English
Exposition of the Pārāyana Chapter 1. Exposition of Ajita's Questions 1. By what is the world enveloped, [thus spoke the venerable Ajita] By what does it not shine forth? What do you declare its defilement to be, what is its great danger? "By what is the world enveloped?" The world means the world of hell, the animal world, the realm of hungry ghosts, the human world, the deva world, the world of aggregates, the world of elements, the world of sense bases, this world, the other world, the Brahma world, the deva world – this is called the world. This world, by what is it covered, enveloped, concealed, hidden, obstructed, inverted? – "By what is the world enveloped?" "Thus spoke the venerable Ajita." "Thus" means the connection of words, the conjunction of words, the completeness of words, the combination of letters, the coherence of consonants, the sequence of words – this is "thus." "Venerable" is an affectionate word, a respectful word, a word of reverence and deference – this is "venerable." "Ajita" is the name, designation, appellation, convention, usage, name, naming, nomenclature, etymology, expression, declaration of that brahmin – "thus spoke the venerable Ajita." "By what does it not shine forth?" By what does the world not shine forth, not radiate, not glow, not appear, not become known, not become manifest? – "By what does it not shine forth?" "What do you declare its defilement to be?" What is the world's smearing, sticking, binding, corruption? By what is the world smeared, thoroughly smeared, defiled, corrupted, thoroughly corrupted, stained, mixed, attached, clung to, entangled? "You declare," you explain, you teach, you make known, you establish, you clarify, you analyze, you make plain, you reveal? – "What do you declare its defilement to be?" "What is its great danger?" What is the world's danger, great danger, oppression, affliction, calamity, peril? – "What is its great danger?" Therefore, that brahmin said: "By what is the world enveloped, [thus spoke the venerable Ajita] By what does it not shine forth? What do you declare its defilement to be, what is its great danger?" 2. By ignorance is the world enveloped, [Ajita, thus spoke the Blessed One] [cattle] From wavering and heedlessness, it does not shine forth. I speak of craving as an anointing, its suffering is a great terror. The world is enveloped by ignorance. Ignorance means: Ignorance of suffering, Ignorance of the origin of suffering, Ignorance of the cessation of suffering, Ignorance of the path leading to the cessation of suffering, Ignorance of the past, Ignorance of the future, Ignorance of both past and future, Ignorance of dependent co-arising and the states arisen from it. Whatever such ignorance, Not seeing, Not comprehending, Not understanding, Not awakening, Not penetrating, Not grasping, Not pervading, Not reflecting, Not reviewing, The act of not reviewing, Dullness, Folly, Lack of comprehension, Delusion, Great delusion, Utter delusion, Ignorance, Flood of ignorance, Yoke of ignorance, Latent tendency of ignorance, Obsession of ignorance, Bondage of ignorance, Delusion, Root of unwholesome, This is called ignorance. The world means: The hell-world, The animal-world, The ghost-world, The human-world, The divine-world, The aggregate-world, The element-world, The sense-base-world, This world, The other world, The Brahma-world, The divine-world – This is called the world. This world is covered, enveloped, shrouded, hidden, concealed, obscured by this ignorance – Thus, the world is enveloped by ignorance. Ajita! The Blessed One addresses that brahmin by name. Blessed One is a term of respect. Moreover, He has broken lust, thus Blessed One; He has broken hatred, thus Blessed One; He has broken delusion, thus Blessed One; He has broken conceit, thus Blessed One; He has broken wrong views, thus Blessed One; He has broken thorns, thus Blessed One; He has broken defilements, thus Blessed One; He has shared, distributed, apportioned the jewel of Dhamma, thus Blessed One; He is the ender of existences, thus Blessed One; He has developed his body, developed his virtue, developed his mind, developed his wisdom, thus Blessed One; Or, the Blessed One has resorted to remote forest and wilderness dwellings, quiet, with little noise, with secluded winds, suitable for human solitude, fit for retreat, thus Blessed One; Or, the Blessed One is a partaker of robes, almsfood, dwellings The Blessed One has the requisites of medicine for the healthy. Or the Blessed One is a partaker of the essence of meaning, of the essence of Dhamma, of the essence of liberation, of higher virtue, of higher mind, of higher wisdom. Or the Blessed One is a partaker of the four jhānas, of the four immeasurables, of the four formless attainments. Or the Blessed One is a partaker of the eight liberations, of the eight bases of mastery, of the nine successive attainments. Or the Blessed One is a partaker of the ten perceptions for development, of the kasiṇa attainments, of the concentration on mindfulness of breathing, of the attainment of foulness. Or the Blessed One is a partaker of the four foundations of mindfulness, of the four right exertions, of the four bases of psychic power, of the five faculties, of the five powers, of the seven factors of awakening, of the Noble Eightfold Path. Or the Blessed One is a partaker of the ten powers of a Tathāgata, of the four confidences, of the four analytical knowledges, of the six supernormal powers, of the six Buddha-qualities. This name, 'Blessed One', was not made by a mother, nor made by a father, nor made by a brother, nor made by a sister, nor made by friends and companions, nor made by relatives and kinsmen, nor made by ascetics and brahmins, nor made by deities. This is a true designation, attained by Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, at the foot of the Bodhi tree, together with the acquisition of omniscience, that is, 'Blessed One'. The Blessed One is 'Unconquered'. Stinginess, heedlessness, do not shine forth. Stinginess is called the five kinds of avarice: avarice regarding dwelling, avarice regarding family, avarice regarding gain, avarice regarding praise, avarice regarding Dhamma. Whatever such avarice, being avaricious, the state of being avaricious, stinginess, miserliness, bitter covetousness, the mind's ungenerosity— this is called avarice. Moreover, avarice regarding aggregates is also avarice, avarice regarding elements is also avarice, avarice regarding sense bases is also avarice. Grasping is called avarice. Heedlessness, or in bodily misconduct... or in misconduct of speech, or in misconduct of mind, or in the five sense pleasures, the mind's letting go, the giving up (of wholesome states) for the development of wholesome states, non-doing with respect, non-doing continuously, non-doing persistently, a sluggish way of acting, relinquishing desire, relinquishing the burden, non-practice, non-development, non-making much of, non-determination, non-application, heedlessness. Whatever such heedlessness, heedlessness, the state of being heedless – this is called heedlessness. "The world does not shine forth due to perplexity and heedlessness" – thus it is said. And by this stinginess, and by this heedlessness, the world does not shine forth, does not glow, does not radiate, does not appear brilliant, is not known, is not understood – thus it is said. The world does not shine forth due to perplexity and heedlessness. "I say 'craving-smearing'" – thus it is said. Craving is called thirst. Whatever passion, attachment, inclination, compliance, delight, delightful passion, the mind's attachment, desire, infatuation, clinging, greed, excessive greed, entanglement, mud, agitation, delusion, producer, generator, seamstress, net-weaver, river, poison-creeper, thread, widespread, drawer-on, companion, aspiration, guide to becoming, forest, thicket, intimacy, affection, longing, bond, hope, wishing, the state of wishing, hope for forms, hope for sounds, hope for odors, hope for tastes, hope for tangibles, hope for gain, hope for wealth, hope for sons, hope for life, craving, strong craving, intense craving, craving, the state of craving, covetousness, coveting, the state of coveting, being a questioner, desire for good things, unrighteous passion, unwholesome greed, attachment, longing, aspiration, longing, strong aspiration, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for non-existence, craving for form, craving for formlessness, craving for cessation, craving for forms, craving for sounds, craving for odors, craving for tastes, craving for tangibles, craving for mental objects, flood, yoke, tie, clinging, obstruction, hindrance, covering, bondage, defilement, latent tendency, obsession, creeper, perplexity, root of suffering, source of suffering, origin of suffering, Māra's snare, Māra's hook, Māra's bait, Māra's domain. The enemy's dwelling, Mara's pasture, Mara's bondage, the river of craving, the net of craving, the leash of craving, the ocean of craving, covetousness, greed, the root of unwholesome kamma – this is called fretting. It is the world's smearing, clinging, bondage, defilement. By this fretting, the world is smeared, thoroughly smeared, covered, defiled, thoroughly defiled, stained, entangled, clung to, attached, bound. Thus I say, I declare, I teach, I make known, I establish, I reveal, I distinguish, I make clear, I make manifest. I call it the fretting-smearing. Suffering is a great fear. Suffering means: the suffering of birth, the suffering of old age, the suffering of sickness, the suffering of death, the suffering of sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair, suffering in hell, suffering in the animal realm, suffering in the realm of hungry ghosts, human suffering, suffering rooted in conception, suffering rooted in gestation, suffering rooted in birth, suffering connected with being born, suffering of dependence for one who is born,