of the middle: Without veering towards either of these extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma by the middle: Kaccayana, without approaching either extreme, the Tathagata teaches you a doctrine by the middle. Avoiding these two extremes, the Realized One teaches by the middle way: "That is called avoiding the two extremes, and teaching the middle way, namely:
  Because this exists, that exists; because this arises, that arises.
Avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā. Saṅkhārapaccayā viññāṇaṃ. Viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpaṃ. Nāmarūpapaccayā saḷāyatanaṃ saḷāyatanapaccayā phasso. Phassapaccayā vedanā. Vedanāpaccayā taṇhā. Taṇhāpaccayā upādānaṃ. Upādānapaccayā bhavo. Bhavapaccayā jāti. Jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṃ, sokaparidevadukkhadomanassūpāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti. "From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications. From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness. From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form. From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media. From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact. From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling. From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving. From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance. From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming. From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress & suffering. Conditioned by ignorance are the formations... [as SN 12.10]... So there comes about the arising of this entire mass of suffering. With ignorance as condition, volitional formations come to be; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness…. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. Dependent upon ignorance arise dispositions; dependent upon dispositions arise consciousness; dependent upon consciousness arises the psychophysical personality; dependent upon the psychophysical personality arise the six senses; dependent upon the six senses arises contact; dependent upon contact arises feeling; dependent upon feeling arises craving; dependent upon craving arises grasping; dependent upon grasping arises becoming; dependent upon becoming arises birth; dependent upon birth arise old age and death, grief, lamentation, suffering, dejection and despair. Thus arises the entire mass of suffering. ‘Ignorance is a condition for choices. Choices are a condition for consciousness. … That is how this entire mass of suffering originates. That is, conditioned by ignorance, activities arise, and so on ..., and thus this whole mass of suffering arises.
Avijjāyatveva asesavirāganirodhā saṅkhāranirodho. Saṅkhāranirodhā viññāṇanirodho. Viññāṇanirodhā nāmarūpanirodho. Nāmarūpanirodhā saḷāyatananirodho. Saḷāyatananirodhā phassanirodho. Phassanirodhā vedanānirodho. Vedanānirodhā taṇhānirodho. Taṇhānirodhā upādānanirodho. Upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho. Bhavanirodhā jātinirodho. Jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṃ, sokaparidevadukkhadomanassūpāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hotī'ti. "Now from the remainderless fading & cessation of that very ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications. From the cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness. From the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation of name-&-form. From the cessation of name-&-form comes the cessation of the six sense media. From the cessation of the six sense media comes the cessation of contact. From the cessation of contact comes the cessation of feeling. From the cessation of feeling comes the cessation of craving. From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance. From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. From the cessation of birth, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of stress & suffering. " But from the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance there comes the cessation of the formations, from the cessation of the formations comes the cessation of consciousness... So there comes about the complete cessation of this entire mass of suffering." But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes cessation of volitional formations; with the cessation of volitional formations, cessation of consciousness…. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.” However, from the utter fading away and ceasing of ignorance, there is ceasing of dispositions; from the ceasing of dispositions, there is ceasing of consciousness; from the ceasing of consciousness, there is ceasing of the psychophysical personality; from the ceasing of the psychophysical personality, there is ceasing of the six senses; from the ceasing of the six senses, there is ceasing of contact; from the ceasing of contact, there is ceasing of feeling; from the ceasing of feeling, there is ceasing of craving; from the ceasing of craving, there is ceasing of grasping; from the ceasing of grasping, there is ceasing of becoming; from the ceasing of becoming, there is ceasing of birth; from the ceasing of birth, there is ceasing of old age and death, grief, lamentation, suffering, dejection and despair. And thus there is the ceasing of this entire mass of suffering.” When ignorance fades away and ceases with nothing left over, choices cease. When choices cease, consciousness ceases. … That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.’” When ignorance ceases, activities cease, and so on ..., and thus this whole mass of suffering ceases."
  When the Buddha had taught this discourse, the venerable Katyāyana, having heard what the Buddha had said, became freed of all influences, attained liberation of mind, and became an arahant.
1. Kaccāyana - sī 1.2.
2. Dvaya - machasaṃ, syā,
3. Vinibandho - machasaṃ, syā, sīmu.
4. Ettāvatā nu kho - sī, 1, 2.
Revised: 9 November 1998

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.015.than.html

Notes

  1. Samma Diṭṭhi: the first step of the Noble Eightfold Path, lit. "Right Seeing." It is also rendered "Right Understanding," but the connotations of this are too exclusively intellectual. The rendering "Right Views" (plural) is to be rejected, since it is not a matter of holding "views" (opinions) but of "seeing things as they really are."
  2. Atthitā: "is-ness." The theory of "Eternalism" (sassatavāda).
  3. Natthitā: "is-not-ness." The theory of "Annihilationism" (ucchedavāda). All forms of materialism come under this heading. See the discussion in Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation of DN 1, The All-Embracing Net of Views (BPS 1978), pp. 30-33.
  4. Yathābhūtaṃ: cf n. 1.
  5. Or, as we might say today, "ideologies" or "isms."
  6. I take this to mean the man who sees "with the highest wisdom" mentioned above. Mrs Rhys Davids seems to have gone slightly astray here.
  7. [Attā me ti:] Cf. SN 3.8, n. 1. Feer's edition of SN reads here attā na me ti "this is not myself," which would also make sense but is contradicted, not only in SA [Commentary], but also when the story is repeated at SN 22.90.
  8. The usual translation "suffering," always a makeshift, is inappropriate here.
    Dukkha in Buddhist usage refers to the inherent unsatisfactoriness and general insecurity of all conditioned existence.
  9. Sabbam atthi. From the Sanskrit form of this expression, sarvam asti (though used in a slightly different sense) the Sarvāstivādin school got their name. They held that dharmas existed in "three times," past, present and future. It was mainly to this early school that the label "Hiinayāna" ("Lesser Career or Vehicle") was applied and later illegitimately applied to the Theravāda (see SN 12.22, n. 1).
  10. Lit. probably either "Thus come" tathā-āgata or "Thus gone (beyond)" (tathā-gata): the Buddha's usual way of referring to himself. For other meanings cf. Bhikkhu Bodhi, The All-Embracing Net of Views (BPS 1978), pp. 50-53, 331-344.

Access to Insight, January 24, 2010

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.015.wlsh.html

Notes

  1. Spk: "For the most part" (yebhuyyena) means for the great multitude.... The notion of existence (atthitā) is eternalism (sassata); the notion of non-existence (natthitā) is annihilationism (uccheda). Spk-pt: The notion of existence is eternalism because it maintains that the entire world (of personal existence) exists forever. The notion of non-existence is annihilationism because it maintains that the entire world does not exist (forever). but is cut off.
      In view of these explainations it would be misleading to translate the two terms, atthitā and natthitā, simply as "existence" and "non-existence" and then to maintain (as is sometimes done) that the Buddha rejects all ontological notions as inherently invalid. [See SN 22.94] In the present passage atthitā and natthitā are abstract nouns formed from the verbs atthi and natthi. It is thus the metaphysical assumptions implicit in such abstractions that are at fault, not the ascriptions of existence and non-existence themselves. [Bhikkhu Bodhi has] tried to convey this sense of metaphysical abstraction, conveyed in the Pali by the terminal , by rendering the two term "the notion of existence" and "the notion of non-existence," respectively. On the two extremes rejected by the Buddha, see SN 12:48, and for the Buddha's teaching on the origin and passing away of the world, SN 12:44.
  2. Spk & Spk-pt: ...
  3. Spk: ...
  4. ... Spk says that craving and views are also called "mental standpoints" (adhiṭṭhāna) because they are the foundation for the (unwholesome) mind, and "adherences and underlying tendencies" (abhinivesānusaya) because the adhere to the mind and lie latent within it. Spk connectes the verb adhiṭṭhāti to the following "attā me," and [Bhikkhu Bodhi] conforms to this interpretation in the translation.
  5. Spk explains dukkha here as "the mere five aggregates subject to clinging" (pañcupādānakkhandhamattam eva). ... By just this much -- the abandonment of the idea of a being (sattasañña) -- there is right seeing.
      Aparappaccayā ñāṇaṃ, "knowledge independent of others" is glossed by Spk as "personal direct knowledge without dependence on another." ...

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