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Tidipa

Pheṇapiṇḍūpamasutta (The Discourse on the Simile of the Lump of Foam)

· 32 min read

13S3/1.2.5.3, at Ayujjhā on the Ganges: the five collections compared to a lump of foam, a bubble, a mirage, a banana trunk and a magician's illusion, each empty, hollow and insubstantial, with seven verses.

Original text: 13S3/1.2.5.3 Pheṇapiṇḍūpamasutta 590–605 in the World Tipitaka Edition

Summary

Section titled “Summary”

On the bank of the Ganges at Ayujjhā the Bhagavā likens the five collections to a lump of foam carried by the river, a bubble in the autumn rain, a mirage at noon, a banana trunk without heartwood and a magician’s illusion: examined properly, each proves empty, hollow and insubstantial. The learned disciple is disenchanted, detached and liberated. Seven verses restate the five similes, describe the body abandoned by life, heat and consciousness, and urge the bhikkhu to regard the collections day and night, give up all bonds and live as if his head were on fire.

Diagram

Section titled “Diagram”
flowchart LR
    F["lump of foam on the Ganges"] --> R["form"]
    B["bubble in the autumn rain"] --> V["feeling"]
    M["mirage at noon"] --> S["apperception"]
    K["banana trunk without heartwood"] --> X["mental constructions"]
    I["magician's illusion"] --> C["consciousness"]
    R & V & S & X & C --> E["seen, pondered, properly examined"] --> Z["empty, hollow, insubstantial"]
    Z --> N["disenchantment, detachment, liberation"]

Text

Section titled “Text”

(95.)

590. At one time the Bhagavā was dwelling at Ayujjhā, on the bank of the river Ganges. There the Bhagavā addressed the bhikkhū:

591. “Just as, Bhikkhave, this river Ganges might carry along a great lump of foam. A man with eyes would see it, ponder it and properly examine it. To him, seeing it, pondering it and properly examining it, it would appear just empty, it would appear just hollow, it would appear just insubstantial. What substance could there be, Bhikkhave, in a lump of foam? In the same way, Bhikkhave, whatever form there is, past, future, or present … and so on … far or near, a bhikkhu sees it, ponders it and properly examines it. To him, seeing it, pondering it and properly examining it, it appears just empty, it appears just hollow, it appears just insubstantial. What substance could there be, Bhikkhave, in form?

592. Just as, Bhikkhave, in the autumn season, when the sky is raining in big drops, a water bubble on the water both arises and ceases. A man with eyes would see it, ponder it and properly examine it. To him, seeing it, pondering it and properly examining it, it would appear just empty, it would appear just hollow, it would appear just insubstantial. What substance could there be, Bhikkhave, in a water bubble? In the same way, Bhikkhave, whatever feeling there is, past, future, or present … and so on … far or near, a bhikkhu sees it, ponders it and properly examines it. To him, seeing it, pondering it and properly examining it, it appears just empty, it appears just hollow, it appears just insubstantial. What substance could there be, Bhikkhave, in feeling?

593. Just as, Bhikkhave, in the last month of the hot season, at the time of high noon, a mirage shimmers. A man with eyes would see it, ponder it and properly examine it. To him, seeing it, pondering it and properly examining it, it would appear just empty, it would appear just hollow … and so on … what substance could there be, Bhikkhave, in a mirage? In the same way, Bhikkhave, whatever apperception there is … and so on ….

594. Just as, Bhikkhave, a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, taking a sharp machete would enter a forest. There he would see a large banana trunk, straight, fresh, not crooked. He would cut it at the root; having cut it at the root, he would cut it at the top; having cut it at the top, he would unroll the roll of leaves. Unrolling its roll of leaves, he would not find even sapwood, let alone heartwood. A man with eyes would see it, ponder it and properly examine it. To him, seeing it, pondering it and properly examining it, it would appear just empty, it would appear just hollow, it would appear just insubstantial. What substance could there be, Bhikkhave, in a banana trunk? In the same way, Bhikkhave, whatever mental constructions there are, past, future, or present … and so on … far or near, a bhikkhu sees them, ponders them and properly examines them. To him, seeing it, pondering it and properly examining it, it appears just empty, it appears just hollow, it appears just insubstantial. What substance could there be, Bhikkhave, in mental constructions?

595. Just as, Bhikkhave, a magician or a magician’s apprentice would display an illusion at a crossroads. A man with eyes would see it, ponder it and properly examine it. To him, seeing it, pondering it and properly examining it, it would appear just empty, it would appear just hollow, it would appear just insubstantial. What substance could there be, Bhikkhave, in an illusion? In the same way, Bhikkhave, whatever consciousness there is, past, future, or present … and so on … far or near, a bhikkhu sees it, ponders it and properly examines it. To him, seeing it, pondering it and properly examining it, it appears just empty, it appears just hollow, it appears just insubstantial. What substance could there be, Bhikkhave, in consciousness?

596. Thus seeing, Bhikkhave, the sutavā (learned) ariyasāvaka (disciple of the liberated) nibbindati (is disenchanted with) form, with feeling … with apperception … with mental constructions … is disenchanted with consciousness. Being disenchanted, he virajjati (becomes detached); from detachment he vimuccati (becomes liberated). In liberation there is the ñāṇa (knowledge): ‘liberated’ … and so on … he pajānāti (knows clearly): ‘there is nothing further for this present state of existence.’”

597. This the Bhagavā said. Having said this, the sugata (Fortunate One), the Teacher, then said further:

598. “Form is like a lump of foam,
feeling is like a bubble;
Apperception is like a mirage,
mental constructions are like a banana tree;
And consciousness is like an illusion,
[so it was] taught by the ādiccabandhu (Relative of the Sun).

599. In whatever way one ponders it,
properly examines it;
It is empty, hollow,
for whoever sees it properly.

600. And concerning this body,
taught by the one of vast wisdom:
At the giving up of three phenomena,
see form discarded.

601. When life, heat and consciousness
leave this body;
Then it lies discarded,
food for others, inanimate.

602. Such is this continuum,
this illusion, the prattle of fools;
It is declared a killer,
no substance is found here.

603. Thus a bhikkhu with energy aroused
should regard the collections;
Whether by day or by night,
clearly comprehending, aware.

604. He should give up all bonds,
make a refuge for himself;
He should live like one whose head is on fire,
aspiring to the everlasting state.”

605. The third [discourse of the chapter].

Commentary

Section titled “Commentary”
  • Five similes for the five collections, each closed by the question what substance (sāra) could be in it; the verses (598–604) restate them and add the body left behind by life, heat and consciousness.
  • sāra “substance” in the refrain and “heartwood” in the banana simile: the DPD’s two senses of the one word, the sutta’s play on it; māyā “illusion”, māyākāra “magician”, kuṭhārī “machete”, ādiccabandhu “Relative of the Sun”, all the DPD’s glosses.
  • The conclusion (596) is the disenchantment formula of the Anattalakkhaṇasutta, abbreviated by the edition.
  • The “killer” of 602 is the continuum of the collections itself, not a figure; the collections as fuel are on buddhavacana’s Collections page.
  • accuta “everlasting” (604), the DPD’s first sense, an epithet of nibbāna.

Parallels

Section titled “Parallels”

The Chinese parallel has the same frame and the same five similes in the same order: the Buddha by the Ganges (恒河側, p. 68c; the place 阿毘陀 against the Pāḷi’s Ayujjhā) likens form to the foam gathered by the swollen river, feeling to a bubble in heavy rain, apperception to a mirage, mental constructions to a banana trunk and consciousness to a magician’s illusion; a clear-sighted man (明目士夫) examines each and finds “nothing there, nothing firm, nothing substantial, nothing solid” (無所有、無牢、無實、無有堅固, p. 68c); each simile is applied to the collection past, future or present, internal or external, coarse or fine, good or bad, far or near; and verses follow (pp. 69a–b). The differences, read in CBETA’s text:

  • The marks added to each application. The Chinese adds to every collection “like a disease, like a boil, like a thorn, like a killer; impermanent, suffering, empty, not-self” (如病、如癰、如刺、如殺，無常、苦、空、非我, p. 68c and following); the Pāḷi prose has none of these, and its “killer” (vadhaka) stands only in the verse (602).
  • Question and answer. The Pāḷi closes each simile with the question what substance could be in it (591–595); the Chinese answers it, “Why? Because there is no solid substance in the foam” (所以者何？彼聚沫中無堅實故, p. 68c).
  • The mirage. The Chinese sets it “at the end of spring and the beginning of summer, without cloud or rain, when the sun is at its height” and calls it “wild horses flowing” (野馬流動, p. 68c); the Pāḷi has the last month of the hot season at high noon (593), and the Chinese gives the application to apperception in full where the Pāḷi abbreviates it.
  • The banana trunk. The Chinese man “seeks solid timber” (求堅固材), takes a sharp axe (利斧) into a mountain forest, and “cuts the root, lops the top and peels leaf after leaf, finding nothing solid at all” (p. 68c); the Pāḷi adds that he would not find even sapwood, let alone heartwood (594).
  • The illusion. The Chinese specifies it as “elephant troops, horse troops, chariot troops and foot soldiers” conjured at the crossroads before “a wise, clear-sighted man” (幻作象兵、馬兵、車兵、步兵，有智明目士夫, p. 69a); the Pāḷi says only that an illusion is displayed (595).
  • The conclusion. The Chinese has no counterpart to the disenchantment, detachment and liberation of the learned disciple (596) and goes from the fifth simile straight to the verses (爾時，世尊欲重宣此義，而說偈言, p. 69a).
  • The verses. The five similes “taught by the honoured one of the Sun’s lineage” (日種姓尊說, p. 69a) answer 598; the examination “with right awareness” finding “no I or mine” (無有我我所) answers 599; the body of suffering collections, “when parted from three things, becomes a discarded thing” (離於三法者，身為成棄物), life, warmth and consciousness leaving it, “forever cast away among the burial mounds, like wood without thought” (永棄丘塚間，如木無識想, p. 69a) answers 600–601 with the burial ground added; “this body always thus, an illusion deceiving fools, like a killer, like a poisoned thorn, nothing firm” answers 602; and the closing exhortation to contemplate the collections day and night with right knowledge ends in “conditioned activities long stilled, the cool place attained forever” (有為行長息，永得清涼處, p. 69b), where the Pāḷi has the giving up of all bonds, the refuge for oneself, the head on fire and the everlasting state (603–604).
  • The close. The Chinese ends with the bhikkhū rejoicing (歡喜奉行, p. 69b); the Pāḷi ends with the chapter count.

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