sutta » sn » sn12 » Saṁyutta Nikāya 12.12

Moḷiyaphaggunasutta

Moḷiyaphagguna Phagguna of the Top-Knot

Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.
At Sāvatthı̄.
At Sāvatthī.

“Cattārome, bhikkhave, āhārā bhūtānaṁ vā sattānaṁ ṭhitiyā sambhavesīnaṁ vā anuggahāya.
“Bhikkhus, there are these four kinds of nutriment for the maintenance of beings that have already come to be and for the assistance of those about to come to be.
“Mendicants, there are these four fuels. They maintain sentient beings that have been born and help those that are about to be born.

Katame cattāro?
What four?
What four?

Kabaḷīkāro āhāro oḷāriko vā sukhumo vā, phasso dutiyo, manosañcetanā tatiyā, viññāṇaṁ catutthaṁ.
The nutriment edible food, gross or subtle; second, contact; third, mental volition; fourth, consciousness.
Solid food, whether coarse or fine; contact is the second, mental intention the third, and consciousness the fourth.

Ime kho, bhikkhave, cattāro āhārā bhūtānaṁ vā sattānaṁ ṭhitiyā sambhavesīnaṁ vā anuggahāyā”ti.
These are the four kinds of nutriment for the maintenance of beings that have already come to be and for the assistance of those about to come to be.”
These are the four fuels that maintain sentient beings that have been born and help those that are about to be born.”

Evaṁ vutte, āyasmā moḷiyaphagguno bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:
When this was said, the Venerable Moḷiyaphagguna said to the Blessed One:
When he said this, Venerable Phagguna of the Top-Knot said to the Buddha,

“ko nu kho, bhante, viññāṇāhāraṁ āhāretī”ti?
“Venerable sir, who consumes the nutriment consciousness?”
“But sir, who consumes the fuel for consciousness?”

“No kallo pañho”ti bhagavā avoca:
“Not a valid question,” the Blessed One replied.
“That’s not a fitting question,” said the Buddha.

“‘āhāretī’ti ahaṁ na vadāmi.
“I do not say, ‘One consumes.’
“I don’t speak of one who consumes.

‘Āhāretī’ti cāhaṁ vadeyyaṁ, tatrassa kallo pañho:
If I should say, ‘One consumes,’ in that case this would be a valid question:
If I were to speak of one who consumes, then it would be fitting to ask

‘ko nu kho, bhante, āhāretī’ti?
‘Venerable sir, who consumes?’
who consumes.

Evañcāhaṁ na vadāmi.
But I do not speak thus.
But I don’t speak like that.

Evaṁ maṁ avadantaṁ yo evaṁ puccheyya:
Since I do not speak thus, if one should ask me,
Hence it would be fitting to ask:

‘kissa nu kho, bhante, viññāṇāhāro’ti, esa kallo pañho.
‘Venerable sir, for what is the nutriment consciousness [a condition]?’ this would be a valid question.
‘Consciousness is a fuel for what?’

Tatra kallaṁ veyyākaraṇaṁ:
To this the valid answer is:
And a fitting answer to this would be:

‘viññāṇāhāro āyatiṁ punabbhavābhinibbattiyā paccayo, tasmiṁ bhūte sati saḷāyatanaṁ, saḷāyatanapaccayā phasso’”ti.
‘The nutriment consciousness is a condition for the production of future renewed existence. When that which has come into being exists, the six sense bases [come to be]; with the six sense bases as condition, contact.’”
‘Consciousness is a fuel that conditions rebirth into a new state of existence in the future. When that which has been reborn is present, there are the six sense fields. The six sense fields are a condition for contact.’”

“Ko nu kho, bhante, phusatī”ti?
“Venerable sir, who makes contact?”
“But sir, who contacts?”

“No kallo pañho”ti bhagavā avoca:
“Not a valid question,” the Blessed One replied.
“That’s not a fitting question,” said the Buddha.

“‘phusatī’ti ahaṁ na vadāmi.
“I do not say, ‘One makes contact.’
“I don’t speak of one who contacts.

‘Phusatī’ti cāhaṁ vadeyyaṁ, tatrassa kallo pañho:
If I should say, ‘One makes contact,’ in that case this would be a valid question:
If I were to speak of one who contacts, then it would be fitting to ask

‘ko nu kho, bhante, phusatī’ti?
‘Venerable sir, who makes contact?’
who contacts.

Evañcāhaṁ na vadāmi.
But I do not speak thus.
But I don’t speak like that.

Evaṁ maṁ avadantaṁ yo evaṁ puccheyya:
Since I do not speak thus, if one should ask me,
Hence it would be fitting to ask:

‘kiṁpaccayā nu kho, bhante, phasso’ti, esa kallo pañho.
‘Venerable sir, with what as condition does contact [come to be]?’
‘What is a condition for contact?’

Tatra kallaṁ veyyākaraṇaṁ:
this would be a valid question. To this the valid answer is:
And a fitting answer to this would be:

‘saḷāyatanapaccayā phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā’”ti.
‘With the six sense bases as condition, contact [comes to be]; with contact as condition, feeling.’”
‘The six sense fields are a condition for contact. Contact is a condition for feeling.’”

“Ko nu kho, bhante, vedayatī”ti?
“Venerable sir, who feels?”
“But sir, who feels?”

“No kallo pañho”ti bhagavā avoca:
“Not a valid question,” the Blessed One replied.
“That’s not a fitting question,” said the Buddha.

“‘vedayatī’ti ahaṁ na vadāmi.
“I do not say, ‘One feels.’
“I don’t speak of one who feels.

‘Vedayatī’ti cāhaṁ vadeyyaṁ, tatrassa kallo pañho:
If I should say, ‘One feels,’ in that case this would be a valid question:
If I were to speak of one who feels, then it would be fitting to ask

‘ko nu kho, bhante, vedayatī’ti?
‘Venerable sir, who feels?’
who feels.

Evañcāhaṁ na vadāmi.
But I do not speak thus.
But I don’t speak like that.

Evaṁ maṁ avadantaṁ yo evaṁ puccheyya:
Since I do not speak thus, if one should ask me,
Hence it would be fitting to ask:

‘kiṁpaccayā nu kho, bhante, vedanā’ti, esa kallo pañho.
‘Venerable sir, with what as condition does feeling [come to be]?’ this would be a valid question.
‘What is a condition for feeling?’

Tatra kallaṁ veyyākaraṇaṁ:
To this the valid answer is:
And a fitting answer to this would be:

‘phassapaccayā vedanā, vedanāpaccayā taṇhā’”ti.
‘With contact as condition, feeling [comes to be]; with feeling as condition, craving.’”
‘Contact is a condition for feeling. Feeling is a condition for craving.’”

“Ko nu kho, bhante, tasatī”ti?
“Venerable sir, who craves?”
“But sir, who craves?”

“No kallo pañho”ti bhagavā avoca:
“Not a valid question,” the Blessed One replied.
“That’s not a fitting question,” said the Buddha.

“‘tasatī’ti ahaṁ na vadāmi.
“I do not say, ‘One craves.’
“I don’t speak of one who craves.

‘Tasatī’ti cāhaṁ vadeyyaṁ, tatrassa kallo pañho:
If I should say, ‘One craves,’ in that case this would be a valid question:
If I were to speak of one who craves, then it would be fitting to ask

‘ko nu kho, bhante, tasatī’ti?
‘Venerable sir, who craves?’
who craves.

Evañcāhaṁ na vadāmi.
But I do not speak thus.
But I don’t speak like that.

Evaṁ maṁ avadantaṁ yo evaṁ puccheyya:
Since I do not speak thus, if one should ask me,
Hence it would be fitting to ask:

‘kiṁpaccayā nu kho, bhante, taṇhā’ti, esa kallo pañho.
‘Venerable sir, with what as condition does craving [come to be]?’ this would be a valid question.
‘What is a condition for craving?’

Tatra kallaṁ veyyākaraṇaṁ:
To this the valid answer is:
And a fitting answer to this would be:

‘vedanāpaccayā taṇhā, taṇhāpaccayā upādānan’”ti.
‘With feeling as condition, craving [comes to be]; with craving as condition, clinging;’”
‘Feeling is a condition for craving. Craving is a condition for grasping.’”

“Ko nu kho, bhante, upādiyatī”ti?
“But sir, who grasps?”

“No kallo pañho”ti bhagavā avoca:
“That’s not a fitting question,” said the Buddha.

“‘upādiyatī’ti ahaṁ na vadāmi.
“I don’t speak of one who grasps.

‘Upādiyatī’ti cāhaṁ vadeyyaṁ, tatrassa kallo pañho:
If I were to speak of one who grasps, then it would be fitting to ask

‘ko nu kho, bhante, upādiyatī’ti?
who grasps.

Evañcāhaṁ na vadāmi.
But I don’t speak like that.

Evaṁ maṁ avadantaṁ yo evaṁ puccheyya:
Hence it would be fitting to ask:

‘kiṁpaccayā nu kho, bhante, upādānan’ti, esa kallo pañho.
‘What is a condition for grasping?’

Tatra kallaṁ veyyākaraṇaṁ:
And a fitting answer to this would be:

‘taṇhāpaccayā upādānaṁ;
“‘with craving as condition, clinging;
‘Craving is a condition for grasping.

upādānapaccayā bhavo’ti …pe…
with clinging as condition, existence’ …
Grasping is a condition for continued existence.’ …

evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.’
That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.

Channaṁ tveva, phagguna, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā phassanirodho;
But, Phagguna, with the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact comes cessation of contact;
When the six fields of contact fade away and cease with nothing left over, contact ceases.

phassanirodhā vedanānirodho;
with the cessation of contact, cessation of feeling;
When contact ceases, feeling ceases.

vedanānirodhā taṇhānirodho;
with the cessation of feeling, cessation of craving;
When feeling ceases, craving ceases.

taṇhānirodhā upādānanirodho;
with the cessation of craving, cessation of clinging;
When craving ceases, grasping ceases.

upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho;
with the cessation of clinging, cessation of existence;
When grasping ceases, continued existence ceases.

bhavanirodhā jātinirodho;
with the cessation of existence, cessation of birth;
When continued existence ceases, rebirth ceases.

jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti.
with the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair cease.
When rebirth ceases, old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress cease.

Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hotī”ti.
Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.”
That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.”

Dutiyaṁ.