Translating Classical Buddhism to Modern English

The Related Discourses

3. Dependent Origination

（二九六）因緣 3.14 (296). Dependent Origination
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： 「我今當說因緣法及緣生法。 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “Now, I’ll explain the principle of dependent origination and the things that are dependently arisen.
「云何為因緣法？ 謂此有故彼有。 謂緣無明行，緣行識⋯乃至⋯ 如是如是純大苦聚集。 3. “What is the principle of dependent origination? That exists because this exists. That is to say, actions are conditioned by ignorance, awareness is conditioned by actions … up to … In this way, the whole mass of suffering forms.
「云何緣生法？ 謂無明、行。 若佛出世，若未出世，此法常住，法住、法界。 彼如來自所覺知，成等正覺。 為人演說，開示顯發。 謂緣無明有行⋯乃至⋯ 緣生有老死。 4. “What are the things that are dependently arisen? They are ignorance and actions. Whether a buddha arises in the world or has yet to arise, these things are always present as abiding principles and the realm of principles.2 Those things are realized by the Tathāgata himself, and he achieves the complete and perfect awakening. He teaches them for others, revealing and disclosing them. That is to say, actions exist conditioned by ignorance … up to … Old age and death exist conditioned by birth.
「若佛出世，若未出世，此法常住，法住法界。 彼如來自覺知，成等正覺。 為人演說，開示顯發。 謂緣生故，有老、病、死、憂、悲、惱、苦。 此等諸法，法住、法空、法如、法爾。 法不離如，法不異如。 審諦、真實、不顛倒。 如是隨順緣起。 是名緣生法，謂無明、行、識、名色、六入處、觸、受、愛、取、有、生、老、病、死、憂、悲、惱、苦。 是名緣生法。 5. “Whether a buddha has arisen in the world or has yet to arise, these things are always present as abiding principles and the realm of principles. Those things are realized by the Tathāgata himself, and he achieves the complete and perfect awakening. He teaches them for others, revealing and disclosing them. That is to say, old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, trouble, and pain exist because they dependently arise. Such things as these are abiding principles, [definite] principles, principles of suchness, and principles that are so. They are principles that aren’t apart from suchness and aren’t different from suchness. They are genuine, real, and not distortions.3 In this way, they follow their dependent arising. This is called the things that are dependently arisen, namely ignorance, actions, awareness, name and form, the six sense fields, contact, feeling, craving, clinging, existence, birth, old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, trouble, and pain. These are the things that are dependently arisen.
「多聞聖弟子於此因緣法、緣生法正知善見，不求前際，言：『我過去世若有、若無？ 我過去世何等類？ 我過去世何如？』 不求後際『我於當來世為有、為無？ 云何類？ 何如？』 內不猶豫『此是何等？ 云何有此為前？ 誰終當云何之？ 此眾生從何來？ 於此沒當何之？』 6. “The well-versed noble disciple rightly knows and sees well the principle of dependent origination and the things that are dependently arisen, and he does not seek their earliest point, saying: ‘Did I exist in past lives or not? What was I in past lives? What was I like in past lives?’ He does not seek a final point, [saying]: ‘Will I exist in future lives? What will I be? What will I be like?’ He does not hesitate inbetween, [saying]: ‘What sort of thing am I? What was before this existence? Who will it be after I die? Where did this sentient being come from? What will it be when it disappears from here?’
「若沙門、婆羅門起凡俗見所繫，謂說我見所繫、說眾生見所繫、說壽命見所繫、忌諱吉慶見所繫。 爾時悉斷、悉知，斷其根本，如截多羅樹頭，於未來世，成不生法。 是名多聞聖弟子於因緣法、緣生法如實正知，善見、善覺、善修、善入。」 7. “Suppose that ascetics and priests appear who are bound by conventional views, meaning they are bound by the views of teachings about self, the views of teachings about sentient beings, the views of teachings about lives, or the views of what’s inauspicious or auspicious. At that point, he ends all [those views], knows them all, and cuts them at their root like chopping a palm tree at its base so that they do not arise again in a future life. This is called a well-versed noble disciple truly and correctly knowing the principle of dependent origination and the things that are dependently arisen. He sees them well, realizes them well, cultivates them well, and enters them well.”
佛說此經已，諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 8. After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.

Notes

  1. This is sūtra no. 296 in the Taisho edition and no. 477 in Yinshun (T99.2.84b12-4c10, Y30.34a14-5a12). It’s parallel with SN 12.20 and SF163.

    SN 12.20 is very similar to this sūtra until we reach the conclusion about cutting views, while the extant Sanskrit mirrors this text more closely throughout. [back]

  2. Whether a buddha arises in the world … realm of principles. C. 謂無明、行。若佛出世，若未出世，此法常住，法住、法界。, P. Jātipaccayā, bhikkhave, jarāmaraṇaṁ. Uppādā vā tathāgatānaṁ anuppādā vā tathāgatānaṁ, ṭhitāva sā dhātu dhammaṭṭhitatā dhammaniyāmatā idappaccayatā., S. avidyāpratyayāḥ saṁskārā ity utpādād vā tathāgatānām anutpādād vā sthitā eveyaṁ dharmatā dharmasthitaye dhātuḥ.

    This passage is probably one of the most difficult to interpret and translate in SĀ, and I have been grammatically creative to achieve an English statement that more-or-less captures the meaning of it. There are two main difficulties here. First, this and the other two parallel passages vary in wording in significant ways. Second, the terms involved (e.g., dharmatā and dharmadhātu) are well known in later Buddhist sources as abstract and transcendental concepts. These two things make it difficult to interpret the practical meaning intended in its historical context.

    The term that I find the most problematic is 法界 (dharmadhātu), which is deployed here as a synonym of 法住 (dharmasthita) but isn’t found in SN 12.20 or SF163 (though, the latter reads dhātuḥ). I’ve settled on reading it as meaning “realm of dharmas” that’s perhaps juxtaposed with a “realm of sentient beings.” This realm would seem to have been considered a repository of nature laws or principles of existence, which is accessed and known by buddhas when they awaken.

    The basic meaning of the entire passage is expressed more clearly in SĀ 3.17 (299) which reads: “The Buddha addressed that monk: ‘The principle of dependent arising was not created by me, nor was it created by anyone else. Still, whether the Tathāgata arises in the world or not, the realm of dharmas is always present. The Tathāgata realizes this principle himself and becomes fully and correctly awakened. He then discerns and explains it for sentient beings, disclosing and making it plain to them.’” (佛告比丘：「緣起法者，非我所作，亦非餘人作。然彼如來出世及未出世，法界常住。彼如來自覺此法，成等正覺，為諸眾生分別演說，開發顯示。 [T99.2.85b23-7]).

    In light of that clearer passage, this dharmadhātu would seem to be something external to a person’s mind. A similar use of the term is also found in DĀ 1, where it serves as a natural source of the Buddha’s knowledge about past buddhas (T1.1.1c5). It’s put to the same purpose in EĀ 48.4, a parallel of DĀ 1. The confusion that this alternate reading might create in an EBT context, where it is commonly the element representing the objects of the mind sense, is perhaps the reason we don’t find the term in either SN 12.20 or SF163.

    For those who are curious about this Buddhist way of expressing the idea of a natural law, it is also found in the Sarvāstivādin Dharmaskandha Abhidharma (e.g., @ T1537.26.480c24-7), where it’s applied to each of the four noble truths. It reads: 若佛出世、若不出世，如是苦法法住、法界。一切如來自然通達，等覺，宣說施設建立，分別、開示、令其顯了。. Another parallel is found in EĀ 34.6, where it’s applied in a simpler form to five things that cannot be reversed. Thus, it was not unique to this sūtra. [back]

  3. Such things as these are abiding principles … and not mistaken. C. 此等諸法，法住、法空[=>法定?]、法如、法爾。法不離如，法不異如。審諦、真實、不顛倒。, S. iti yātra dharmatā dharmasthititā dharmaniyāmatā dharmayathātathā avitathatā ananyathā bhūtaṁ satyatā tattvatā yāthātathā aviparītatā aviparyastatā.

    This passage is not found in SN 12.20, but there is a parallel passage in SF163 that provides us with S. equivalents for some of the C. terms. Comparing this passage with the S., we can see that 法空 is likely a typo for 法定, given that 定 would translate niyāmatā quite well as “certain” or “definite.” I have amended the C. in my translation.

    Briefly, the C. and S. equivalents are as follows:

    • 法住 (“dharma abode”) = S. dharmasthititā
    • 法空 (“dharma emptiness”) = S. dharmaniyāmatā
    • 法如、法爾 (“dharma suchness,” “dharma that-ness”) = S. dharmayathātathā
    • 法不離如 (“dharma not apart from suchness”) = S. avitathatā
    • 法不異如 (“dharma not different from suchness”) = S. ananyathā
    • 審諦 (“true”) = satyatā
    • 真實 (“real”) = tattvatā
    • 不顛倒 (“not inverted”) = aviparyastatā
    [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 15 October 2025

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