Kinh Pháp Luân (Dharmacakrasūtra) — Toh 337

Summary

The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma contains the Buddha’s teaching to his five former
spiritual companions on the four truths that he had discovered as part of his awakening: (1) suffering, (2) the
origin of suffering, (3) the cessation of suffering, and (4) the path leading to the cessation of suffering.
According to all the Buddhist traditions, this is the first teaching the Buddha gave to explain his awakened
insight to others.

Acknowledgements

This sūtra was translated and introduced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of
Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the
Buddha.

Introduction

The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma contains one of the most well-known teachings of
Buddhism: the four truths of the noble ones. These four truths are: (1) the truth of suffering, (2) the truth of
the origin of suffering, (3) the truth of the cessation of suffering, and (4) the truth of the path leading to
the cessation of suffering. According to traditional accounts, this is the first teaching taught by the Buddha
following his attainment of awakening. The Buddha is said to have journeyed from the seat of awakening in
Bodhgaya to the Deer Park outside Varanasi, where he delivered this teaching to his five former spiritual
companions. Since this was the first time the Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma, this discourse also became
known as The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma, or, more commonly, The Sūtra of the Turning of the Wheel of Dharma.

Although very brief, this classical presentation of the four truths has remained central to the Buddhist
tradition since its very early days. As such, this teaching is included in all the major canons of Buddhism, so
that versions in Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan are found. As far as translations into Tibetan
are concerned, we find the classical presentation of the four truths embedded in no fewer than seven individual
works in the Kangyur. Of these, the following four contain accounts of this first teaching in passages that are
clearly closely related, being almost verbatim identical:

– The Chapter on Schism in the Sangha (Saṅghabhedavastu). This very long text forms the 17th chapter of the

Mūlasarvāstivādin vinaya scripture Chapters on Monastic Discipline (Vinayavastu, Toh 1), and includes, interspersed with all sorts of other material,
passages recounting the life and deeds of the Buddha.

– Foundations of the Minor Monastic Discipline

(Vinayakṣudrakavastu, Toh 6). Another Mūlasarvāstivādin vinaya scripture that
includes episodes from the life and deeds of the Buddha as well as other material amplifying the history and rules of
the monastic community.

– The Sūtra on Going Forth (Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra,

Toh 301). In this text all the passages in The Chapter on Schism in the Sangha recounting the
Buddha’s life have been extracted verbatim to form a continuous narrative, including the passage on this
teaching.

– The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma

(Dharmacakrasūtra, Toh 337). This text (translated here) is also
a verbatim extract from the account of the
teaching as found in Toh 1, but this time only of this particular episode. However, it does add a brief
introduction and conclusion to give to the account the form of an independent sūtra.

In addition, the Kangyur also contains a translation of the
Dhammachakkappavattanasutta from the Pali canon:

– The Sūtra of the Turning of the Wheel of Dharma

(Dharmacakrapravartanasūtra, Toh 31). This is one of only fourteen texts in
the Kangyur that were translated into Tibetan from the Pali. It therefore mirrors closely the
Dhammachakkappavattanasutta of the Saṃyuttanikāya,
although some differences exist.

Another version of this episode in the Kangyur is embedded in one of the long collections of
avadāna:

– The Hundred Deeds

(Karmaśataka, Toh 340). This anthology of stories compiled to illustrate
the cause and effect of karmic action from one life to another contains—among several other kinds of
narrative—accounts of many of the best known episodes from the life of the Buddha, and many of these are closely
related and similarly worded parallels to the same episodes as told in the texts of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya.
The account of the first turning of the wheel of Dharma is followed by an account of the Buddha's relationship to
the five first monks in their previous lives in the distant past, told to explain the karmic reasons
underlying the present episode.

Lastly, the teaching is also found as part of the Lalitavistarasūtra:

– The Play in Full (Lalitavistara,

Toh 95). In this lengthy account of the Buddha’s deeds the teaching on the four truths has many
similarities with the other texts, yet clearly belongs to another manuscript tradition as there are a
number of significant differences as well. Here the teaching is found in the penultimate chapter (ch. 26),
entitled “Turning the Wheel of Dharma.”

In general, the plethora of versions that exist of this teaching in Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, and
Tibetan are very similar, yet all of them contain a number of idiosyncrasies—some minor, others
significant—that set them apart from the rest. These differences have been studied in great detail over the last
two centuries and a rich body of scholarship on the philological and theoretical aspects of this teaching has
emerged. As a result, we now know that the teaching on the four
truths as we today find it included in the various canons is the product of several editorial revisions over the
centuries. The “original” version of this teaching consequently remains elusive, as does the role played by this
teaching in the earliest days of the Buddhist tradition.

As these scriptures became the focus of scholarly attention, a number of translations both from the
Pali and Sanskrit have been produced. The translation presented here has been
made on the basis of the Tibetan translation of The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma
(Toh 337). As mentioned above, this text is with minor exceptions identical to the corresponding sections in Toh
1, Toh 6, and Toh 331. Toh 337 contains no mention of the translators, but the translator of Toh 1 is listed as the
Tibetan Kawa Paltseg (ka ba dpal brtsegs), who was a prolific translator
during the early period of Tibetan translations, which took place at the beginning of the ninth century.
Unfortunately, the Sanskrit version that formed the basis for Kawa Paltseg’s translation of Toh 1 is no longer
extant. The Sanskrit manuscript of the Saṅghabhedavastu that is
available to us today (Gnoli 1977) has enough differences
from the Tibetan translation for us to conclude that it was not the text that was used to produce the Tibetan
translation. Nevertheless, it does represent an important witness of the Sanskrit, and our translation
benefitted greatly from comparing it with the Tibetan. Our main sources were the Degé prints of Toh
1, Toh 301, and Toh 337, taking into account the variants noted in the Pedurma comparative edition of each.

The Translation

##
The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma

Homage to the Omniscient One!

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One, the Buddha, was residing in the Deer Park at Ṛṣivadana by
Vārāṇasī. At that time the Blessed One spoke to the group of five
monks:

“Monks, regarding things that I had not previously
heard,
as I reflected thoroughly, the vision arose, and the insight, knowledge, understanding,
and realization
arose: ‘This is suffering, the truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things that I had not previously heard, as I reflected thoroughly, the vision arose,
and the insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose: ‘This is
the origin of suffering, this is the cessation of suffering, and this is the path leading to the cessation of
suffering.’

“Monks, regarding things that I had not previously heard, as I reflected thoroughly, the vision arose,
and the insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose: ‘With
higher knowledge I should comprehend suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things that I had not previously heard, as I reflected thoroughly, the vision arose,
and the insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose: ‘With
higher knowledge I should relinquish the origin of suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things that I had not previously heard, as I reflected thoroughly, the vision arose,
and the insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose: ‘With
higher knowledge I should actualize the cessation of
suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things that I had not previously heard, as I reflected thoroughly, the vision arose,
and the insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose: ‘With
higher knowledge I should cultivate the path leading to the cessation of suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things that I had not previously heard, as I reflected thoroughly, the vision arose,
and the insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose: ‘With
higher knowledge I have comprehended suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things that I had not previously heard, as I reflected thoroughly, the vision arose,
and the insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose: ‘With
higher knowledge I have relinquished the origin of suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things that I had not previously heard, as I reflected thoroughly, the vision arose,
and the insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose: ‘With
higher knowledge I have actualized the cessation of
suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things that I had not previously heard, as I reflected thoroughly, the vision arose,
and the insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose: ‘With
higher knowledge I have cultivated the path leading to the cessation of suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, until I had achieved the vision, insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization of
these four truths of noble beings that are turned in three phases and comprise twelve aspects, I had not been freed from this world with its devas, from its living beings
including māras and brahmās as well as mendicants and brahmins, from its gods and humans. I had not escaped
from it, severed ties with it, or been delivered from
it. Nor did I dwell extensively with a mind free from error. Monks, I did not have the knowledge that I had
fully awakened to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood.

“Monks, once I had achieved the vision, insight, knowledge, understanding, and realization of
turning these four truths of noble beings in three phases with twelve aspects, I was freed from this world
with its devas, from its living beings including māras and brahmās as well as mendicants and brahmins,
from its gods and humans. I had escaped from it, severed ties
with it, and been delivered from it. I dwelled extensively with a mind free from error.
Monks, I then had the knowledge that I had fully awakened to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood.”

When the Blessed One had given this Dharma discourse, venerable Kauṇḍinya, along with eighty thousand
gods, achieved the Dharma vision that is free from dust and stainless with regard to phenomena.

The Blessed One now asked venerable Kauṇḍinya, “Kauṇḍinya, did you understand the Dharma?”
“Blessed One,” he replied, “I understood.”
“Kauṇḍinya, did you understand? Did you understand?”
“Well-Gone One,” he replied, “I understood. I understood.”
“Because venerable Kauṇḍinya has understood the Dharma, venerable Kauṇḍinya shall now be known as
Ājñātakauṇḍinya.”

At that point the terrestrial yakṣas called out, “Venerable Kauṇḍinya has understood the Dharma!” And
they continued, “Friends, in the Deer Park at Ṛṣivadana by Vārāṇasī, the Blessed One has turned the wheel of
Dharma in three phases with twelve aspects. He has turned the wheel of Dharma in a way that no mendicant or
brahmin, and no god, māra, or Brahmā in the world could ever do in accord with the Dharma. He has done so for
the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of many beings, out of love for the world, and for the welfare,
benefit, and happiness of gods and humans. Hence, the gods will flourish and the demigods will be on the
wane.”

As the voices of the terrestrial yakṣas rang out—at that very moment, in that very instant, and at that
very time—the news passed to the celestial yakṣas, as well as to the gods in the Heaven of the Four Great Kings,
the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the Heaven Free from Strife, the Heaven of Joy, the Heaven of Delighting in
Emanations, the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations, and all the way to the Brahmā realm. Thus, also the
gods in the Brahmā realm announced, “Friends, in the Deer Park at Ṛṣivadana by Vārāṇasī,
the Blessed One has turned the wheel of Dharma in three phases with twelve aspects. He has turned the wheel of
Dharma in a way that no mendicant or brahmin, and no god, māra, or Brahmā in the world could ever do in accord
with the Dharma. He has done so for the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of many beings, out of love
for the world, and for the welfare, benefit, and happiness of gods and humans. Hence, the gods will flourish and
the demigods will be on the wane.”

In the Deer Park at Ṛṣivadana by Vārāṇasī, the Blessed One turned the wheel of Dharma in three phases
with twelve aspects. Therefore, this Dharma teaching was named Turning the Wheel of
Dharma.

This completes “The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma.”

Bibliography