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Tidipa

Sīsapāvanasutta (The Discourse in the Siṃsapā Grove)

· 13 min read

14S5/12.4.1: with a few siṃsapā leaves in his hand at Kosambī, the Bhagavā shows the bhikkhū how much more he has understood than declared, and why he declared the four realisations alone.

Original text: 14S5/12.4.1 Sīsapāvanasutta 2308–2312 in the World Tipitaka Edition

Summary

Section titled “Summary”

Holding a few siṃsapā leaves in his hand at Kosambī, the Bhagavā asks the bhikkhū which are more, the leaves in his hand or those in the grove overhead. What he has experientially understood and not declared is likewise far more than what he has declared; he did not declare it because it is not beneficial and does not lead to nibbāna, and what he has declared is the four realisations, because they do, so that effort should be made to know them.

Diagram

Section titled “Diagram”
flowchart LR
    H["a few leaves in the hand"] --> D["what the Bhagavā has declared: the four realisations"]
    G["the leaves of the grove overhead"] --> U["what he has understood but not declared"]
    U --> N["not beneficial, not leading to nibbāna"]
    D --> Y["beneficial, leading to nibbāna"]
    Y --> E["effort should be made to know them"]

Text

Section titled “Text”

(1101.)

2308. At one time the Bhagavā was dwelling at Kosambī, in the Siṃsapā Grove. Then the Bhagavā, having taken a few siṃsapā leaves in his hand, addressed the bhikkhū: “Bhikkhave, what do you consider: which is greater, the few siṃsapā leaves that I have taken in my hand, or those overhead in the Siṃsapā Grove?” “The few siṃsapā leaves the Bhagavā has taken in his hand, Bhante, are trifling; rather, just these are greater, namely those overhead in the Siṃsapā Grove.” “So too, Bhikkhave, just this is greater: what I have experientially understood but not declared to you. And why, Bhikkhave, has this not been declared by me? This indeed, Bhikkhave, is not beneficial, not fundamental to the optimal life; it does not lead to disenchantment, nor to detachment, nor to cessation, nor to calm, nor to experiential understanding, nor to full awakening, nor to nibbāna (extinguishment); therefore it has not been declared by me.

2309. And what, Bhikkhave, has been declared by me? ‘This is dukkha (suffering)’, Bhikkhave, has been declared by me; ‘This is the origin of suffering’ has been declared by me; ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ has been declared by me; ‘This is the path leading to the cessation of suffering’ has been declared by me.

2310. And why, Bhikkhave, has this been declared by me? This indeed, Bhikkhave, is beneficial, this is fundamental to the optimal life, this leads to disenchantment, to detachment, to cessation, to calm, to experiential understanding, to full awakening, to nibbāna; therefore it has been declared by me.

2311. Therefore here, Bhikkhave, effort should be made [to know]: ‘This is suffering’ … and so on … effort should be made [to know]: ‘This is the path leading to the cessation of suffering.’”

2312. The first [discourse of the chapter].

Commentary

Section titled “Commentary”
  • The simile of the handful of leaves answers what the Bhagavā teaches and why: the four realisations alone, because they lead to nibbāna; buddhavacana treats them at https://buddhavacana.github.io/sutta/realisations/ and the question of what the Buddha knew but did not teach at https://buddhavacana.github.io/buddha/omniscient/.
  • The frame “what do you consider: which is greater …” is the Nakhasikhāsutta’s on buddhavacana’s Arriving page, worded as there.
  • Renderings: sīsapāvana “the Siṃsapā Grove” as the title gives it; atthasaṃhita “beneficial”; ādibrahmacariyaka “fundamental to the optimal life” (the DPD with the glossary’s brahmacariya); abhiññāya here the absolutive, “having experientially understood”; yogo karaṇīyo “effort should be made [to know]”, the verb supplied in brackets.
  • The list nibbidāya virāgāya … nibbānāya saṃvattati is worded as on the Pāsarāsi page, with virāga “detachment”.
  • The …pe… of 2311 elides the origin and the cessation; “… and so on …”.

Parallels

Section titled “Parallels”

The Chinese parallel is the 404th sūtra of the 雜阿含經 (Saṃyuktāgama; fascicle 15, CBETA T02, no. 99, pp. 108a–b), read here in CBETA’s text. The two agree in frame and sequence: in a grove of siṃsapā trees (申恕林, p. 108a) the Buddha takes leaves in his hand (手把樹葉) and asks the bhikkhū whether the leaves in his hand or the leaves of the great forest are more (此手中葉為多耶？大林樹葉為多, pp. 108a–b); they answer that those in his hand are very few and those of the forest beyond counting; and he says that what he has himself seen and definitively taught (自所見法，為人定說者) is like the leaves in his hand, because it is beneficial and leads towards nibbāna (義饒益、法饒益、梵行饒益、明、慧、正覺、向於涅槃), while what he knows and has not taught is like the leaves of the forest, because it is not (p. 108b), and ends by exhorting the bhikkhū to strive for the four truths of the liberated (四聖諦, p. 108b). The differences, checked in CBETA’s text:

  • The setting. The Pāḷi is at Kosambī in the Siṃsapā Grove (2308.1); the Chinese has the Buddha wandering among the people of Magadha (摩竭國人間遊行) and lodging with the great assembly in a rest house the great king had made (大王於中作福德舍) at a bamboo-grove village between Rājagaha and Pāṭaliputta (王舍城波羅利弗是中間竹林聚落), from which he leads the bhikkhū to the siṃsapā forest and sits under a tree (p. 108a).
  • The bhikkhū’s answer. The Pāḷi says the leaves in his hand are trifling and those overhead greater (2308.3–4); the Chinese measures the difference, the leaves of the forest being immeasurable, a hundred thousand koṭis of times more, beyond any reckoning or comparison (無量，百千億萬倍，乃至算數譬類不可為比, p. 108b).
  • The order of the argument. The Pāḷi takes the undeclared first, with the reason it was not declared (2308.5–8), then the declared with its reason (2309–2310); the Chinese takes the declared first, like the leaves in the hand, and the undeclared second, like the leaves of the forest (p. 108b).
  • The content of what was declared. The Pāḷi states it: “This is suffering … this is the path leading to the cessation of suffering” (2309.2); the Chinese names the four truths only in the closing exhortation (p. 108b).
  • The reasons. The Pāḷi’s list is atthasaṃhita, ādibrahmacariyaka and the seven goals from disenchantment to nibbāna (2308.7, 2310.2); the Chinese has benefit in meaning, in Dhamma and for the brahmacariya, and understanding, wisdom, right awakening and nibbāna (義饒益、法饒益、梵行饒益、明、慧、正覺、向於涅槃, p. 108b), without disenchantment, detachment, cessation or calm.
  • The exhortation and the close. The Pāḷi says “effort should be made” for each truth (2311); the Chinese says that those who have not yet directly realised the four truths should strive diligently, arouse keen desire and train for direct realisation (當勤方便，起增上欲，學無間等, p. 108b), and ends with the bhikkhū rejoicing, which the Pāḷi lacks.

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