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- Majjhima Nikaya 11
- Cula-Sihanada Sutta
- The Shorter Discourse on the Lion's Roar
- Translated from the Pali by Nanamoli Thera
edited and revised by Bhikkhu Bodhi
- For free distribution only,
by arrangement with the Buddhist Publication Society
From The Lion's Roar: Two
Discourses of the Buddha (WH 390/391), edited and revised by Bhikkhu Bodhi,
(Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1993).
1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Savatthi
in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's Park. There he addressed the
bhikkhus thus: "Bhikkhus." -- "Venerable sir," they replied. The
Blessed One said this:
2. "Bhikkhus, only here is there a recluse, only here a second recluse, only here
a third recluse, only here a fourth recluse. The doctrines of others are devoid[*p.64] of recluses: that is how you should rightly roar your lion's roar.[1]
3. "It is possible, bhikkhus, that wanderers of other sects might ask: 'But on the
strength of what (argument) or with the support of what (authority) do the venerable ones
say thus?' Wanderers of other sects who ask thus may be answered in this way: 'Friends,
four things have been declared to us by the Blessed One who knows and sees, accomplished
and fully enlightened; on seeing these in ourselves we say thus: "Only here is there
a recluse, only here a second recluse, only here a third recluse, only here a fourth
recluse. The doctrines of others are devoid of recluses." What are the four? We have
confidence in the Teacher, we have confidence in the Dhamma, we have fulfilled the
precepts, and our companions in the Dhamma are dear and agreeable to us whether they are
layfolk or those gone forth. These are the four things declared to us by the Blessed One
who knows and sees, accomplished and fully enlightened, on seeing which in ourselves we
say as we do.'
4. "It is possible, bhikkhus, that wanderers of other sects might say thus:
'Friends, we too have confidence in the Teacher, that is, in our Teacher; we too have
confidence in the Dhamma, that is, in our Dhamma; we too have fulfilled the precepts, that
is, our precepts; our companions in the Dhamma are dear and agreeable to us too whether
they are layfolk or those gone forth. What is the distinction here, friends, what is the
variance, what is the difference between you and us?'
5. "Wanderers of other sects who ask thus may be answered in this way: 'How then,
friends, is the goal one or many?' Answering rightly, the wanderers of other sects would
answer thus: 'Friends, the goal is one, not many.'[2] -- 'But,
friends, is that goal for one affected by lust or free from lust?' Answering rightly, the
wanderers of other sects would answer thus: 'Friends, that goal is for one free from lust,
not for one affected by lust.' -- 'But, friends, is that goal for one affected by hate or
free from hate?' Answering rightly, they would answer: 'Friends, that goal is for one free
from hate, not for one affected by hate.' -- 'But, friends, is that goal for one affected
by delusion or free from delusion?' Answering rightly, they would answer: 'Friends, that
goal is for one free from delusion, not for one affected by delusion.' -- 'But, friends,
is that goal for one affected by craving or free from craving?'[*p.65]
Answering rightly, they would answer: 'Friends, that goal is for one free from craving,
not for one affected by craving.' -- 'But, friends, is that goal for one affected by
clinging or free from clinging?' Answering rightly, they would answer: 'Friends, that goal
is for one free from clinging, not for one affected by clinging.' -- 'But, friends, is
that goal for one who has vision or for one without vision?' Answering rightly, they would
answer: 'Friends, that goal is for one with vision, not for one without vision.' -- 'But,
friends, is that goal for one who favours and opposes, or for one who does not favour and
oppose?' Answering rightly, they would answer: 'Friends, that goal is for one who does not
favour and oppose, not for one who favours and opposes.'[3] --
'But, friends is that goal for one who delights in and enjoys proliferation, or for one
who does not delight in and enjoy proliferation?' Answering rightly, they would answer:
'Friends, that goal is for one who does not delight in and enjoy proliferation, not for
one who delights in and enjoys proliferation.'[4]
6. "Bhikkhus, there are these two views: the view of being
and the view of non-being. Any recluses or brahmins who rely on the view of being, adopt
the view of being, accept the view of being, are opposed to the view of non-being. Any
recluses or brahmins who rely on the view of non-being, adopt the view of non-being,
accept the view of non-being, are opposed to the view of being.[5]
7. "Any recluses or brahmins who do not understand as they actually are the
origin, the disappearance, the gratification, the danger and the escape[6] in the case of these two views are affected by lust, affected by hate,
affected by delusion, affected by craving, affected by clinging, without vision, given to
favouring and opposing, and they delight in and enjoy proliferation. They are not freed
from birth, aging and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair; they are
not freed from suffering, I say.
8. "Any recluses or brahmins who understand as they actually are the origin, the
disappearance, the gratification, the danger and the escape in the case of these two views
are without lust, without hate, without delusion, without craving, without clinging, with
vision, not given to favouring and opposing, and they do not delight in and enjoy
proliferation. They are freed from birth, aging and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain,
grief and despair; they are freed from suffering, I say.[*p.66]
9. "Bhikkhus, there are these four kinds of clinging. What four? Clinging to
sensual pleasures, clinging to views, clinging to rules and observances, and clinging to a
doctrine of self.
10. "Though certain recluses and brahmins claim to propound the full understanding
of all kinds of clinging, they do not completely describe the full understanding of all
kinds of clinging.[7] They describe the full understanding of
clinging to sensual pleasures without describing the full understanding of clinging to
views, clinging to rules and observances, and clinging to a doctrine of self. Why is that?
Those good recluses and brahmins do not understand these three instances of clinging as
they actually are. Therefore, though they claim to propound the full understanding of all
kinds of clinging, they describe only the full understanding of clinging to sensual
pleasures without describing the full understanding of clinging to views, clinging to
rules and observances, and clinging to a doctrine of self.
11. "Though certain recluses and brahmins claim to propound the full understanding
of all kinds of clinging...they describe the full understanding of clinging to sensual
pleasures and clinging to views without describing the full understanding of clinging to
rules and observances and clinging to a doctrine of self. Why is that? They do not
understand two instances...therefore they describe only the full understanding of clinging
to sensual pleasures and clinging to views without describing the full understanding of
clinging to rules and observances and clinging to a doctrine of self.
12. "Though certain recluses and brahmins claim to propound the full understanding
of all kinds of clinging...they describe the full understanding of clinging to sensual
pleasures, clinging to views, and clinging to rules and observances without describing the
full understanding of clinging to a doctrine of self. They do not understand one
instance...therefore they describe only the full understanding of clinging to sensual
pleasures, clinging to views, and clinging to rules and observances without describing the
full understanding of clinging to a doctrine of self.[8]
13. "Bhikkhus, in such a Dhamma and Discipline as that it is plain that confidence
in the Teacher is not rightly directed, that confidence in the Dhamma is not rightly
directed, that fulfilment of the precepts is not rightly directed, and that the affection
among companions in the Dhamma is not rightly directed. Why is that? Because that is how
it is when the Dhamma and Discipline is[*p.67] badly proclaimed and badly
expounded, unemancipating, unconducive to peace, expounded by one who is not fully
enlightened.
14. "Bhikkhus, when a Tathagata, accomplished and fully enlightened, claims to
propound the full understanding of all kinds of clinging, he completely describes the full
understanding of all kinds of clinging: he describes the full understanding of clinging to
sensual pleasures, clinging to views, clinging to rules and observances, and clinging to a
doctrine of self.[9]
15. "Bhikkhus, in such a Dhamma and Discipline as that it is plain that confidence
in the Teacher is rightly directed, that confidence in the Dhamma is rightly directed,
that fulfilment of the precepts is rightly directed, and that the affection among
companions in the Dhamma is rightly directed. Why is that? Because that is how it is when
the Dhamma and Discipline is well proclaimed and well expounded, emancipating, conducive
to peace, expounded by one who is fully enlightened.
16. "Now these four kinds of clinging have what as their source, what as their
origin, from what are they born and produced? These four kinds of clinging have craving as
their source, craving as their origin, they are born and produced from craving.[10] Craving has what as its source...? Craving has feeling as
its source...Feeling has what as its source...? Feeling has contact as its
source...Contact has what as its source...? Contact has the sixfold base as its
source...The sixfold base has what as its source...? The sixfold base has
mentality-materiality as its source...Mentality-materiality has what as its source...?
Mentality-materiality has consciousness as its source...Consciousness has what as its
source...? Consciousness has formations as its source...Formations have what as their
source...? Formations have ignorance as their source, ignorance as their origin; they are
born and produced from ignorance.
17. "Bhikkhus, when ignorance is abandoned and true knowledge has arisen in a
bhikkhu, then with the fading away of ignorance and the arising of true knowledge he no
longer clings to sensual pleasures, no longer clings to views, no longer clings to rules
and observances, no longer clings to a doctrine of self.[11]
When he does not cling, he is not agitated. When he is not agitated, he personally attains
Nibbana. He understands: 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be
done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being.'"[12] [*p.68]
That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the
Blessed One's words.
Notes
[*p.###] The page numbers enclosed in square brackets in the above text
are the page numbers of the Pali Text Society edition of the Pali text.
1. Comy. explains "lion's roar" (sihanada) as
meaning a supreme roar (setthanada), a fearless roar (abhitanada), and a
roar which cannot be confuted (appatinada). It adds: The roar about the existence
of these four types of recluse only here is the supreme roar. The absence of any fear on
account of others when one advances such a claim makes it a fearless roar. As none of the
rival teachers can rise up and say, "These recluses also exist in our
Dispensation," it is a roar which cannot be confuted. [Go back]
2. Comy.: Even though the adherents of other sects all declare
Arahantship -- understood in a general sense as spiritual perfection -- to be the goal,
they point to other attainments as the goal in accordance with their views. Thus the
brahmins declare the Brahma-world to be the goal, the great ascetics declare the gods of
Streaming Radiance, the wanderers the gods of Refulgent Glory, and the Ajivakas the
non-percipient state, which they posit to be "infinite mind" (anantamanasa).
[Go back]
3. "Favouring and opposing" (anurodha-pativirodha):
reacting with attraction through lust and with aversion through hatred. [Go
back]
4. Proliferation (papañca), according to Comy., generally
means mental activity governed by craving, conceit and views, but here only craving and
views are intended. [Go back]
5. The adoption of one view entailing opposition to the other
links up with the earlier statement that the goal is for one who does not favour and
oppose. [Go back]
6. Comy. mentions eight conditions which serve as the origin (samudaya)
of these views: the five aggregates, ignorance, contact, perception, thought, unwise
attention, bad friends, and the voice of another. Their disappearance (atthangama)
is the path of stream-entry, which eradicates all wrong views. Their gratification (assada)
may be understood as the satisfaction of psychological need to which the view caters,
specifically the nurturing of craving for being by the eternalist view and of craving for
non-being by the annihilationist view. Their danger (adinava) is the continued
bondage they entail, by obstructing the acceptance of right view, which leads to
liberation. And the escape from them (nissarana) is Nibbana. [Go back]
7. Comy. glosses full understanding (pariñña) here as
overcoming (samatikkama), with reference to the commentarial notion of pahanapariñña,
"full understanding as abandonment." [Go back]
8. This passage clearly indicates that the critical
differentiating factor of the Buddha's Dhamma is its "full understanding of clinging
to a doctrine of self." This means, in effect, that the Buddha alone is able to show
how to overcome all views of self by developing penetration into the truth of non-self (anatta).
[Go back]
9. Comy.: The Buddha teaches how clinging to sense pleasures is
abandoned by the path of Arahantship, while the other three types of clinging are
eliminated by the path of stream-entry. The path of stream-entry eliminates the other
three clingings because these three are all forms of wrong view, and all wrong views are
overcome at that stage. Although the statement that clinging to sense pleasures is
abandoned by the path of Arahantship may sound strange, in view of the fact that sensual
desire is already eliminated by the non-returner, the Tika (subcommentary) to the sutta
explains that in the present context the word kama, sense pleasure, should be
understood to comprise all forms of greed, and the subtler types of greed are only
eliminated with the attainment of Arahantship. [Go back]
10. This passage is explained in order to show how clinging is
to be abandoned. Clinging is traced back, via the chain of dependent arising, to its
root-cause in ignorance, and then the destruction of ignorance is shown to be the means to
eradicate clinging. [Go back]
11. The Pali idiom, n'eva kamupadanam upadiyati, would
have to be rendered literally as "he does not cling to the clinging to sense
pleasures," which may obscure the sense more than it illuminates it. The word upadana
in Pali is the object of its own verb form, while "clinging" in English is not.
The easiest solution is to translate directly in accordance with the sense rather than to
try to reproduce the idiom in translation. [Go back]
12. This is the stock canonical declaration of Arahantship. [Go back]