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Tidipa

Vibhaṅgasutta (The Discourse on the Analysis)

· 25 min read

12S2/1.1.2: the Bhagavā analyses dependent origination, defining each of its twelve terms from ageing and death back to ignorance.

Original text: 12S2/1.1.2 Vibhaṅgasutta 6–21 in the World Tipitaka Edition

Summary

Section titled “Summary”

The Bhagavā states the chain of dependent origination and then analyses it, defining each of its twelve terms in turn from ageing and death back to ignorance: what ageing and death, birth, existence, fuel, craving, feeling, contact, the six sense bases, phenomenal objects, consciousness, mental constructions and ignorance each are. The sutta (12S2/1.1.2) closes with the chain in origin and in cessation.

Diagram

Section titled “Diagram”
flowchart TB
    A["the chain stated"] --> D
    subgraph D["Definitions (8–19)"]
        direction TB
        d1["jarāmaraṇa (ageing and death)"] --> d2["jāti (birth)"] --> d3["bhava (existence): three realms"] --> d4["upādāna (fuel): four"] --> d5["taṇhā (craving): six classes"] --> d6["vedanā (feeling): six classes"] --> d7["phassa (contact): six classes"] --> d8["saḷāyatana: six sense bases"] --> d9["nāmarūpa: nāma and rūpa"] --> d10["viññāṇa (consciousness): six classes"] --> d11["saṅkhārā (mental constructions): three"] --> d12["avijjā (ignorance): lack of knowledge of the four"]
    end
    D --> E["the chain in origin and cessation"]

Text

Section titled “Text”

(2.)

6. [The Bhagavā] was dwelling at Sāvatthī. “I will teach you, Bhikkhave, paṭiccasamuppāda (dependent origination), and I will analyse it. Listen and pay close attention, I will speak.” “Yes, Bhante,” those bhikkhū replied to the Bhagavā. The Bhagavā said this:

7. “And what, Bhikkhave, is paṭiccasamuppādo (dependent origination)? With avijjā (ignorance) as cause, Bhikkhave, saṅkhārā (mental constructions) [arise]; with mental constructions as cause, viññāṇaṃ (consciousness) [arises]; with consciousness as cause, nāmarūpaṃ (phenomenal objects) [arise]; with phenomenal objects as cause, saḷāyatanaṃ (the six sense bases) [arise]; with the six sense bases as cause, phasso (contact) [arises]; with contact as cause, vedanā (feeling) [arises]; with feeling as cause, taṇhā (craving) [arises]; with craving as cause, upādānaṃ (fuel for existence: the will to live) [arises]; with fuel as cause, bhavo (existence of a false perception of an eternal independent “self” (atta)) [arises]; with existence as cause, jāti (birth of suffering) [arises]; with birth as cause, jarāmaraṇaṃ (ageing and death), sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure and despair come into being. Thus is the origin of this whole mass of dukkha (suffering).

8. And what, Bhikkhave, is jarāmaraṇa (ageing and death)? Whatever is the ageing, decrepitude, broken teeth, grey hair, wrinkled skin, decline of life, and decay of the faculties of the various beings in the various classes of beings; this is called ageing. Whatever is the passing away, falling away, breaking up, disappearance, death, demise, completion of time, breaking up of the collections, and casting off the body of the various beings from the various classes of beings; this is called death. Thus this is ageing, and this is death. This, Bhikkhave, is called ageing and death.

9. And what, Bhikkhave, is jāti (birth)? Whatever is the birth, generation, descent, production, appearance of the collections, and acquisition of the sense bases of the various beings in the various classes of beings. This, Bhikkhave, is called birth.

10. And what, Bhikkhave, is bhava (existence)? There are, Bhikkhave, these three existences: existence in the realm of sensual desire, existence in the realm of form, and existence in the formless realm. This, Bhikkhave, is called existence.

11. And what, Bhikkhave, is upādāna (fuel)? There are, Bhikkhave, these four fuels: the fuel of sensual pleasures, the fuel of views, the fuel of rites and rituals, and the fuel of the theory of self. This, Bhikkhave, is called fuel.

12. And what, Bhikkhave, is taṇhā (craving)? There are, Bhikkhave, these six classes of craving: craving for forms, craving for sounds, craving for odours, craving for tastes, craving for tangibles, and craving for mind-objects. This, Bhikkhave, is called craving.

13. And what, Bhikkhave, is vedanā (feeling)? There are, Bhikkhave, these six classes of feeling: feeling arisen from eye-contact, feeling arisen from ear-contact, feeling arisen from nose-contact, feeling arisen from tongue-contact, feeling arisen from body-contact, and feeling arisen from mind-contact. This, Bhikkhave, is called feeling.

14. And what, Bhikkhave, is phassa (contact)? There are, Bhikkhave, these six classes of contact: eye-contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact, and mind-contact. This, Bhikkhave, is called contact.

15. And what, Bhikkhave, is saḷāyatana (the six sense bases)? The sense base of the eye, the sense base of the ear, the sense base of the nose, the sense base of the tongue, the sense base of the body, and the sense base of the mind — this, Bhikkhave, is called the six sense bases.

16. And what, Bhikkhave, is nāmarūpa (phenomenal objects)? Feeling, apperception, intention, contact, attention — this is called nāma (mental objects). And the four great elements, and the form derived from the four great elements. This is called rūpa (form). Thus this is nāma, and this is rūpa. This, Bhikkhave, is called phenomenal objects.

17. And what, Bhikkhave, is viññāṇa (consciousness)? There are, Bhikkhave, these six classes of consciousness: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness. This, Bhikkhave, is called consciousness.

18. And what, Bhikkhave, are saṅkhārā (mental constructions)? There are, Bhikkhave, these three mental constructions: kāyasaṅkhāra (intention which results in bodily action), vacīsaṅkhāra (intention which results in verbal action), and cittasaṅkhāra (intention which results in mental action). These, Bhikkhave, are called mental constructions.

19. And what, Bhikkhave, is avijjā (ignorance)? It is, Bhikkhave, the lack of knowledge of suffering, the lack of knowledge of the origin of suffering, the lack of knowledge of the cessation of suffering, and the lack of knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of suffering. This, Bhikkhave, is called ignorance.

20. Thus, Bhikkhave, with ignorance as cause, mental constructions [arise]; with mental constructions as cause, viññāṇaṃ (consciousness) [arises] … and so on … Thus is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes the cessation of mental constructions; with the cessation of mental constructions comes the cessation of consciousness … and so on … Thus is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.”

21. The second [discourse of the chapter].

Commentary

Section titled “Commentary”
  • The analysis (vibhaṅga) of the chain stated bare in the Paṭiccasamuppādasutta: each term defined in reverse order, ageing and death first, ignorance last.
  • The definitions of ageing, death and birth are worded as on buddhavacana’s Realisations page; the lists of three, four and six as in the Saṅgītisutta (Tika, Catukka, Chakka).
  • nāma is “mental objects” (feeling, apperception, intention, contact, attention) and rūpa “form”, so that nāmarūpa stays “phenomenal objects”; mahābhūta “great elements”, upādāyarūpa “derived form”, aññāṇa “lack of knowledge”.
  • bhava is defined here as the three realms of existence, while the chain in paragraph 7, a twin of buddhavacana’s page, glosses it as the existence of a constructed self; the author may prefer the plain chain on this page.
  • The edition prints an empty bracket in the definition of death where the CST reads jīvitindriyassupacchedo (the cutting off of the life faculty).

Parallels

Section titled “Parallels”

SA 298 is one sūtra for the Paṭiccasamuppādasutta and this one: its “teaching of the meaning” (義說, pp. 85a–b) is the Vibhaṅgasutta’s analysis, defining the twelve terms one by one, with the same lists for most of them: three mental constructions (身行、口行、意行, p. 85a), six classes of consciousness (六識身), six internal sense bases (六內入處, p. 85b), six classes of contact (六觸身), four fuels (四取——欲取、見取、戒取、我取), three existences (三有——欲有、色有、無色有), and form as the four great elements and form derived from them (四大、四大所造色, p. 85b). The differences, read in CBETA’s text:

  • Order. The Chinese defines forward from ignorance to ageing and death (緣無明行者 … 緣生老死者, pp. 85a–b); the Pāḷi backward from ageing and death to ignorance.
  • Ignorance. The Chinese definition is far longer (p. 85a): not knowing past, future and present (不知前際、不知後際、不知前後際), inside and outside, action and its result (不知業、不知報), Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha, the four truths (不知苦、不知集、不知滅、不知道), cause and what arises from a cause, wholesome and unwholesome, blameworthy and blameless, inferior and superior, defiled and pure, dependent origination and the six sense bases, “not knowing, not seeing, without breakthrough, dark and deluded” (不知、不見、無無間等、癡闇、無明、大冥); the Pāḷi has only the lack of knowledge of suffering, its origin, its cessation and the path.
  • Nāma. The Chinese defines 名 as the four formless collections, feeling, apperception, mental constructions and consciousness (四無色陰——受陰、想陰、行陰、識陰, p. 85a); the Pāḷi as feeling, apperception, intention, contact and attention.
  • Feeling and craving. The Chinese gives three feelings, painful, pleasant and neither (三受——苦受、樂受、不苦不樂受, p. 85b), and three cravings, for sensual pleasure, form and the formless (三愛——欲愛、色愛、無色愛, p. 85b); the Pāḷi gives six classes of each, by the six contacts and the six objects.
  • Birth, ageing and death. The Chinese defines birth with “obtaining the collections, the components, the sense bases and the life faculty” (得陰、得界、得入處、得命根, p. 85b), describes old age at length, white hair and bald head, loose skin, weak limbs and bent back, groaning with bowed head, short of breath, walking with a stick (髮白露頂，皮緩根熟，支弱背僂，垂頭呻吟，短氣前輸，柱杖而行, p. 85b), and ends death with “the departure of warmth, the extinction of life, the time of discarding the collections” (火離、命滅，捨陰時到, p. 85b); the Pāḷi lists are shorter, and its definition of death has an empty bracket where other editions read “the cutting off of the life faculty”.
  • The close. The Chinese ends with “this is called the teaching of the meaning of dependent origination” (是名緣起義說, p. 85b) and the bhikkhus’ delight; the Pāḷi recapitulates the chain in origin and in cessation (paragraph 20) and has no closing formula.

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