Exploring the Path: Pāli

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa

1.1.0 Bahujanahitasuttaṃ - For the Benefit of Many

Vuttañhetaṃ bhagavatā, vuttamarahatāti me sutaṃ–

“Tayome puggalā loke uppajjamānā¹ uppajjanti bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya² atthāya hitāya sukhāya devamanussānaṃ. Katame tayo? Idha, bhikkhave,³ tathāgato loke uppajjati arahaṃ sammāsambuddho vijjācaraṇasampanno sugato lokavidū anuttaro purisadammasārathi satthā devamanussānaṃ buddho bhagavā.

So dhammaṃ deseti ādikalyāṇaṃ majjhekalyāṇaṃ pariyosānakalyāṇaṃ sātthaṃ sabyañjanaṃ, kevalaparipuṇṇaṃ parisuddhaṃ brahmacariyaṃ pakāseti. Ayaṃ, bhikkhave, paṭhamo puggalo loke uppajjamāno uppajjati bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya atthāya hitāya sukhāya devamanussānaṃ.

Puna caparaṃ, bhikkhave, tasseva satthu sāvako arahaṃ hoti khīṇāsavo⁴ vusitavā katakaraṇīyo ohitabhāro anuppattasadattho parikkhīṇabhavasaṃyojano sammadaññā vimutto. So dhammaṃ deseti ādikalyāṇaṃ majjhekalyāṇaṃ pariyosānakalyāṇaṃ sātthaṃ sabyañjanaṃ, kevalaparipuṇṇaṃ parisuddhaṃ brahmacariyaṃ pakāseti. Ayaṃ, bhikkhave, dutiyo puggalo loke uppajjamāno uppajjati bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya atthāya hitāya sukhāya devamanussānaṃ.

Puna caparaṃ, bhikkhave, tasseva satthu sāvako sekho hoti pāṭipado bahussuto sīlavatūpapanno. Sopi dhammaṃ deseti ādikalyāṇaṃ majjhekalyāṇaṃ pariyosānakalyāṇaṃ sātthaṃ sabyañjanaṃ, kevalaparipuṇṇaṃ parisuddhaṃ brahmacariyaṃ pakāseti.

Ayaṃ, bhikkhave, tatiyo puggalo loke uppajjamāno uppajjati bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya atthāya hitāya sukhāya devamanussānaṃ. Ime kho, bhikkhave, tayo puggalā loke uppajjamānā uppajjanti bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya atthāya hitāya sukhāya devamanussānan”ti.⁵

Etamatthaṃ bhagavā avoca. Tatthetaṃ iti vuccati –

“Satthā hi ……”

Ayampi attho vutto bhagavatā, iti me sutanti.

Khuddakanikāye, Itivuttakapāḷi, Tikanipāto, Catutthovaggo, select.

Vocabulary

ādikalyāṇaṃ - [ādi + kalyāṇa + ṃ] in the beginning + beneficial
anuppattasadattho - [anu + p + patta + sad + attho] having reached + one’s own + goal
anuttaro - [an + uttaro] not + higher (than that)
arahaṃ - [arahant (nom.sg.)] a worthy one, an Arahant
atthāya - [attha + aya (dat.)] for the benefit
bahujanahitāya - [bahu + jana + hita + āya (dat.)] many + people, beings + benefit + for
bahujanasukhāya - [bahu + jana + sukha + āya (dat.)] many + people, beings + happiness + for
bahussuto - [bahu + s + suto] lit. much heard—well versed, of great
brahmacariyaṃ - [brahma + cariya + ṃ] faring the path of a brahma
devamanussānaṃ - [deva + manussa + ānaṃ (dat./gen.pl.)] gods + mankind + of
dutiyo - the second
etamatthaṃ - [etaṃ + atthaṃ] this + meaning/matter/goal
katakaraṇīyo - [kata (pp.) + karaṇīyo (ger.)] done + ought to be done
katama - (interr.) what?
kevalaparipuṇṇaṃ - [kevala + pari + puṇṇaṃ] complete + pref. + full
khīṇāsavo - [khīṇa/ (pp.) + āsavo] destroyed, exhausted, ‘without’
lokānukampāya - [loka + anu + kampā (f.) + āya] the world + pref. + trembling
lokavidū - [loka + vidū (adj.)] the world + clever, wise
majjhekalyāṇaṃ - [majjhe + kalyāṇaṃ] in the middle + beneficial
ohitabhāro - [ohita (pp.) + bhāro] laid down + burden
pāṭipado - [pāṭipada (adj.)] following the path in the
paṭhamo - the first
pakāseti - [(caus. of) pakāsati] to make known, explain, illuminate
parikkhīṇabhavasaṃyojano - [pari + k + khīṇa + bhava + saṃyojano] pref. + destroyed + becoming + fetters
parisuddhaṃ - [pari + suddha + ṃ] pref. + pure
pariyosānakalyāṇaṃ - [pariyosāna + kalyāṇa + ṃ] end, conclusion + beneficial
purisadammasārathi - [purisa + damma (pp.) + sārathi] men + to be taimed (see: dameti) + trainer (the trainer of mankind who need to be tamed)
sātthaṃ - [sa + attha + ṃ] with meaning
sāvako - disciple, pupil
sīlavatūpapanno - [sīla + vata + ūpapanno (pp).] morality + to practise + being furnished with
sabyañjanaṃ - [sa + byañjanaṃ] with letter, according to the letter
sammadaññā - [samma + d + aññā] right + knowledge
satthā - [satthar + ā/nom.] teacher
satthu - [satthar + u/gen.] of/under the teacher
sekho - [fr. sikkhati] one in training, imperfect
sugato - [su + gato (pp.)] well + gone
tathāgato - [tathā + gato (pp.)] thus gone, known as the Tathāgata
tatiyo - the third
tatthetaṃ - [tattha + etaṃ] there, in connection of which + this
tayome - [tayo + ime] these three
uppajjamāno - [uppajja + māno] the arising
uppajjati - come out, arise
vijjācaraṇasampanno - [vijjā + caraṇa + sam + panno (pp.)] knowledge + walking + perfect, possessed of (alt. good conduct)
vimutto - [vimutto/pp.] liberated, freed
vuccati - to be called, said
vusitavā - [vusita (pp). + vā] fulfilled, perfected
vuttañhetaṃ - [vuttaṃ (pp. of ‘vuccati’) + h + etaṃ] said this

1. The suffix: -māna forms like the alternate rare form: āna the pres.p. of the medium voice.

2. lokānukampāya: lit. trembling along with, i.e. having compassion, out of pity for (the suffering in) the world.

3. bhikkhave, here untranslated as Bhikkhus, is generally the term the Buddha used to address his assembly, which often consisted not only of monks and nuns, but of laypeople as well.

4. khīṇāsavo: an epithet for a person, an Arahant, whose mind is freed from all four mental obsessions: kāmāsava (desire for sensuality), bhavāsava (desire for living), diṭṭhāsava (attachment to philosophical speculations), and avijjāsava (ignorance).

5. ‘ti: The oral tradition indicates with the syllable ti the end of a quotation. Today it's often shown by quotation marks. ti therefore remains untranslated. If the preceding word ends in ṃ (devamanussānaṃ) the pronunciation rules demand the change of ṃti to the dental nti: saddhammassavanaṃ + ti’ = saddhammassavananti.