Toh 211The Sūtra “Teaching the Fundamental Exposition and Detailed Analysis of Dependent Arising”

Summary

In the Jeta’s Grove outside Śrāvastī, monks have gathered to listen to the
Buddha as he presents the foundational doctrine of dependent arising. The Buddha
first gives the definition of dependent arising and then teaches the twelve
factors that form the causal chain of existence in saṃsāra as well as the
defining characteristics of these twelve factors.

Acknowledgements

This translation was
produced by Annie Bien with assistance from Dr. Paul Hackett and Geshe Dorji Damdul.
Dr. Shrikant Bahulkar, Dr. David Mellins, and Dr. Peter Skilling also kindly offered
advice. Leslie Kriesel assisted by editing the translation.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Introduction

Dependent arising is one of the core teachings of Buddhism. The
canonical accounts of the Buddha’s awakening relate how at first he
hesitated to describe the profound realization he had attained, given how
difficult it would be for others to comprehend. At last, persuaded to speak
of his discovery, the Buddha began by teaching the four truths of the noble
ones. Then, to explain in more detail the causes of suffering and its
cessation, he taught the aggregates, how they are misconstrued as a self,
and the theory of dependent arising, based in part on the pan-Indian idea of moral
causation, as a means to gain insight into the nature of reality. This
teaching was later analyzed in great detail by the various Buddhist
philosophical schools. It is a topic discussed in many other sūtras and has
been widely interpreted in commentaries by the Buddhist traditions.

Teaching the Fundamental Exposition and Detailed
Analysis of Dependent Arising takes place in Śrāvastī, the
ancient capital of the Kośala state located near the Rapti River in what is
today northeastern Uttar Pradesh. In Buddhist India, Śrāvastī was famous for
housing the Jeta’s Grove monastery. This monastery was erected in a park,
outside the city, which had been donated to the Buddha and his community by
the wealthy benefactor Anāthapiṇḍada. Tradition relates that the Buddha
spent twenty-four rainy seasons at this important monastery. The sūtra
begins with the Buddha teaching a congregation of monks. He
first presents the topic of dependent arising and summarizes the
doctrine: “If this exists, that arises; by this having been produced, that
is produced.” Whatever is born has arisen in reliance on causes and
conditions, with no cause or condition being primary or absolute. In this
there is no phenomenon that exists independently. This general meaning of
dependent arising applies to both animate and inanimate objects. In his
teaching the Buddha then explains how twelve progressively arising factors cause
beings to continuously take birth, age, and die, only to become born anew.
These twelve factors are described as the progressive chain of events that
accounts for the perpetual suffering of saṃsāra. After presenting the twelve
links, the Buddha elucidates them with a detailed analysis, subdividing and defining each of
the twelve factors.

The sūtra is today extant in Sanskrit as well as Chinese, Tibetan,
Korean, and Mongolian translations. The Sanskrit is found as part of the
Nidānasaṃyukta collection.
Indian commentaries on this text (today extant only in Tibetan translation)
were written by Vasubandhu (fourth–fifth century ce, Toh 3995
) and Guṇamati (sixth century ce, Toh 3996
). The text was translated several times into
Chinese, first by Kumārajīva in the early fifth century ce (Taishō 123) and later by Hsüan-tsang in 661
ce (Taishō 124). Apart from these two independent translations, the sūtra was also translated by Guṇabhadra in the early fifth century CE as part of his translation of the Saṃyuktāgama (Taishō 99).

The Tibetan translation has no colophon, so we do not know
when or by whom it was produced. It is, however,
included in the Denkarma inventory of translated texts, compiled at a date in the early ninth
century thought to have been 812 ce, so it must have been translated
at the latest by that date.

This English translation is based on the Tibetan translation
in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the Comparative Edition (Tib. dpe bsdur
ma). We also consulted the Sanskrit editions by Tripathi (1962) and Vaidya (Ānandajoti 2009).

The Translation

The Sūtra

Teaching the Fundamental Exposition and Detailed

Analysis of Dependent Arising

Homage to the Three Jewels.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavān was dwelling in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park.

Then the Bhagavān spoke to the monks: “Monks,
I shall teach you the fundamental exposition and detailed analysis of
dependent arising. Listen very well and bear this in mind as I explain.
What is the fundamental exposition of dependent arising? It is thus: if this
exists, that arises; by this having been produced, that is produced.

“It is thus: through the condition of ignorance, formations arise;
through the condition of formations, consciousness arises; through the
condition of consciousness, name-and-form arises; through the condition of
name-and-form, the six sense sources arise; through the condition of the six
sense sources, contact arises; through the condition of contact, feeling
arises; through the condition of feeling, craving arises; through the
condition of craving, grasping arises; through the condition of grasping,
existence arises; through the condition of existence, birth arises; through
the condition of birth, aging and death—as well as sorrow, lamentation,
suffering, unhappiness, and strife—arise. In this way, this sole great heap
of suffering arises. This is the fundamental
exposition of dependent arising.

“What is the detailed analysis of dependent arising? What is
ignorance in the statement, ‘Through the condition of ignorance, formations
arise’? It is not knowing the past, not knowing the future, and not knowing
either the past or the future. It is not knowing the inner, not knowing the
outer, and not knowing either the inner or the outer. It is not knowing
actions, not knowing their maturation, and not knowing either actions
or their maturation. It is not knowing the Buddha, not knowing the
Dharma, not knowing the Saṅgha. It is not knowing suffering, origin,
cessation, or the path. It is not knowing the causes and not knowing that
phenomena arise from causes. It is not knowing virtue and nonvirtue. It is
not knowing unseemliness and not knowing the absence of unseemliness. It is
not knowing what to engage in and what not to engage in. It is not knowing
what is bad, sublime, negative, or positive. It is not knowing the phenomena
that dependently arise within such divisions. It is failing to understand
the six sense sources of contact just as they are. It is not knowing what is
and how it is. It is not seeing and not understanding. It is being confused,
deluded, ignorant, and obscured. This is ignorance.

“What are formations in the statement, ‘Through the condition of
ignorance, formations arise’? They are threefold. What are the three?
They are the formations of the body, the formations of speech, and the
formations of the mind.

“What is consciousness in the statement, ‘Through the condition of
formations, consciousness arises’? It is the six collections of
consciousness: the consciousnesses of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and
mind.

“What is name in the statement, ‘Through the condition of
consciousness, name-and-form arises’? It is the four formless aggregates.
They are the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the
aggregate of formations, and the aggregate of consciousness.

“What is form? Whatever form there may be, it is all the four great
elements and form derived from the four great elements. In this way, when
both form and the aforementioned name are taken together, they are called
name-and-form.

“What are the six sense sources in the statement, ‘Through the
condition of name-and-form, the six sense sources arise’? There are six
inner sense sources: the inner sense sources of the eye, ear, nose, tongue,
body, and mind.

“What is contact in the statement, ‘Through the condition of the six
sense sources, contact arises’? There are six collections of contact: being
conjoined with the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. This is
contact.

“What is feeling in the statement, ‘Through the condition of
contact, feeling arises’? There are three feelings: pleasure, pain, and
neither pleasure nor pain.

“What is craving in the statement, ‘Through the condition of
feeling, craving arises’? There are three cravings: the craving of the
desire realm, the craving of the form realm, and the craving of the formless
realm.

“What is grasping in the statement, ‘Through the condition of
craving, grasping arises’? Grasping is of four types: grasping at desire,
grasping at views, grasping at moral rules and vows and rites,
and grasping at theories that assert the self.

“What is existence in the statement, ‘Through the condition of
grasping, existence arises’? There are three existences: the existences of
the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm.

“What is birth in the statement, ‘Through the condition of
existence, birth arises’? Birth refers to the way a being is born into a
particular class of beings. It refers to conception, entrance, maturation,
manifestation, obtaining aggregates, obtaining elements, obtaining sense
sources, fully developing aggregates, and the manifestation of the life
faculty.

“What is aging in the statement, ‘Through the
condition of birth, aging and death arise’? Aging refers to becoming
bald, white haired, wrinkled, worn out, slack, hunched like a cow
drinking water, covered with liver spots, having drooping limbs, being
afflicted with rheumatism, breathing heavily, walking hunched over,
walking with a stick, feeling unwell and lethargic, being weakened,
being exhausted, having impaired faculties, losing one’s memory, and
becoming old and decrepit. This is called
aging.

“What is death? Death is the departure or passing away
of each and every being from their respective class of sentient beings; it
is their disintegration, internal deterioration, loss of life, fading of
bodily warmth, cessation of the life faculty, discarding of the aggregates,
dying, and decease. Combining the two into one, death with the
aforementioned aging, this is known as aging and death.
This is the detailed analysis of dependent
arising.

“O monks, I said that I would explain to you the fundamental
exposition and detailed analysis of dependent arising, and they are
as I have now described them.”

This concludes “The Sūtra Teaching the Fundamental Exposition
and Detailed Analysis of Dependent Arising.”

Notes

Bibliography