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Tidipa

10. Navaka (Nines)

· 41 min read

The ninth section of the Saṅgītisutta (8D/10): six groups of nine Dhammas recited by āyasmā Sāriputta: resentment and its dispelling, the abodes of beings, the inappropriate times for the optimal life, and the successive stages in meditation and their cessations. Translated from the Dīghanikāya.

Original text: 8D/10.9 Navaka 1078–1101 in the World Tipitaka Edition

Summary

Section titled “Summary”

The ninth section of the Saṅgītisutta: āyasmā Sāriputta recites six groups of nine Dhammas. Two concern resentment, the nine grounds on which it forms and the nine reflections that dispel it; two map where beings dwell and when the optimal life cannot be lived, the nine abodes of beings and the nine inappropriate times; and two set out the meditative sequence, the nine successive stages from the first jhāna (mental disposition) to the cessation of apperception and feeling, and what ceases at each stage.

Diagram

Section titled “Diagram”
flowchart LR
    N["nine Dhammas"] --> R["resentment"]
    N --> W["beings and their times"]
    N --> M["the meditative sequence"]
    R --> R1["nine grounds for resentment"]
    R --> R2["nine ways of dispelling it"]
    R1 --> R3["harm or good: done, being done, to be done"]
    W --> W1["nine abodes of beings"]
    W --> W2["nine inappropriate times for the optimal life"]
    W1 --> W3["diverse or single body and apperception; without apperception; the formless bases"]
    W2 --> W4["born in the wrong realm, place or state; or no Tathāgata arisen"]
    M --> M1["nine successive stages in meditation"]
    M --> M2["nine successive cessations"]
    M1 --> M3["four jhāna, four formless bases, cessation of apperception and feeling"]

Text

Section titled “Text”

(340.)

1078. Āvuso, there are nine Dhammas well proclaimed by the Bhagavā, the liberated one, the perfectly awakened one, who knows and sees. Therein all should recite in harmony, not quarrel, so that this optimal life may endure long and last for a long time, which would be for the welfare and happiness of many people, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans. What nine?

1079. Nine grounds for resentment. Thinking, ‘He did me harm,’ one forms resentment; thinking, ‘He is doing me harm,’ one forms resentment; thinking, ‘He will do me harm,’ one forms resentment; thinking, ‘He did harm to one dear and pleasant to me,’ one forms resentment; … and so on … thinking that he is doing harm, one forms resentment; … and so on … thinking that he will do harm, one forms resentment; thinking, ‘He did good to one not dear and unpleasant to me,’ one forms resentment; … and so on … thinking that he is doing good, one forms resentment; … and so on … thinking that he will do good, one forms resentment. (1)

1080. Nine ways of dispelling resentment. Thinking, ‘He did me harm; what is possible about that here?’ one dispels resentment; thinking, ‘He is doing me harm; what is possible about that here?’ one dispels resentment; thinking, ‘He will do me harm; what is possible about that here?’ one dispels resentment; thinking, ‘He did harm to one dear and pleasant to me … and so on … he is doing harm … and so on … he will do harm; what is possible about that here?’ one dispels resentment; thinking, ‘He did good to one not dear and unpleasant to me … and so on … he is doing good … and so on … he will do good; what is possible about that here?’ one dispels resentment. (2)

(341.)

1081. Nine abodes of beings. There are, Āvuso, beings with diverse bodies and diverse apperceptions, such as humans, some gods, and some beings in the lower realms. This is the first abode of beings.

1082. There are, Āvuso, beings with diverse bodies and a single apperception, such as the Brahmakāyika gods, produced by the first [mental disposition]. This is the second abode of beings.

1083. There are, Āvuso, beings with a single body and diverse apperceptions, such as the Ābhassara gods. This is the third abode of beings.

1084. There are, Āvuso, beings with a single body and a single apperception, such as the Subhakiṇhā gods. This is the fourth abode of beings.

1085. There are, Āvuso, beings without apperception, not experiencing, such as the Asaññasatta gods. This is the fifth abode of beings.

1086. There are, Āvuso, beings who, going beyond rūpasaññā (apperceptions of form) altogether, with the disappearance of apperceptions of sense impressions, ignoring the apperceptions of diversity, thinking: ‘Space is infinite,’ have gone to the base of the infinity of space. This is the sixth abode of beings.

1087. There are, Āvuso, beings who, going beyond the base of the infinity of space altogether, thinking: ‘Consciousness is infinite,’ have gone to the base of the infinity of consciousness. This is the seventh abode of beings.

1088. There are, Āvuso, beings who, going beyond the base of the infinity of consciousness altogether, thinking: ‘There is nothing,’ have gone to the base of nothingness. This is the eighth abode of beings.

1089. There are, Āvuso, beings who, going beyond the base of nothingness altogether, have gone to the base of neither apperception nor non-apperception. This is the ninth abode of beings. (3)

(342.)

1090. Nine inappropriate times, wrong times, for living the optimal life. Here, Āvuso, a Tathāgata has arisen in the world, a liberated one, a perfectly awakened one, and the Dhamma is taught, calming, leading to complete extinguishment, leading to full awakening, proclaimed by the sugata (Fortunate One). And this person has appeared in hell. This is the first inappropriate time, wrong time, for living the optimal life.

1091. And furthermore, Āvuso, a Tathāgata has arisen in the world, a liberated one, a perfectly awakened one, and the Dhamma is taught, calming, leading to complete extinguishment, leading to full awakening, proclaimed by the sugata (Fortunate One). And this person has appeared in the animal realm. This is the second inappropriate time, wrong time, for living the optimal life.

1092. And furthermore … and so on … he has appeared in the ghost realm. This is the third inappropriate time, wrong time, for living the optimal life.

1093. And furthermore … and so on … he has appeared in the horde of asuras. This is the fourth inappropriate time, wrong time, for living the optimal life.

1094. And furthermore … and so on … he has appeared in a certain long-lived class of gods. This is the fifth inappropriate time, wrong time, for living the optimal life.

1095. And furthermore … and so on … he has been born again in the border countries, among barbarians who do not understand, where bhikkhū, bhikkhuniyo, upāsakā (lay disciples), and upāsikā (female lay disciples) do not go. This is the sixth inappropriate time, wrong time, for living the optimal life.

1096. And furthermore … and so on … he has been born again in the middle countries. And he has wrong view, with distorted vision: ‘There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed; there is no fruit or result of actions well done and badly done; this world does not exist; the other world does not exist; there is no mother; there is no father; there are no spontaneously reborn beings; there are no religious practitioners in the world who, going the right way, practising correctly, make known this world and the other world, having realised them themselves through experiential understanding.’ This is the seventh inappropriate time, wrong time, for living the optimal life.

1097. And furthermore … and so on … he has been born again in the middle countries. And he is foolish, stupid, a drooling fool, not able to know the meaning of what is well spoken and badly spoken. This is the eighth inappropriate time, wrong time, for living the optimal life.

1098. And furthermore, Āvuso, a Tathāgata has not arisen in the world, a liberated one, a perfectly awakened one, and the Dhamma is not taught, calming, leading to complete extinguishment, leading to full awakening, proclaimed by the sugata (Fortunate One). And this person has been born again in the middle countries, and he is wise, not stupid, not a drooling fool, able to know the meaning of what is well spoken and badly spoken. This is the ninth inappropriate time, wrong time, for living the optimal life. (4)

(343.)

1099. Nine successive stages in meditation. Here, Āvuso, a bhikkhu, secluding himself from sensual pleasures, detaching from unwholesome characteristics, enters and remains in the first jhāna (mental disposition), accompanied by reflection and consideration, secluded from defilements, with felicity and satisfaction. With the conclusion of reflection and consideration … and so on … he enters and remains in the second jhāna. With the detachment from felicity … and so on … he enters and remains in the third jhāna. With the giving up of the pleasant … and so on … he enters and remains in the fourth jhāna. Going beyond rūpasaññā (apperceptions of form) altogether … and so on … he enters and remains in the base of the infinity of space. Going beyond the base of the infinity of space altogether, thinking: ‘Consciousness is infinite,’ he enters and remains in the base of the infinity of consciousness. Going beyond the base of the infinity of consciousness altogether, thinking: ‘There is nothing,’ he enters and remains in the base of nothingness. Going beyond the base of nothingness altogether, he enters and remains in the base of neither apperception nor non-apperception. Going beyond the base of neither apperception nor non-apperception altogether, he enters and remains in the cessation of apperception and feeling. (5)

(344.)

1100. Nine successive cessations. For one who has entered the first jhāna (mental disposition), the apperception of sensual pleasure has ceased. For one who has entered the second jhāna, reflection and consideration have ceased. For one who has entered the third jhāna, felicity has ceased. For one who has entered the fourth jhāna, in-breaths and out-breaths have ceased. For one who has entered the base of the infinity of space, the apperception of form has ceased. For one who has entered the base of the infinity of consciousness, the apperception of the base of the infinity of space has ceased. For one who has entered the base of nothingness, the apperception of the base of the infinity of consciousness has ceased. For one who has entered the base of neither apperception nor non-apperception, the apperception of the base of nothingness has ceased. For one who has entered the cessation of apperception and feeling, apperception and feeling have ceased. (6)

1101. Āvuso, these are the nine Dhammas well proclaimed by the Bhagavā, the liberated one, the perfectly awakened one, who knows and sees. Therein all should recite in harmony, not quarrel, so that this optimal life may endure long and last for a long time, which would be for the welfare and happiness of many people, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans.

Commentary

Section titled “Commentary”
  • The frame sentences are the Threes’ word for word; the Nines carry no bhāṇavāra marker.
  • The nine abodes of beings (1081–1089) repeat the Sevens’ seven stations of consciousness and add the beings without apperception and the base of neither apperception nor non-apperception; the formless formulas are worded as on /majjhimanikaya/pasarasisutta/.
  • The successive stages (1099) and cessations (1100) take the four jhāna from https://buddhavacana.github.io/sutta/dispositions/ and the attainments from /majjhimanikaya/pasarasisutta/ verbatim where the Pāḷi is the same; anupubbavihāra “successive stages in meditation” is the textbook’s gloss.
  • Renderings: āghātaṃ bandhati “forms resentment”, paṭivineti “dispels” (DPD); taṃ kutettha labbhā literally “what is possible about that here?”, idiomatically “what could be done about it?”; upapanna “appeared (in)”, paccājāta “born again” (DPD).
  • The realms and the inappropriate times (1090–1098) are translated as the text states them; the author’s reading of them belongs to the commentary, not to the translation.

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