Sutta · SN 56.11
Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Translated by RidgeClub 3 min read
Evaṃ me sutaṃ — ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā bārāṇasiyaṃ viharati isipatane migadāye. Tatra kho bhagavā pañcavaggiye bhikkhū āmantesi:
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Bārāṇasī, in the Deer Park at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
“Dveme, bhikkhave, antā pabbajitena na sevitabbā. Katame dve? Yo cāyaṃ kāmesu kāmasukhallikānuyogo hīno gammo pothujjaniko anariyo anatthasaṃhito, yo cāyaṃ attakilamathānuyogo dukkho anariyo anatthasaṃhito. Ete kho, bhikkhave, ubho ante anupagamma majjhimā paṭipadā tathāgatena abhisambuddhā cakkhukaraṇī ñāṇakaraṇī upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṃvattati.
“Monks, there are two extremes that one who has gone forth should not pursue. Which two? There is the pursuit of sensual happiness in sensual pleasures: low, vulgar, the way of ordinary people, ignoble, and unbeneficial. And there is the pursuit of self-torment: painful, ignoble, and unbeneficial. Avoiding both these extremes, the Tathāgata has awakened to the middle way, which gives vision, gives knowledge, and leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to awakening, to nibbāna.
“Katamā ca sā, bhikkhave, majjhimā paṭipadā tathāgatena abhisambuddhā cakkhukaraṇī ñāṇakaraṇī upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṃvattati? Ayameva ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo, seyyathidaṃ — sammādiṭṭhi sammāsaṅkappo sammāvācā sammākammanto sammāājīvo sammāvāyāmo sammāsati sammāsamādhi. Ayaṃ kho sā, bhikkhave, majjhimā paṭipadā tathāgatena abhisambuddhā cakkhukaraṇī ñāṇakaraṇī upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṃvattati.
“And what is that middle way awakened to by the Tathāgata, which gives vision, gives knowledge, and leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to awakening, to nibbāna? It is just this noble eightfold path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. This is the middle way awakened to by the Tathāgata, which gives vision, gives knowledge, and leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to awakening, to nibbāna.
“Idaṃ kho pana, bhikkhave, dukkhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ — jātipi dukkhā, jarāpi dukkhā, byādhipi dukkho, maraṇampi dukkhaṃ, appiyehi sampayogo dukkho, piyehi vippayogo dukkho, yampicchaṃ na labhati tampi dukkhaṃ — saṅkhittena pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkhā.
“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, ageing is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; being joined with what one dislikes is suffering; being parted from what one loves is suffering; not getting what one wants is suffering. In short, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.
“Idaṃ kho pana, bhikkhave, dukkhasamudayaṃ ariyasaccaṃ — yāyaṃ taṇhā ponobbhavikā nandīrāgasahagatā tatratatrābhinandinī, seyyathidaṃ — kāmataṇhā, bhavataṇhā, vibhavataṇhā.
“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is the craving that leads to renewed existence, bound up with delight and lust, seeking delight now here, now there — that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, and craving for non-existence.
“Idaṃ kho pana, bhikkhave, dukkhanirodhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ — yo tassāyeva taṇhāya asesavirāganirodho cāgo paṭinissaggo mutti anālayo.
“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: the fading away and cessation of that very craving, without remainder — giving it up, relinquishing it, being released from it, depending on it no more.
“Idaṃ kho pana, bhikkhave, dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā ariyasaccaṃ — ayameva ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo, seyyathidaṃ — sammādiṭṭhi sammāsaṅkappo sammāvācā sammākammanto sammāājīvo sammāvāyāmo sammāsati sammāsamādhi.
“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is just this noble eightfold path — right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
“Yāvakīvañca me, bhikkhave, imesu catūsu ariyasaccesu evaṃ tiparivaṭṭaṃ dvādasākāraṃ yathābhūtaṃ ñāṇadassanaṃ na suvisuddhaṃ ahosi, neva tāvāhaṃ, bhikkhave, sadevake loke samārake sabrahmake sassamaṇabrāhmaṇiyā pajāya sadevamanussāya anuttaraṃ sammāsambodhiṃ abhisambuddho paccaññāsiṃ.
“So long, monks, as my knowledge and vision of these four noble truths as they really are, in their three rounds and twelve aspects, was not fully purified, I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect awakening in this world with its gods, its Māras, and its Brahmās, among its people with their contemplatives and brahmins, their rulers and ordinary folk.
“Yato ca kho me, bhikkhave, imesu catūsu ariyasaccesu evaṃ tiparivaṭṭaṃ dvādasākāraṃ yathābhūtaṃ ñāṇadassanaṃ suvisuddhaṃ ahosi, athāhaṃ, bhikkhave, sadevake loke samārake sabrahmake sassamaṇabrāhmaṇiyā pajāya sadevamanussāya anuttaraṃ sammāsambodhiṃ abhisambuddho paccaññāsiṃ. Ñāṇañca pana me dassanaṃ udapādi: ‘akuppā me vimutti, ayamantimā jāti, natthi dāni punabbhavo’”ti.
“But when my knowledge and vision of these four noble truths as they really are, in their three rounds and twelve aspects, was fully purified, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect awakening in this world with its gods, its Māras, and its Brahmās, among its people with their contemplatives and brahmins, their rulers and ordinary folk. And the knowledge and vision arose in me: ‘Unshakable is my release. This is my last birth. Now there is no further becoming.’”
Idamavoca bhagavā. Attamanā pañcavaggiyā bhikkhū bhagavato bhāsitaṃ abhinanduṃ. Imasmiñca pana veyyākaraṇasmiṃ bhaññamāne āyasmato koṇḍaññassa virajaṃ vītamalaṃ dhammacakkhuṃ udapādi: “yaṃ kiñci samudayadhammaṃ, sabbaṃ taṃ nirodhadhamman”ti.
That is what the Blessed One said. The group of five monks, delighted, rejoiced in his words. And while this discourse was being spoken, there arose in Venerable Koṇḍañña the stainless, dustless vision of the Dhamma: “Whatever is subject to arising is all subject to cessation.”