Translating Classical Buddhism to Modern English

The Related Discourses

3. Dependent Origination

（三七一） 四食 71 (371). Four Foods
如是我聞： 一時，佛住舍衛國、祇樹、給孤獨園。 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove of Śrāvastī.
爾時，世尊告諸比丘： 「有四食資益眾生，令得住世、攝受、長養。 何等為四？ 謂一、麤摶食。 二、細觸食。 三、意思食。 四、識食。 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “There are four foods that provide benefits to sentient beings and make it possible for them to remain in the world, be sustained, and grow. What are the four? The first is coarse lumps of food. Second is food of fine contact. Third is food of mental thought. Fourth is food of awareness.
「此四食何因？何集？何生？何觸？ 謂此諸食愛因、愛集、愛生、愛觸。 此愛何因？何集？何生？何觸？ 謂愛受因、受集、受生、受觸。 此受何因？何集？何生？何觸？ 謂受觸因、觸集、觸生、觸觸。 此觸何因？何集？何生？何觸？ 謂觸六入處因、六入處集、六入處生、六入處觸。 3. “What causes these foods? What forms them? What produces them? What contacts them?2 Craving is the cause of these foods, craving forms them, craving produces them, and craving contacts them. What causes this craving? What forms it? What produces it? What contacts it? Feeling causes craving, feeling forms it, feeling produces it, and feeling contacts it. What causes this feeling? What forms it? What produces it? What contacts it? Contact causes feeling, contact forms it, contact produces it, and contact contacts it. What causes this contact? What forms it? What produces it? What contacts it? The six sense fields cause contact, the six sense fields form it, the six sense fields produce it, and the six sense fields contact it.
「六入處集是觸集。 觸集是受集。 受集是愛集。 愛集是食集。 食集故，未來世生、老、病、死、憂、悲、惱、苦集。 如是，純大苦聚集。 4. “The formation of the six sense fields is the formation of contact. The formation of contact is the formation of feeling. The formation of feeling is the formation of craving. The formation of craving is the formation of food.3 Future birth, old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, trouble, and pain form because of the formation of food. The whole mass of suffering forms in this way.
「如是，六入處滅則觸滅。 觸滅則受滅。 受滅則愛滅。 愛滅則食滅。 食滅故，於未來世生、老、病、死、憂、悲、惱、苦滅。 如是，純大苦聚滅。」 5. “In this way, the cessation of the six sense fields ceases contact. The cessation of contact then ceases feeling. The cessation of feeling then ceases craving. The cessation of craving then ceases food. Future birth, old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, trouble, and pain cease because of the cessation of food. The whole mass of suffering ceases in this way.”
佛說此經已，諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 6. After he spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.

Notes

  1. This is sūtra no. 371 in the Taisho edition and no. 534 in Yinshun (T99.2.101c25-2a11). It’s a close parallel to SN 12.11. There are subtle differences in wording, however.

    For example, the four foods are not characterized as helping sentient beings who haven’t been born yet. We should notice, too, that there is no fine physical food, but rather the food of contact is called fine. This suggests a definition of contact like the one found in EĀ 29.4, which is very similar to the definition of fine physical food in other sources (clothing, perfumes, bathing, and the like). Also, the fourth question asked about the causes of the four foods, craving, and feeling is here “contact” (觸) rather than “coming into being” (P. pabhava).

    Another difference is that the chain of dependent origination here only goes back to the six sense fields, while in SN 12.11 it goes back to ignorance. Finally, the main point of this sūtra is that the four foods are synonymous with grasping and existence in dependent origination. This detail is absent from SN 12.11. [back]

  2. What causes … what forms … what produces … what contacts … ? C. 何因？何集？何生？何觸？. A very similar set of four questions is asked in SĀ 1.169, but there the fourth question is “what develops” (何轉). In the P. parallels, the last question is “what brings about” (kiṁpabhavā). Here, “what contacts” (何觸) doesn’t fit the pattern of synonyms for a cause.

    Yinshun chose to amend 觸 to 轉 in this passage, but I have decided to let it stand for the time being with this footnote. [back]

  3. The formation of craving is the formation of food. Here, food is inserted in the place of both grasping and existence in the usual chain of dependent origination. The chain then resumes with birth. This makes the four foods objects of grasping and continued existence. This certainly makes sense if we don’t assume the psychological foods (contact, thought, and awareness) are synonymous with other items in dependent origination. This is in fact the intended reading here because in Sarvāstivāda sources (e.g., the Saṅgītiparyāya), the four foods explain how other classes of sentient beings besides humans are nurtured and sustained.

    This substitution is missing from SN 12.11, which leaves those types of food more open to interpretation. [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 27 January 2025

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