The Related Discourses
3. Dependent Origination
| (二九二) 思量、觀察 | 10 (292). Thinking and Examining |
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| 如是我聞： 一時，佛住王舍城、迦蘭陀竹園。 | 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha was staying at the Squirrels’ Bamboo Grove of Rājagṛha. |
| 爾時，世尊告諸比丘： 「云何思量、觀察正盡苦、究竟苦邊時，思量眾生所有眾苦種種差別？ 『此諸苦何因、何集、何生、何觸？』 思量取因、取集、取生、取觸。 若彼取滅無餘，眾苦則滅。 彼所乘苦滅道跡如實知，修行彼向次法。 是名比丘向正盡苦、究竟苦邊，所謂取滅。 | 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “When thinking about and examining the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, how does one think about the many different kinds of pains possessed by sentient beings? ‘What is the cause, what is the formation, what is the arising, and what is the instigation of these pains?’ Think about grasping as their cause, their formation, their arising, and their instigation.2 If grasping ceases without remainder, then those many pains will cease. In that way,3 one truly knows the path to suffering’s cessation. Cultivating it leads to the next thing.4 This is called a monk heading for the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, which is to say the cessation of grasping. |
| 「復次，比丘，思量觀察正盡苦、究竟苦邊時，思量： 『彼取何因、何集、何生、何觸？』 思量彼取愛因、愛集、愛生、愛觸。 彼愛永滅無餘，取亦隨滅。 彼所乘取滅道跡如實知。 修習彼向次法。 是名比丘向正盡苦、究竟苦邊，所謂愛滅。 | 3. “Furthermore, monks, when thinking about and examining the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, think about this: ‘What is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that grasping?’ Think about craving as the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that grasping. That craving being forever ceased without remainder, grasping will also subsequently cease. In that way, one truly knows the path to suffering’s cessation. Cultivating it leads to the next thing. This is called a monk heading for the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, which is to say the cessation of craving. |
| 「復次，比丘，思量觀察正盡苦、究竟苦邊，則思量： 『彼愛何因、何集、何生、何觸？』 知彼愛受因、受集、受生、受觸。 彼受永滅無餘，則愛滅。 彼所乘愛滅道跡如實知。 修習彼向次法。 是名比丘向正盡苦、究竟苦邊，所謂受滅。 | 4. “Furthermore, monks, when thinking about and examining the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, think about this: ‘What is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that craving?’ Know that feeling is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that craving. That feeling being forever ceased without remainder, craving will then cease. In that way, one truly knows the path to suffering’s cessation. Cultivating it leads to the next thing. This is called a monk heading for the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, which is to say the cessation of feeling. |
| 「復次，比丘，思量觀察正盡苦、究竟苦邊時，思量： 『彼受何因、何集、何生、何觸？』 知彼受觸因、觸集、觸生、觸緣。 彼觸永滅無餘，則受滅。 彼所乘觸滅道跡如實知。 修習彼向次法。 是名比丘向正盡苦、究竟苦邊。 | 5. “Furthermore, monks, when thinking about and examining the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, think about this: ‘What is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that feeling?’ Know that contact is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that feeling. That contact being forever ceased without remainder, feeling will then cease. In that way, one truly knows the path to suffering’s cessation. Cultivating it leads to the next thing. This is called a monk heading for the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering[, which is to say the cessation of contact]. |
| 「復次，比丘，思量觀察正盡苦、究竟苦邊時，思量： 『彼觸何因、何集、何生、何觸？』 當知彼觸六入處因、六入處集、六入處生、六入處觸。 彼六入處滅無餘，則觸滅。 彼所乘六入處滅道跡如實知。 修習彼向次法。 是名比丘向正盡苦、究竟苦邊。 | 6. “Furthermore, monks, when thinking about and examining the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, think about this: ‘What is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that contact?’ You should know that the six sense fields are the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that contact. Those six sense fields being forever ceased without remainder, contact will then cease. In that way, one truly knows the path to suffering’s cessation. Cultivating it leads to the next thing. This is called a monk heading for the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering[, which is to say the cessation of the six sense fields]. |
| 「復次，比丘，思量觀察正盡苦、究竟苦邊時，思量： 『彼六入處何因、何集、何生、何觸？』 知彼六入處名色因、名色集、名色生、名色觸。 名色永滅無餘，則六入處滅。 彼所乘名色滅道跡如實知。 修習彼向次法。 是名比丘向正盡苦、究竟苦邊，所謂名色滅。 | 7. “Furthermore, monks, when thinking about and examining the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, think about this: ‘What is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of those six sense fields?’ Know that name and form are the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of those six sense fields. Name and form being forever ceased without remainder, the six sense fields will then cease. In that way, one truly knows the path to suffering’s cessation. Cultivating it leads to the next thing. This is called a monk heading for the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, which is to say the cessation of name and form. |
| 「復次，比丘思量正盡苦、究竟苦邊時，思量： 『名色何因、何集、何生、何觸？』 知彼名色識因、識集、識生、識觸。 彼識滅無餘，則名色滅。 彼所乘識滅道跡如實知。 修習彼向次法。 是名比丘向正盡苦、究竟苦邊，所謂識滅。 | 8. “Furthermore, monks, when thinking about and examining the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, think about this: ‘What is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of name and form?’ Know that awareness is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of name and form. That awareness being forever ceased without remainder, name and form will then cease. In that way, one truly knows the path to suffering’s cessation. Cultivating it leads to the next thing. This is called a monk heading for the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, which is to say the cessation of awareness. |
| 「復次，比丘思量觀察正盡苦、究竟苦邊時，思量： 『彼識何因、何集、何生、何觸？』 知彼識行因、行集、行生、行觸。 作諸福行，善識生。 作諸不福不善行，不善識生。 作無所有行，無所有識生。 是為彼識行因、行集、行生、行觸。 彼行滅無餘，則識滅。 彼所乘行滅道跡如實知。 修習彼向次法。 是名比丘向正盡苦、究竟苦邊，所謂行滅。 | 9. “Furthermore, monks, when thinking about and examining the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, think about this: ‘What is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that awareness?’ Know that actions are the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that awareness. Performing meritorious actions produces skillful awareness. Performing demeritorious and unskillful actions produces unskillful awareness. Performing actions of nothingness produces awareness of nothingness.5 These are the actions that are the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of that awareness. Those actions being forever ceased without remainder, awareness will then cease. In that way, one truly knows the path to suffering’s cessation. Cultivating it leads to the next thing. This is called a monk heading for the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, which is to say the cessation of actions. |
| 「復次，比丘思量觀察正盡苦、究竟苦邊時，思量： 『彼行何因、何集、何生、何觸？』 知彼行無明因、無明集、無明生、無明觸。 彼福行無明緣，非福行亦無明緣，非福不福行亦無明緣。 | 10. “Furthermore, monks, when thinking about and examining the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, think about this: ‘What is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of those actions?’ Know that ignorance is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of those actions. Those meritorious actions are conditioned by ignorance, demeritorious actions are conditioned by ignorance, and actions that are not meritorious or demeritorious are also conditioned by ignorance. |
| 「是故當知，彼行無明因、無明集、無明生、無明觸。 彼無明永滅無餘，則行滅。 彼所乘無明滅道跡如實知。 修習彼向次法。 是名比丘向正盡苦、究竟苦邊，所謂無明滅。」 | 11. “Therefore, you should know that ignorance is the cause, the formation, the arising, and the instigation of those actions. That ignorance being forever ceased without remainder, then actions will cease. In that way, one truly knows the path to suffering’s cessation. Cultivating it leads to the next thing. This is called a monk heading for the correct ending of suffering and the final limit of suffering, which is to say the cessation of ignorance.” |
| 佛告比丘： 「於意云何？ 若不樂無明而生明，復緣彼無明作福行、非福行、無所有行不？」 | 12. The Buddha asked the monks, “What do you think? If you don’t delight in ignorance and give rise to insight, will you perform any more meritorious actions, demeritorious actions, or actions of nothingness that are conditioned by that ignorance?” |
| 比丘白佛：「不也，世尊。 所以者何？ 多聞聖弟子不樂無明而生明。 無明滅則行滅。 行滅則識滅。 如是⋯乃至⋯生⋯老、病、死、憂、悲、惱、苦滅。 如是、如是純大苦聚滅。」 | 13. The monks said to the Buddha, “No, Bhagavān. Why is that? The well-versed noble disciple doesn’t delight in ignorance and gives rise to insight. Ignorance ceases, and then actions cease. Actions cease, and then awareness ceases. And so on up to … birth … old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, and trouble cease. In this way, the whole great mass of suffering ceases.” |
| 佛言：「善哉！善哉，比丘！ 我亦如是說，汝亦知此。 於彼彼法起彼彼法，生彼彼法。 滅彼彼法，滅、止、清涼、息、沒。 若多聞聖弟子無明離欲而生明，身分齊受所覺，身分齊受所覺時如實知。 若壽分齊受所覺，壽分齊受所覺時如實知。 身壞時壽命欲盡，於此諸受一切所覺滅盡無餘。 | 14. The Buddha said, “Good! Good, monks! I also say this, and you should know this, too. Regarding a certain thing producing another thing, it gives rise to that other thing. That certain thing being ceased, then [the other thing] ceases, stops, cools, subsides, and disappears. If a well-versed noble disciple parts with desire for ignorance and gives rise to insight, he truly knows that he is experiencing feelings limited to the body when he experiences feelings that are limited to the body. If he experiences feelings limited to his life, then he truly knows that he is experiencing feelings that are limited to his life. When his body breaks up and his life is about to end, all these feelings that he experiences cease completely without remainder. |
| 「譬如力士取新熟瓦器，乘熱置地。 須臾散壞，熱勢悉滅。 如是，比丘無明離欲而生明，身分齊受所覺如實知，壽分齊受所覺如實知。 身壞命終，一切受所覺悉滅無餘。」 | 15. “It’s like a strong man who takes a recently baked clay pot and puts it on the ground while it’s hot. The moment it breaks, its heat energy completely ceases. In this way, a monk who parts with desire for ignorance and gives rise to insight truly knows his experience of feelings that are limited to his body, and he truly knows his experience of feelings that are limited to his life. When his body breaks up and his life ends, all the feelings he experiences completely cease without remainder.” |
| 佛說此經已，諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 | 16. After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and accepted it. |
Notes
This is sūtra no. 292 in the Taisho edition and no. 473 in Yinshun (T99.2.82c18-3b29, Y30.22a4-4a7). This sūtra is parallel with SN 12.51 and SF159. It bears a much stronger resemblance to the Sanskrit parallel (SF159), which may have also been from the Sarvāstivāda tradition.
Generally speaking, this sūtra appears to be a variation of the previous one (SĀ 3.9) when placed in the context of its parallels. (For example, SF159 repeats the usage of the word upadhi in the place of upādāna, which is not apparent when reading the C. translation here.) It includes most of the standard twelve step chain of dependent origination and uses different verbs for contemplating suffering. It may represent a later normalization of SĀ 3.9, which presents a much shorter and cryptic version of dependent origination. See the notes below and those to SĀ 3.9 for more in-depth discussions of the textual issues involved. [back]
Think about grasping as their cause, their formation, their arising, and their instigation. C. 思量，取因、取集、取生、取觸, S. sa evaṁ parimīmāṁsamāno jānāti | idaṁ duḥkham upadhinidānam upadhisamudayam upadhijātīyam upadhiprabhavam. SN 12.51 does not have a parallel for this passage. It instead follows the standard chain of dependent origination that begins with suffering and ends with ignorance. In this sūtra, birth and existence are skipped, and the chain proceeds from grasping until ignorance is reached.
The omission of birth and existence is strange, but the S. parallel sheds some light on why this is the case. There, what the C. translates as grasping (取) appears to actually be upadhi, as it was in the previous sūtra. It would seem that here that term was translated rather than transliterated, and the discourse proceeds from that point forward with the standard chain of dependent origination. This is in contrast to the previous sūtra that presented a shorter, non-standard chain of dependent origination: suffering <- attachments (upadhi) <- craving <- worldly forms that are agreeable and proper. I say “it would seem” because it’s possible that the original had replaced upadhi with upādāna.
This would explain why this sūtra was placed after the previous one in both the C. translation and S. parallel. It was a variation on the same theme that employed the term upadhi. [back]
In that way. C. 彼所乘. Lit., this expression means something like “carried by that” or “riding by that,” but I take it to mean that the previous contemplation is the way to truly know the path to the cessation of suffering, so I have translated it prosaically to English. It’s also a little doubtful to me that a word like 乘 was in the original Indic text. I can find no parallel word in the Sanskrit, and the two are otherwise very close parallels. Sarvāstivāda parallels do diverge at times, however, so I’ve preserved it in my translation in this way. [back]
Cultivating it leads to the next thing. C. 修行彼向次法, P. tathā paṭipanno ca hoti anudhammacārī, S. tathā pratipannaś ca bhavaty anudharmacārī.
SN 12.51 has a parallel for this expression, but the context is different because of the questions asked about each item of dependent origination: knowing the thing, its origin, its cessation, and the path to its cessation. This makes it much easier to read anudharma to mean “in line with” the path to cessation.
The term anudharma is usually interpreted to mean “in accord with the Dharma,” but in SĀ it instead appears to mean “the next thing (dharma)” in a progression, such as when disillusionment with something leads to lack of desire for it and then its cessation. Disillusionment, lack of desire, and cessation are each dharmas that progress in sequence, one leading to the next. I’ve translated these passages here as meaning that the practitioner moves forward to contemplate the next item in the chain of dependent origination, which will progress to ignorance. [back]
meritorious actions … demeritorious and unskillful actions … actions of nothingness. C. 諸福行⋯諸不福不善行⋯無所有行, P. puññañce saṅkhāraṁ … apuññañce saṅkhāraṁ … āneñjañce saṅkhāraṁ, S. puṇyān abhisaṁskārān … apuṇyān apy ānijyān apy abhisaṁskārān.
In the Theravāda tradition, saṅkhāra is understood here to refer to intentions or volitions to perform physical, verbal, and mental actions. In this context, the same term refers to the entire range of actions in Sarvāstivāda exegetical sources, so I have translated 行 in this straightforward way. They are typically presented as actions in previous lives that condition the awareness that arises in a new life. This suggests that the term S. abhisaṁskāra was interpreted as along the lines of “preparation” or “being formed,” but in practice it refers to past karma in this usage. Past karma shapes and forms the new life.
To give an example of the Sarvastivada reading of abhisaṁskāra, the Dharmaskandha defines meritorious actions quite broadly: “What is meritorious action? This refers to contaminated skillful physical actions, verbal actions, mind and mental functions, and volitions that aren’t associated with mind” (云何福行？謂有漏善身業語業、心心所法、不相應行。 [T1537.26.506a15]). This would seem to be an Abhidharma way of including all three types of deeds. But where we would expect mental deeds we find the mind and everything included in the aggregate of volition. For those not versed in Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma, “volitions not associated with mind” (C. 不相應行, S. cittaviprayuktāḥ saṁskārāḥ) was a catch-all for such things as the life force (i.e., S. jīvitendriya), which were not considered to be part of one’s mind but had no good category among the five aggregates.
The other oddity here in SĀ is the translation of the third type of action as “actions of nothingness” (or perhaps “no actions at all”) (無所有行). In other sources, including the S. parallel, this third type of action is called “immovable” or “imperturbable” (P. āneñjaṃ, S. ānijyān). These actions are also referred to as “actions that are not meritorious or demeritorious” in a passage below. In any case, this type of action is understood to refer to the practice of deep samādhi, specifically the four formless samādhis. It was the highest type of contaminated action that a person could perform, which leads to rebirth in one of the formless heavens. There was a formless heaven of nothingness, and so perhaps this type of action was named after it here. [back]
Translator: Dōgen Sīṁsāpa (draft) and Charles Patton (editor)
Last Revised: 4 October 2025
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