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Tidipa

Kesamuttisutta (The Discourse at Kesamutta)

· 63 min read

15A3/2.2.5, the discourse to the Kālāmas of Kesamutta in the Aṅguttara Nikāya's Tikanipāta: asked whom to believe among the religious practitioners who each praise their own doctrine, the Bhagavā tells the Kālāmas to go by what they themselves know to lead to harm or to welfare, and shows the four reliefs of a disciple whose mind is filled with goodwill, compassion, happiness for others and equanimity.

Original text: 15A3/2.2.5 Kesamuttisutta 472–525 in the World Tipitaka Edition

Summary

Section titled “Summary”

At Kesamutta, a market town of the Kālāmas, the Kālāmas tell the Bhagavā that visiting religious practitioners each praise their own doctrine and denigrate the others’, and ask whom to believe. The Bhagavā tells them not to go by tradition, scripture, reasoning or a teacher’s standing but by what they themselves know to lead to harm or to welfare, and leads them through greed, hatred and delusion and their opposites. A disciple who fills every direction with goodwill, compassion, happiness for others and equanimity attains four reliefs in this very life, whatever the truth about another world.

Diagram

Section titled “Diagram”
flowchart TB
    Q["the Kālāmas' doubt: whom to believe?"] --> C["ten grounds not to go by"]
    C --> K["know for yourselves"]
    K --> A["greed, hatred, delusion: harm and suffering"]
    K --> B["non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion: welfare and happiness"]
    A --> G["give them up"]
    B --> E["enter and remain in them"]
    E --> M["goodwill, compassion, happiness for others, equanimity in every direction"]
    M --> R["four reliefs in this very life"]
    R --> R1["another world: a good destination"]
    R --> R2["no other world: happy here"]
    R --> R3["evil befalls the doer: I intend none"]
    R --> R4["evil does not befall: pure both ways"]

Text

Section titled “Text”

(66.)

472. Thus heard by me — At one time the Bhagavā, while travelling through the Kosala country together with a large Saṅgha of bhikkhū, arrived at Kesamutta, a market town of the Kālāmas. The Kālāmas of Kesamutta heard: “Indeed, Bho, the wanderer Gotama, the son of the Sakyans, who went forth from the Sakyan clan, has arrived at Kesamutta. And concerning that Bhagavā Gotama such a good report has spread: ‘Such indeed is the Bhagavā … and so on … Indeed, it is good to see such arahants (liberated ones).’”

473. Then the Kālāmas of Kesamutta approached the Bhagavā; having approached, some paid homage to the Bhagavā and sat down to one side; some exchanged friendly greetings with the Bhagavā, and after exchanging polite and courteous talk, sat down to one side; some extended their clasped hands towards the Bhagavā and sat down to one side; some announced their name and clan and sat down to one side; some, remaining silent, sat down to one side. Seated to one side, those Kālāmas of Kesamutta said this to the Bhagavā:

474. “There are, Bhante, some religious practitioners who come to Kesamutta. They explain and illuminate only their own doctrine, but they abuse, despise, disparage and denigrate the doctrines of others. Other religious practitioners too, Bhante, come to Kesamutta. They too explain and illuminate only their own doctrine, but they abuse, despise, disparage and denigrate the doctrines of others. About them, Bhante, there is indeed doubt for us, there is uncertainty: ‘Which of these worthy religious practitioners speaks the truth, and which speaks falsely?’” “It is indeed proper for you to doubt, Kālāmas, proper to be uncertain. Uncertainty has arisen in you about a matter that is indeed doubtful.

475. Come, Kālāmas, don’t go by oral transmission, don’t go by lineage, don’t go by hearsay, don’t go by canonical authority, don’t rely on logic, don’t rely on inference, don’t go by reasoned contemplation, don’t go by the acceptance of a view after consideration, don’t go by the appearance of competence, and don’t think ‘The samaṇa (wanderer) is our respected teacher.’ But when you yourselves, Kālāmas, know: ‘These things are unwholesome, these things are blameworthy, these things are blamed by the wise, these things, when completed and undertaken, lead to harm and suffering’ — then, Kālāmas, you should give them up.

476. What do you think, Kālāmas: greed arising within a person — does it arise for his welfare or for his harm?”

477. “For his harm, Bhante”.

478. “And this individual, Kālāmas, being greedy, overcome by greed, with his mind overwhelmed, kills living beings, takes what is not given, goes to another’s wife, speaks falsely, and incites another to do likewise; and that is for his harm and suffering for a long time.”

479. “Yes, Bhante”.

480. “What do you think, Kālāmas: hatred arising within a person — does it arise for his welfare or for his harm?”

481. “For his harm, Bhante”.

482. “And this individual, Kālāmas, being angry, overcome by hatred, with his mind overwhelmed, kills living beings, takes what is not given, goes to another’s wife, speaks falsely, and incites another to do likewise; and that is for his harm and suffering for a long time.”

483. “Yes, Bhante”.

484. “What do you think, Kālāmas: delusion arising within a person — does it arise for his welfare or for his harm?”

485. “For his harm, Bhante”.

486. “And this individual, Kālāmas, being deluded, overcome by delusion, with his mind overwhelmed, kills living beings, takes what is not given, goes to another’s wife, speaks falsely, and incites another to do likewise; and that is for his harm and suffering for a long time.”

487. “Yes, Bhante”.

488. “What do you think, Kālāmas: are these things wholesome or unwholesome?”

489. “Unwholesome, Bhante”.

490. “Blameworthy or blameless?”

491. “Blameworthy, Bhante”.

492. “Blamed by the wise or praised by the wise?”

493. “Blamed by the wise, Bhante”.

494. “When completed and undertaken, do they lead to harm and suffering, or not? Or how is it here?”

495. “‘When completed and undertaken, Bhante, they lead to harm and suffering.’ So it is for us here.”

496. “Thus, Kālāmas, what we said: ‘Come, Kālāmas. Don’t go by oral transmission, don’t go by lineage, don’t go by hearsay, don’t go by canonical authority, don’t rely on logic, don’t rely on inference, don’t go by reasoned contemplation, don’t go by the acceptance of a view after consideration, don’t go by the appearance of competence, and don’t think “The samaṇa (wanderer) is our respected teacher.” But when you yourselves, Kālāmas, know: “These things are unwholesome, these things are blameworthy, these things are blamed by the wise, these things, when completed and undertaken, lead to harm and suffering — then, Kālāmas, you should give them up”’ — thus, that which was said, it was said in reference to this.

497. Come, Kālāmas, don’t go by oral transmission, don’t go by lineage, don’t go by hearsay, don’t go by canonical authority, don’t rely on logic, don’t rely on inference, don’t go by reasoned contemplation, don’t go by the acceptance of a view after consideration, don’t go by the appearance of competence, and don’t think ‘The samaṇa (wanderer) is our respected teacher.’ But when you yourselves, Kālāmas, know: ‘These things are wholesome, these things are blameless, these things are praised by the wise, these things, when completed and undertaken, lead to welfare and happiness’ — then, Kālāmas, you should enter and remain in them.

498. What do you think, Kālāmas: non-greed arising within a person — does it arise for his welfare or for his harm?”

499. “For his welfare, Bhante”.

500. “And this individual, Kālāmas, not being greedy, not overcome by greed, with his mind not overwhelmed, does not kill living beings, does not take what is not given, does not go to another’s wife, does not speak falsely, and does not incite another to do likewise; and that is for his welfare and happiness for a long time.”

501. “Yes, Bhante”.

502. “What do you think, Kālāmas: non-hatred arising within a person — does it arise … and so on … non-delusion arising within a person — does it arise … and so on … for his welfare and happiness.”

503. “Yes, Bhante”.

504. “What do you think, Kālāmas: are these things wholesome or unwholesome?”

505. “Wholesome, Bhante”.

506. “Blameworthy or blameless?”

507. “Blameless, Bhante”.

508. “Blamed by the wise or praised by the wise?”

509. “Praised by the wise, Bhante”.

510. “When completed and undertaken, do they lead to welfare and happiness, or not? Or how is it here?”

511. “When completed and undertaken, Bhante, they lead to welfare and happiness. So it is for us here.”

512. “Thus, Kālāmas, what we said: ‘Come, Kālāmas. Don’t go by oral transmission, don’t go by lineage, don’t go by hearsay, don’t go by canonical authority, don’t rely on logic, don’t rely on inference, don’t go by reasoned contemplation, don’t go by the acceptance of a view after consideration, don’t go by the appearance of competence, and don’t think “The samaṇa (wanderer) is our respected teacher.” But when you yourselves, Kālāmas, know: these things are wholesome, these things are blameless, these things are praised by the wise, these things, when completed and undertaken, lead to welfare and happiness — then, Kālāmas, you should enter and remain in them’ — thus, that which was said, it was said in reference to this.

513. That disciple of the liberated, Kālāmas, thus without covetousness, without ill will, undeluded, clearly comprehending and self-aware, with intent filled with goodwill, stays aware having filled one direction, similarly the second, similarly the third, similarly the fourth; thus, with intent, he stays aware having filled above and below, horizontally, everywhere, to all beings in the entire universe, with expansive, grand, infinite, peaceful, without ill will, goodwill. With intent filled with compassion … and so on … with intent filled with happiness for others … and so on … with intent filled with equanimity, he stays aware having filled one direction, similarly the second, similarly the third, similarly the fourth; thus, with intent, he stays aware having filled above and below, horizontally, everywhere, to all beings in the entire universe, with expansive, grand, infinite, peaceful, without ill will, equanimity.

514. That disciple of the liberated, Kālāmas, is thus peaceful in mind, thus without ill will in mind, thus undefiled in mind, thus pure in mind. Four reliefs are attained by him in this very life. ‘If indeed there is the other world, there is a fruit and result of actions well done and badly done, then with the breakup of the body, after death, I will reappear in a good destination, a heavenly world’ — this is the first relief he has attained.

515. ‘If indeed there is no other world, there is no fruit and result of actions well done and badly done, then in this very life I maintain myself peaceful, without ill will, untroubled and happy’ — this is the second relief he has attained.

516. ‘If indeed evil befalls one who does it, yet I do not intend evil for anyone. From where will suffering touch me, who does no evil deed?’ — this is the third relief he has attained.

517. ‘If indeed evil does not befall one who does it, then I regard myself as purified in both ways’ — this is the fourth relief he has attained.

518. That disciple of the liberated, Kālāmas, is thus peaceful in mind, thus without ill will in mind, thus undefiled in mind, thus pure in mind. These four reliefs are attained by him in this very life.”

519. “So it is, Bhagavā, so it is, Sugata (Fortunate One). That disciple of the liberated, Bhante, is thus peaceful in mind, thus without ill will in mind, thus undefiled in mind, thus pure in mind. Four reliefs are attained by him in this very life. ‘If indeed there is the other world, there is a fruit and result of actions well done and badly done, then with the breakup of the body, after death, I will reappear in a good destination, a heavenly world’ — this is the first relief he has attained.

520. ‘If indeed there is no other world, there is no fruit and result of actions well done and badly done, then in this very life I maintain myself peaceful, without ill will, untroubled and happy’ — this is the second relief he has attained.

521. ‘If indeed evil befalls one who does it, yet I do not intend evil for anyone, from where will suffering touch me, who does no evil deed?’ — this is the third relief he has attained.

522. ‘If indeed evil does not befall one who does it, then I regard myself as purified in both ways’ — this is the fourth relief he has attained.

523. That disciple of the liberated, Bhante, is thus peaceful in mind, thus without ill will in mind, thus undefiled in mind, thus pure in mind. These four reliefs are attained by him in this very life.

524. Excellent, Bhante! … and so on … We, Bhante, go for refuge to the Bhagavā and to the Dhamma and to the bhikkhusaṃgha (Saṅgha of bhikkhū). May the Bhagavā, Bhante, remember us as upāsakā (lay disciples) who have gone for refuge for life, from today onwards.”

525. The fifth [discourse of the chapter].

Commentary

Section titled “Commentary”
  • The ten grounds not to go by (475) and the criterion that follows them are the author’s lines on https://buddhavacana.github.io/overview/approach/, taken here verbatim; the negative form (475.2) and the restatements (496, 512) are worded to match them.
  • Renderings by the DPD: assāsa “relief” (the Khandhaka’s assāsaka is “aspiration”), vāda “doctrine”, alaṃ “it is proper”, sārato not used here; the brahmavihāra formula (513) keeps the Saṅgītisutta’s wording (“with intent filled with goodwill, stays aware having filled one direction”), see /dighanikaya/sangitisutta/5-catukka/.
  • The four reliefs (514–517) hold whether or not there is another world or a result of actions; the author’s reading of action and result is on https://buddhavacana.github.io/articles/kamma/.
  • The Bhagavā’s speech runs from 474.6 to 518.2 with the Kālāmas’ answers interleaved; the edition’s quotation marks differ between the two restatements (496.3 has an inner “ ”, 512.3 none), and the English follows each.

Parallels

Section titled “Parallels”

The Chinese parallel is MA 16 伽藍經, the sixth discourse of the Madhyama Āgama’s 業相應品 (中阿含經 fascicle 3, CBETA T01, no. 26, pp. 438b–439c), read here in CBETA’s text. The two versions share the frame and the sequence: the Bhagavā travelling with a large Saṅgha of bhikkhū among the Kālāmas and arriving at Kesamutta (羇舍子, p. 438b); the Kālāmas hearing the report of him and going out to see him, greeting him in their several ways and sitting down (pp. 438b–c); their question about the visiting wanderers and brahmins who each praise their own view and disparage the others’, and their doubt about who speaks the truth (p. 438c); the Bhagavā’s answer through greed, hatred and delusion and the deeds they lead to (p. 438c); the disciple who pervades every direction with goodwill, compassion, happiness for others and equanimity, “without fetters or enmity, without ill will or strife” (無結無怨，無恚無諍, p. 439b); the four reliefs, here “four abodes of peace” (四安隱住處, p. 439b), repeated by the Kālāmas (pp. 439b–c); and their going for refuge for life (p. 439c). The differences, checked in CBETA’s text:

  • The ten grounds. The Chinese has no list of what not to go by (oral transmission, lineage, hearsay and the rest, 475) and no “when you yourselves know” criterion. In their place the Bhagavā says “do not give rise to doubt, for from doubt comes hesitation” (汝等莫生疑惑。所以者何？因有疑惑，便生猶豫, p. 438c) and then “you yourselves have no pure knowledge whether there is a next world or not, whether what is done is faulty or not” (汝等自無淨智，為有後世，為無後世 … 所作有罪，所作無罪, p. 438c), which the Pāḷi’s “it is proper for you to doubt” (474.6) and the four reliefs (514–517) only partly answer.
  • The three roots. The Chinese states that “deeds are of three kinds, with their cause, habit and origin: greed, hatred and delusion” (諸業有三，因習本有 … 貪 … 恚及癡, p. 438c), and the greedy, hating or deluded person, “covered” by the root and “insatiable in mind” (為貪所覆，心無厭足), kills, steals, commits sexual misconduct, lies knowingly “and also drinks liquor” (或復飲酒, p. 438c): the five precepts, where the Pāḷi (478) has killing, taking what is not given, going to another’s wife, false speech and inciting others, and adds “for his harm and suffering for a long time”. The Pāḷi’s question-and-answer on each root (476–487) and on wholesome and unwholesome, blameworthy and blameless (488–495) has no counterpart, and the Chinese has no treatment of the three wholesome roots (498–511).
  • The disciple’s conduct. The Chinese inserts the learned disciple of the liberated (多聞聖弟子) abandoning each of the ten courses of unwholesome action in full, from killing to wrong view, with the right-view formula “there is giving, there is offering … there is this world and the other, there are father and mother, there are true persons in the world who have realised this world and the other” (有施有齋 … 有此世彼世，有父有母；世有真人, pp. 438c–439a) before the four pervasions; the Pāḷi passes straight from the restated criterion (512) to the disciple “without covetousness, without ill will, undeluded, clearly comprehending and self-aware” (513).
  • The four reliefs. The first agrees (this world and the other exist, good and bad deeds have results, “I have this action conformable to right view … I will surely go to a good place, even be born in heaven”, p. 439b). The second differs: where the Pāḷi disciple “maintains himself peaceful, without ill will, untroubled and happy” (515), the Chinese disciple “is not reproached by others on that account but praised by those of right knowledge; the energetic and those of right view say that he has it” (非以此故為他所毀，但為正智所稱譽，精進人、正見人說其有, p. 439b). The third agrees (“if there is action, I surely do no evil, I do not think of evil; since I do no evil myself, from where would suffering arise?” 自不作惡，苦何由生, p. 439b). The fourth differs: the Pāḷi “I regard myself as purified in both ways” (517) stands against “I do not transgress what the world fears or does not fear, I always have compassion for the whole world, my mind does not quarrel with beings, it is undefiled and joyful” (我不犯世怖與不怖，常當慈愍一切世間，我心不與眾生共諍，無濁歡悅, p. 439b).
  • The frame. The Chinese places the Bhagavā in a siṃsapā grove north of the village (住羇舍子村北尸攝惒林中, p. 438b), gives the report of him with the ten epithets in full where the Pāḷi abbreviates (p. 438b), has the Kālāmas greet him in four ways (bowing at his feet, exchanging greetings, saluting with joined palms, sitting silently, pp. 438b–c) against the Pāḷi’s five (473), and has the Bhagavā first teach, encourage and gladden them before they put their question (佛為說法，勸發渴仰，成就歡喜, p. 438c). They address him as Gotama (瞿曇) throughout, where the Pāḷi has Bhante. At the close the Chinese Kālāmas say “Gotama, I have understood; Sugata, I have comprehended” (瞿曇！我已知，善逝，我已解, p. 439c) before taking refuge, and the discourse ends with the Kālāmas and the bhikkhū rejoicing (p. 439c), a closing the Pāḷi lacks.

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