Introduction
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa
2.1.10 Dutiyasāmaññasuttaṃ - The Purpose of Being a Sāmañña
“Sabbe
saṅkhārā aniccā’’ti, yadā paññāya passati;
Atha nibbindati1 dukkhe, esa maggo visuddhiyā.
‘‘Sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā’’ti, yadā paññāya passati;
Atha nibbindati dukkhe, esa maggo visuddhiyā.
‘‘Sabbe dhammā anattā’’ti, yadā paññāya passati;
Atha nibbindati dukkhe, esa maggo visuddhiyā.2
“Impermanent are all compounded things.”
When one perceives this with insight,
Then one turns away from suffering — this is the path of purification.
“Bound to suffering are all compounded things.”
When one perceives this with insight,
Then one turns away from suffering — this is the path of purification.
“Non-self are all states.”
When one perceives this with insight,
Then one turns away from suffering — this is the path of purification.3
Similar to the previous suttas, the Dutiyasāmaññasutta is very short. Once more the Buddha points to the Ariyo Aṭṭhaṅgiko Maggo and highlights its purpose: whether a gahaṭṭho, a sappurisa, a pabbajito, a sāmañño or a brahmañño is practising, the Dhamma should aim at the destruction of the roots of the three impediments, i.e., rāgakkhayo, dosakkhayo and mohakkhayo. Thus it creates the base for the realization of the three ‘characteristics’ of aniccā, dukkhā and anattā.
That pursuing the destruction of cankers even as a householder is still possible today, is the beneficial result of the noble mission of King Asoka that enabled the Buddha’s teaching to spread beyond the limits of India and survive in the neighbouring countries. It was Thera Moggaliputta who envisioned the future (pekkhamāno anāgata) and under the patronage of King Asoka he sent forth the following Theras beyond the borders of Majjhimadesa in the month of Kattikā.4
Theraṃ kasmīragandhāraṃ, majjhantikamapesayi;
apesayī5 mahādevattheraṃ mahisamaṇḍalaṃ
Vanavāsiṃ apesayi, theraṃ rakkhitanāmakaṃ;
tathāparantakaṃ yona-dhammarakkhitanāmaka
Mahāraṭṭhaṃ mahādhamma-rakkhitatthera nāmakaṃ;
mahārakkhita theraṃ taṃ, yona lokamapesayi.
Pesesi6
majjhimaṃ theraṃ, himavantapadesakaṃ;
suvaṇṇabhūmiṃ there dve, soṇamuttarameva ca.
Mahāmahindattheraṃ taṃ, thera iṭṭiyamuttiyaṃ;
sambalaṃ bhaddasālañca, sake saddhivihārike.7
Laṅkādīpe manuññamhi, manuññaṃ8 jinasāsanaṃ;
patiṭṭhāpetha9 tumheti, pañca there apesayi.10
Thera Majjhantika to Kasmīra and Gandhāra;
Thera Mahādeva to Mahisamaṇḍalaṃ;
Thera Rakkhita to Vanavāsa;
Thera Dhammarakkhita to Aparantaka;
Thera Mahādhammarakkhita to Mahāraṭṭha;
Thera Mahārakkhita to the country of Yona;
Thera Majjhima to the Himalaya region;
the Theras Soṇa and Uttara to Myanmar;
Thera Mahāmahinda along with his disciples the Theras Iṭṭiya, Uttiya,
And their comrades Sambala and Bhaddasāla.
To the lovely country of Laṅka, in order to establish the delightful
Teaching of the conqueror there, thus he sent forth those five Theras.
It was those neighbouring countries, especially Laṇka and Myanmar, who developed close bonds and maintained their mutual relationship over the centuries. The Fourth Council was held in Tambapaṇṇi — in Laṅka11 under the patronage of King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi who reigned from 29 to 17 BC — where Mahāmahindatthera had moved to. The main reason for this Council was the rising apprehension that it was less possible for the majority of monks to retain all three Piṭakas and the Aṭṭhakatha in Pāḷi12 in their memories — in order to convey the teaching orally — as had been the case with the Bhikkhus of old.
Piṭakattayapāḷiñca, tassa aṭṭhakathampi ca;
mukhapāṭhena13
ānesuṃ,14 pubbe bhikkhū mahāmati.
Seeing that people were pasing away, in order that the Dhamma may endure long, they wrote them down in books.15
Hāniṃ disvāna sattānaṃ, tadā bhikkhū samāgatā;
ciraṭṭhitatthaṃ dhammassa, potthakesu16 likhāpayuṃ…17
During former times, although it seems that the art of writing on palm leaves was already in use for administrative purposes, it was the practice of bhikkhus and samaṇas in all traditions to commit their textural knowledge to memory. Tipiṭakadharas, ones who memorized the complete Tipiṭaka, may have been rare but it was still customary for a Bhikkhu to know a certain Nikāya completely by heart.
The Saddhammasaṅgaha summarizes the events of the Fourth Council:
Āyasmā ariṭṭhatthero mahindatthera pamukhehi aṭṭha saṭṭhiya paccekagaṇehi khīṇāsavamahātherehi parivuto mahāpaṭhama kattikapavāraṇadivase18 thūpārāmaviharamajjhe.
The council convened in the monastery of Thūpārama by sixty-eight great Theras, all completely free from their āsava. It was steered and set forth by Mahāmahindatthera and Thera Ariṭṭha on the first Pavāraṇa day in the month of Kattika. The Vinaya, as taught by the radiating compassion of the teacher, was expounded. It explained the reason for the regulations as laid out by the Bhagava, thus removing the struggle of physical and verbal actions:
… satthu karūnādīpakaṃ bhagavato anusitthakāranaṃ19 kāyakammavacīkamma vipphanditavinayakaraṃ20 vinayapiṭakaṃ pakāsesi.21
At the end of this Forth Saṅgīti, which re-established the Dhamma and Vinaya with authenticated ramparts, it is said that the great earth quaked again as to certify that at the island of Laṅkā, the Sāsana was thus corroborated to continue further.
… dhammañcavinayañca samgāyiṃsu evaṃ dhammavinayañca samgāyanto mahāmahindatthero laṅkādīpe sāsanassa mūlaṃ otāretvā22 catuttha saṅgītiṃ akāsi.
Saṅgīti pariyosāne anekappakāro23 mahāpaṭhavikampo ahosi. …
1. nibbindati: get disgusted, turn away, get weary of.
2. Maggavaggo, Dhammapadapāḷi.
3. Similar to the opening quote in the previous lesson, the first line of this essential condensed expression of the Buddha is well known to most meditators. It expresses the core teaching of the Buddha and its realisation should be the purpose and result of all striving. The Buddha uttered these verses when he found that three different groups of monks could not work with their chosen meditation subject. So to each group he then uttered one of these verses to invite them to meditate on impermanence, suffering and non-self, as is some past they had focused on the respective characteristics upon which they rapidly progressed.
4. October/November, the last month of the rainy season.
5. apesayī: peseti (aor.) — to send forth.
6. pesesi: peseti (altern. aor.) — to send forth.
7. saddhivihāriko: fellow Bhikkhus dwelling in the same monastery.
8. manuñño: pleasing, delightful.
9. patiṭṭhāpetha: patiṭṭhāti (caus.) — you should establish.
10. Dasarājako, Tettiṃsatima pariccheda, Mahāvaṃsapāḷi.
11. There was another Fourth Council inaugurated in India, probably in Kashmir around 78 CE, which was held to unify and collect the respective diverse teachings of the various groups that had dispersed from the Mahāsaṅgitas. It was held under the patronage of King Kaṇiṣka during the supportive rulership of the Kushāṇas.
12. In Laṇka there also developed two different partly controverting traditions, the Abhayagiris and the monks of the Mahāvihāra. This Fourth Council was inaugurated by monks of the Mahāvihāra who had maintained the tradition of the Theravāda. Both traditions, centuries later, finally merged and maintained the Theravāda tradition as it is found today.
13. mukhapāṭhena: mukha + pāṭhena — mouth + by recitation.
14. ānesuṃ: āneti (aor.): to bring forward, convey.
15. It seems that the Tipitaka was committed to writing, on palm leaves, for the first time approximately 100 BC.
16. potthakesu: (loc.pl.) in books.
17. Dasarājako, Tettiṃsatima pariccheda, Mahāvaṃsapāḷi.
18. kattikapavāraṇadivase: kattika + pavāraṇa + divase — the month of Kattika + Pavāraṇa + the day of.
19. anusitthakāranaṃ: doing as instructed.
20. vipphandati: to struggle, vinayakaraṃ: removal, kāyakammavacīkamma vipphanditavinayakaraṃ: removal, abolishment of the struggle of physical and verbal actions.
21. pakāseti: to make known, expound, proclaim.
22. otāretvā: otāreti (caus., ger.) — cause to brings down, take down.
23. anekappakāro: aneka + p + pakāro: many + rampart.