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Tidipa

Sanidānasutta (The Discourse on What Has a Source)

· 28 min read

The Bhagavā teaches that thoughts of sensual desire, ill will and harming, and of renunciation, goodwill and not harming, arise with a source, from a component through apperception, intention, desire and fever to pursuit, with the simile of a torch in dry grass. 12S2/3.2.2, translated from the Dhātusaṃyutta of the Saṃyutta Nikāya.

Original text: 12S2/3.2.2 Sanidānasutta 689–699 in the World Tipitaka Edition

Summary

Section titled “Summary”

At Sāvatthī the Bhagavā teaches that the thoughts of sensual desire, ill will and harming arise with a source, not without one: from each component comes an apperception, then an intention, a desire, a fever and a pursuit, in which the unlearned ordinary person acts wrongly by body, speech and mind. The thoughts of renunciation, goodwill and not harming arise in the same way, and in their pursuit the learned disciple of the liberated acts rightly. A burning grass torch dropped in dry grass and not quickly put out shows what comes of leaving an unbalanced apperception unchecked.

Diagram

Section titled “Diagram”
flowchart TB
    subgraph U["Three unwholesome thoughts (689–693)"]
        direction LR
        u0["kāma, byāpāda, vihiṃsā"] --> u1["dhātu (component)"] --> u2["saññā (apperception)"] --> u3["saṅkappa (intention)"] --> u4["chanda (desire)"] --> u5["pariḷāha (fever)"] --> u6["pariyesanā (pursuit)"]
    end
    U --> A["the ordinary person acts wrongly"] --> F["torch in dry grass not put out: suffering, a bad destination"]
    subgraph W["Three wholesome thoughts (694–698)"]
        direction LR
        w0["nekkhamma, abyāpāda, avihiṃsā"] --> w1["the same six steps"]
    end
    W --> B["the disciple of the liberated acts rightly"] --> G["torch put out quickly: happiness, a good destination"]

Text

Section titled “Text”

(96.)

689. [The Bhagavā] was dwelling at Sāvatthī. “With a source, Bhikkhave, the thought of sensual desire arises, not without a source; with a source the thought of ill will arises, not without a source; with a source the thought of harming arises, not without a source.

690. And how, Bhikkhave, does the thought of sensual desire arise with a source, not without a source; how does the thought of ill will arise with a source, not without a source; how does the thought of harming arise with a source, not without a source? Dependent on the kāmadhātu (component of sensual desire), Bhikkhave, the apperception of sensual desire arises; dependent on the apperception of sensual desire, the intention of sensual desire arises; dependent on the intention of sensual desire, the desire for sensual pleasure arises; dependent on the desire for sensual pleasure, the fever for sensual pleasure arises; dependent on the fever for sensual pleasure, the pursuit of sensual pleasure arises. Pursuing the pursuit of sensual pleasure, Bhikkhave, an unlearned puthujjana (ordinary person) acts wrongly in three ways: by body, by speech, by mind.

691. Dependent on the component of ill will, Bhikkhave, the apperception of ill will arises; dependent on the apperception of ill will, the intention of ill will arises … and so on … the desire for ill will … the fever for ill will … the pursuit of ill will … Pursuing the pursuit of ill will, Bhikkhave, an unlearned ordinary person acts wrongly in three ways: by body, by speech, by mind.

692. Dependent on the component of harming, Bhikkhave, the apperception of harming arises; dependent on the apperception of harming, the intention of harming arises … and so on … the desire for harming … the fever for harming … the pursuit of harming … Pursuing the pursuit of harming, Bhikkhave, an unlearned ordinary person acts wrongly in three ways: by body, by speech, by mind.

693. Suppose, Bhikkhave, a man were to throw down a burning grass torch in a dry grassland; and if he were not to put it out very quickly with hands and feet. Thus indeed, Bhikkhave, the living beings that live in the grass and wood would meet with misfortune and disaster. In the same way, Bhikkhave, whatever wanderer or brahmin does not very quickly give up an arisen unbalanced saññā (apperception), dispel it, make an end of it and cause it to go to annihilation, he dwells in suffering in this very life, with vexation, with despair, with fever; and with the breakup of the body, after death, a bad destination is to be expected.

694. With a source, Bhikkhave, the thought of renunciation arises, not without a source; with a source the thought of goodwill arises, not without a source; with a source the thought of not harming arises, not without a source.

695. And how, Bhikkhave, does the thought of renunciation arise with a source, not without a source; how does the thought of goodwill arise with a source, not without a source; how does the thought of not harming arise with a source, not without a source? Dependent on the component of renunciation, Bhikkhave, the apperception of renunciation arises; dependent on the apperception of renunciation, the intention of renunciation arises; dependent on the intention of renunciation, the desire for renunciation arises; dependent on the desire for renunciation, the fever for renunciation arises; dependent on the fever for renunciation, the pursuit of renunciation arises; pursuing the pursuit of renunciation, Bhikkhave, a learned ariyasāvaka (disciple of the liberated) acts rightly in three ways: by body, by speech, by mind.

696. Dependent on the component of goodwill, Bhikkhave, the apperception of goodwill arises; dependent on the apperception of goodwill, the intention of goodwill arises … and so on … the desire for goodwill … the fever for goodwill … the pursuit of goodwill; pursuing the pursuit of goodwill, Bhikkhave, a learned disciple of the liberated acts rightly in three ways: by body, by speech, by mind.

697. Dependent on the component of not harming, Bhikkhave, the apperception of not harming arises; dependent on the apperception of not harming, the intention of not harming arises; dependent on the intention of not harming, the desire for not harming arises; dependent on the desire for not harming, the fever for not harming arises; dependent on the fever for not harming, the pursuit of not harming arises; pursuing the pursuit of not harming, Bhikkhave, a learned disciple of the liberated acts rightly in three ways: by body, by speech, by mind.

698. Suppose, Bhikkhave, a man were to throw down a burning grass torch in a dry grassland; and he were to put it out very quickly with hands and feet. Thus indeed, Bhikkhave, the living beings that live in the grass and wood would not meet with misfortune and disaster. In the same way, Bhikkhave, whatever wanderer or brahmin very quickly gives up an arisen unbalanced apperception, dispels it, makes an end of it and causes it to go to annihilation, he dwells in happiness in this very life, without vexation, without despair, without fever; and with the breakup of the body, after death, a good destination is to be expected.”

699. The second [discourse of the chapter].

Commentary

Section titled “Commentary”
  • The sutta runs the Dhātusaṃyutta’s six-step series, component, apperception, intention, desire, fever, pursuit, through the three unwholesome and the three wholesome thoughts; the same series runs through the components of forms and sounds on buddhavacana: components.
  • Renderings: sanidāna “with a source” (the title’s word), pariḷāha “fever” throughout, for the torch simile (the components page has “passion”), kāmacchanda “the desire for sensual pleasure” (the hindrances page has “sensual desire”), visamagataṃ saññaṃ “an unbalanced apperception”.
  • kāmapariyesanaṃ pariyesamāno keeps the Pāḷi’s cognate construction, “pursuing the pursuit of sensual pleasure”.
  • The torch in dry grass is a figure for the speed of giving a thought up; “a bad destination is to be expected” is the texts’ stock consequence, worded as on the Susima and Saṅgīti pages.
  • The edition’s 689–699 are CST 96; the Sāvatthī opening is worded as on buddhavacana.

Parallels

Section titled “Parallels”

SA 458 (因, “Cause”) is the parallel of the Sanidānasutta, as Choong pairs it (Choong, 2000): at Sāvatthī the Buddha tells the bhikkhus that the thoughts (想) of sensual desire, ill will and harming arise with a cause, not without one; that dependent on the component of sensual desire arise the apperception, the desire, the thought, the fever and the pursuit of sensual desire; that the foolish ordinary person, having pursued, acts wrongly in three places, body, speech and mind; that a fire in a wilderness not put out harms the beings there, as a wanderer or brahmin who does not give up a dangerous apperception dwells in suffering; and the same for the thoughts of renunciation and of not harming, with the wise one acting rightly and the fire put out (p. 117a–c). SA 449 (界和合, “Conjunction with the Components”), sometimes given as this sutta’s parallel, says that beings associate by way of components, the inferior with the inferior, the killer with killing, the abstainer with abstaining; that is the matter of the Dhātusaṃyutta’s suttas on beings coming together by components, the Hīnādhimuttikasutta (12S2/3.2.4) and the Pañcasikkhāpadasutta (12S2/3.3.3), not of this one, and it is not the parallel.

  • SA names the series “apperception, desire, thought, fever, pursuit” (欲想、欲欲、欲覺、欲熱、欲求), with desire (欲欲) before thought (欲覺); the Pāḷi has apperception, intention, desire, fever, pursuit (p. 117a).
  • SA attaches the consequence, “dwells in suffering in this life, with pain, obstruction, vexation and fever, and at the breakup of the body after death is born in a bad destination” (現法苦住，有苦、有礙、有惱、有熱，身壞命終，生惡趣中), to each unwholesome series itself (p. 117a–b); the Pāḷi states it only in the application of the torch simile to the wanderer or brahmin.
  • SA treats the thoughts of ill will and harming together under the component of harming alone (謂害界也), and the thoughts of goodwill and not harming together under the component of not harming (不害界); the Pāḷi gives each of the six its own component (p. 117a–b).
  • The simile is a great fire suddenly arising in a wilderness not far from a town, with no one able to put it out, so that the beings of the wilderness are all harmed (大火卒起，彼無有力能滅火者, p. 117b); the Pāḷi’s man throws a burning grass torch into a dry grassland and does not quickly put it out with hands and feet. SA’s “someone able to put the fire out with hands and feet” (有人堪能手足滅火) appears only on the wholesome side (p. 117b), and SA places the simile after the application, the Pāḷi before it.
  • SA’s wanderers and brahmins “rest in an arisen dangerous apperception, do not seek to abandon it, do not awaken to it, do not vomit it out” (安於生，生危嶮想，不求捨離，不覺、不吐, p. 117b), four verbs against the Pāḷi’s “give up, dispel, make an end of, cause to go to annihilation”; on the wholesome side SA has them keep the arisen apperception of not harming and dwell happily, where the Pāḷi’s second application is again about quickly giving the unbalanced apperception up (p. 117b).
  • The wholesome agent is “the wise one” (慧者) in SA, the learned disciple of the liberated in the Pāḷi (p. 117b).
  • SA closes with the bhikkhus delighting in the Buddha’s words (p. 117c); the Pāḷi closes the speech and numbers the sutta the second of its vagga.

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References

Section titled “References”
Choong, M. (2000). The Fundamental Teachings of Early Buddhism: A Comparative Study Based on the Sūtrāṅga Portion of the Pāli Saṃyutta-Nikāya and the Chinese Saṃyuktāgama. Harrassowitz.

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