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Tidipa

Dutiyadvayasutta (The Second Discourse on the Pair)

· 22 min read

Consciousness arises dependent on a pair, a sense and its objects, and the pair, the consciousness, the cause of its arising, the contact and what is felt, intended and apperceived are all impermanent, changing and becoming otherwise (13S4/1.2.4.10, Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta).

Original text: 13S4/1.2.4.10 Dutiyadvayasutta 449–455 in the World Tipitaka Edition

Summary

Section titled “Summary”

The Bhagavā explains to the bhikkhū how consciousness arises dependent on a pair: for each sense, the organ and its objects give rise to the corresponding consciousness, and the meeting of the three is contact. The members of the pair, the consciousness, the reason and cause of its arising, and the contact are all impermanent, changing and becoming otherwise, so nothing arisen from an impermanent cause could be permanent; touched, one feels, intends and apperceives, and these too are unsteady and changing. The sutta closes the Channavagga, whose summary verse follows it.

Diagram

Section titled “Diagram”
flowchart LR
    A["the eye"] --> V["cakkhuviññāṇa (eye-consciousness)"]
    B["forms"] --> V
    A & B & V --> C["cakkhusamphassa (eye-contact)"]
    C --> F["feels"]
    C --> I["intends"]
    C --> P["apperceives"]
    V --> X["impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise"]
    C --> X
    N["the same for ear, nose, tongue, body and mind"]

Text

Section titled “Text”

(93.)

449. “Bhikkhave, viññāṇa (consciousness) arises dependent on a pair. And how, Bhikkhave, does consciousness arise dependent on a pair? Dependent on the eye and forms, cakkhuviññāṇa (eye-consciousness) arises. The eye is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Forms are impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Thus this pair is unsteady and wavering, impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Eye-consciousness is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Whatever reason, whatever cause there is for the arising of eye-consciousness, that reason too, that cause too, is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Now, Bhikkhave, eye-consciousness that has arisen dependent on an impermanent cause — how could it be permanent? The meeting, Bhikkhave, the gathering, the coming together of these three phenomena — this is called cakkhusamphassa (eye-contact). Eye-contact too is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Whatever reason, whatever cause there is for the arising of eye-contact, that reason too, that cause too, is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Now, Bhikkhave, eye-contact that has arisen dependent on an impermanent cause — how could it be permanent? Touched, Bhikkhave, one feels; touched, one intends; touched, one apperceives. Thus these phenomena too are unsteady and wavering, impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise … and so on …

450. Dependent on the tongue and tastes, tongue-consciousness arises. The tongue is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Tastes are impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Thus this pair is unsteady and wavering, impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Tongue-consciousness is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Whatever reason, whatever cause there is for the arising of tongue-consciousness, that reason too, that cause too, is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Now, Bhikkhave, tongue-consciousness that has arisen dependent on an impermanent cause — how could it be permanent? The meeting, Bhikkhave, the gathering, the coming together of these three phenomena — this is called tongue-contact. Tongue-contact too is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Whatever reason, whatever cause there is for the arising of tongue-contact, that reason too, that cause too, is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Now, Bhikkhave, tongue-contact that has arisen dependent on an impermanent cause — how could it be permanent? Touched, Bhikkhave, one feels; touched, one intends; touched, one apperceives. Thus these phenomena too are unsteady and wavering, impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise … and so on …

451. Dependent on the mind and mental phenomena, mind-consciousness arises. The mind is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Mental phenomena are impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Thus this pair is unsteady and wavering, impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Mind-consciousness is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Whatever reason, whatever cause there is for the arising of mind-consciousness, that reason too, that cause too, is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Now, Bhikkhave, mind-consciousness that has arisen dependent on an impermanent cause — how could it be permanent? The meeting, Bhikkhave, the gathering, the coming together of these three phenomena — this is called mind-contact. Mind-contact too is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Whatever reason, whatever cause there is for the arising of mind-contact, that reason too, that cause too, is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Now, Bhikkhave, mind-contact that has arisen dependent on an impermanent cause — how could it be permanent? Touched, Bhikkhave, one feels; touched, one intends; touched, one apperceives. Thus these phenomena too are unsteady and wavering, impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Thus, Bhikkhave, consciousness arises dependent on a pair.”

452. The tenth [discourse of the chapter].

453. The Channa chapter, the fourth.

454. Its summary:

455. Paloka, Suñña, Saṃkhitta,
Channa, Puṇṇa and Bāhiya;
And two spoken with Ejā,
another two with Dvaya.

Commentary

Section titled “Commentary”
  • The second Dvaya discourse of the Channavagga: the first defines the pair (sense and object); this one shows the pair, the consciousness, the cause of its arising and the contact as impermanent, changing and becoming otherwise. The edition’s 449–455 are CST 93; the ear, nose and body sections are elided after the eye and the tongue, the mind given in full.
  • Renderings: vipariṇāmī “changing”, aññathābhāvī “becoming otherwise”, cala “unsteady”, byatha “wavering”, saṅgati sannipāto samavāyo “meeting, gathering, coming together” are the DPD’s; sañjānāti “apperceives” matches saññā (apperception).
  • Cakkhuñca paṭicca rūpe ca uppajjati cakkhuviññāṇaṃ is the textbook’s sentence (https://buddhavacana.github.io/pali-textbook/11-pbt/), joined there to tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso; worded afresh here.
  • The sense bases and contact on buddhavacana: https://buddhavacana.github.io/sutta/senses/; the same terms in the Fire Sermon https://buddhavacana.github.io/pali-textbook/9-fire/
  • The vagga’s summary verse (uddāna, 455) names the Channavagga’s ten suttas by catchword; the names stay in Pāḷi.

Parallels

Section titled “Parallels”

SA 214 has the Pāḷi’s frame and its sequence of members, in a much shorter form. The Buddha at Sāvatthī tells the bhikkhū that “there are two conditions from which consciousness arises” (有二因緣生識, p. 54a) and names the six pairs, eye and forms to mind and mental phenomena; the text then abbreviates with “as explained in full above, up to ‘because it is not his domain’” (如是廣說，乃至「非其境界故」, p. 54a), referring the reader to the preceding sūtra. What it does give matches the Pāḷi’s order: eye and forms as conditions give rise to eye-consciousness; these are impermanent, conditioned, arisen from mental conditions (無常、有為、心緣生); the meeting of the three is contact (此三法和合觸); from contact feeling, from feeling intention, from intention apperception (觸已受，受已思，思已想); and these too are impermanent, conditioned, arisen from mental conditions, “namely contact, apperception, intention” (所謂觸、想、思); “the ear, nose, tongue, body and mind are likewise” (p. 54a). The correspondence is therefore of outline only: the two texts agree on the pair, the consciousness, the three meeting as contact, and feeling, intention and apperception following contact, but SA 214 carries none of the Pāḷi’s argument.

  • Predicates: the Pāḷi’s refrain “impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise” (aniccaṃ vipariṇāmi aññathābhāvi) answers to “impermanent, conditioned, arisen from mental conditions” (無常、有為、心緣生, p. 54a), the Chinese collection’s usual triad; “unsteady and wavering” (calañceva byathañca) has no counterpart.
  • The cause: the Pāḷi’s “whatever reason, whatever cause there is for the arising of eye-consciousness, that too is impermanent” and “how could what has arisen dependent on an impermanent cause be permanent?” (449) have no counterpart in SA 214.
  • Contact’s results: the Pāḷi’s three parallel clauses “touched, one feels; touched, one intends; touched, one apperceives” (449) appear in SA 214 as a sequence, contact to feeling to intention to apperception (觸已受，受已思，思已想), and the closing list names them in the order contact, apperception, intention (p. 54a).
  • The abbreviation: SA 214’s “as explained in full above, up to ‘because it is not his domain’” quotes the closing phrase of the all’s definition (非其境界故, as in SA 319, the Sabbasutta’s parallel), so the sūtra presents itself as the sequel of the preceding one, as the Pāḷi’s Dutiyadvaya follows the Paṭhamadvaya; the Pāḷi carries no such cross-reference.
  • The frame: SA 214 opens with “Thus have I heard, at one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove” (p. 54a) and closes with the bhikkhū rejoicing (p. 54b); the Pāḷi has no opening (the vagga’s Sāvatthinidānaṃ is understood) and ends with the chapter count, the vagga’s title and its summary verse (452–455), which SA 214 lacks.

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