English
" Therein, birth should be understood, the meaning of suffering in birth should be understood; aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, despair, association with the disliked, separation from the liked should be understood; the meaning of suffering in association with the disliked and separation from the liked should be understood; desire should be understood, the meaning of suffering in desire should be understood; the aggregates should be understood, the meaning of suffering in the aggregates should be understood. Therein, for the purpose of explaining the Noble Truth of Suffering, this is the matrix: for this suffering is manifold, of various kinds, that is to say: suffering-suffering, suffering of change, suffering of formations, concealed suffering, unconcealed suffering, suffering by way of expression, suffering not by way of expression. Therein, bodily and mental painful feelings are called 'suffering-suffering' because of being suffering by nature and name. Pleasant feeling is called 'suffering of change' because of being the cause of the arising of suffering through change. Indifferent feeling and the remaining formations of the three realms Because of being oppressed by arising and passing away, it is called "suffering of formations." But such oppression exists even for the paths and fruits. Therefore, these phenomena, being included in the truth of suffering, should be understood as the "suffering of formations." Pain in the ear, toothache, burning with lust, burning with hatred, etc., physical and mental sickness, because it must be asked about to be known, and because its treatment is not obvious, it is called "concealed suffering," or it is also called "unobvious suffering." Sickness arising from the thirty-two constituents, etc., because it can be known without asking, and because its treatment is obvious, it is called "unconcealed suffering," or it is also called "obvious suffering." Except for suffering-suffering, all that comes in the analysis of the truth of suffering, such as birth, etc., because it is the basis for that particular suffering, is called "suffering by way of explanation." Suffering-suffering is called "suffering without explanation." Here, standing on these two terms, "suffering by way of explanation" and "suffering without explanation," the noble truth of suffering should be spoken. And this noble truth comes in the Pāli language both in brief and in detail. In a place where it comes in brief, it is proper to speak both in brief and in detail. But in a place where it comes in detail, it is proper to speak only in detail, not in brief. And this comes in detail in this place, so it should be spoken in detail. Therefore, in the section of definition, taking the words, "What is the noble truth of suffering? Birth is suffering," etc., it was said, "Birth should be understood, the meaning of suffering in birth should be understood," etc. There, birth, etc., should be understood according to the analysis of the words, "What is birth? The birth, the coming into being, of those beings in that particular group of beings." 191. Here is the explanation of the meaning: "Of those beings" – this is a general designation of many beings in brief. For even if one were to speak all day, "The birth of Devadatta, the birth of Somadatta," the beings would not come to an end, nor would all the remaining That illuminates their own benefit. But with these two terms, no being is excluded, no illumination of another's benefit fails. Therefore, it was said: "That of those beings." "In that, in that" is a general designation for the various groups of beings in terms of class and destiny. "Group of beings" means a collection of beings, a mass of beings, a multitude of beings. "Class" is a word with many meanings. For example, it appears as "one class, two classes" in the sense of existence. "There are, Visakha, ascetics called Niganthas by class" in the sense of a group. "A certain grass called Tiriyā, having sprung from the navel, stood touching the sky" in the sense of a designation. "Class is included by two aggregates" in the sense of a conditioned characteristic. "That which, monks, is the first thought that arises in the mother's womb, the first consciousness that appears, from that onwards is his class" in the sense of rebirth. "The Bodhisatta is just born, Ananda" in the sense of birth. "Not reviled by talk of class" in the sense of lineage. "Since I, sister, was born into the noble class" in the sense of noble virtue. Here, however, it applies to the first manifested aggregates with their changes. Therefore, "class" in the sense of being born is here its own nature. "Sañjāti" is a word increased by a prefix in the sense of coming into being. "Okkanti" in the sense of entering. Or, "jāti" in the sense of being born, is associated with incomplete sense bases. "Sañjāti" in the sense of coming into being, is associated with complete sense bases. "Okkanti" in the sense of entering, is associated with egg-born and womb-born beings. For they enter the eggshell and the womb, and even as they enter, they take rebirth as if entering. "Abhinibbatti" in the sense of arising. It is associated with moisture-born and spontaneously born beings. For they arise having become manifest. This is the conventional explanation. Now, the ultimate explanation follows. Only aggregates arise in reality, not beings. Here, "aggregates" should be understood as one in the one-aggregate existence, four in the four-aggregate existence, and five in the five-aggregate existence. "Arising" means origination. "Realization" should be understood as a collection based on the arising aggregates in each place. "Realization" is simply the arising in continuity; those that arise are indeed said to be realized. This is called birth; this is what is called birth. But this birth is characterized by the first manifestation in each existence, with the essence of leading forth, with the manifestation of emerging from a past existence, or with the manifestation of the diversity of suffering as a result. Now, "suffering should be understood as the meaning of birth." This birth itself is not suffering, but it is called suffering because it is the basis for the arising of suffering. What suffering is this the basis for? It is the suffering of the lower realms, which was revealed by the Blessed One in similes in the Bāla-paṇḍita Sutta and others, and the suffering that arises in the good realms, in the human world, with the entry into the womb as its origin, and so on; this is the basis for all of that. Here is the suffering with the entry into the womb as its origin, and so on: this being, being born in the mother's womb, is not born in lotuses, water lilies, or white lotuses. But rather, below the stomach, above the intestines, in the middle of the abdominal membrane and the spinal column, in extreme confinement, in dense darkness, pervaded by various foul odors, in a place of extreme disgust, where foul and extremely stinking winds blow, he is born like a worm in a putrid fish, putrid gruel, or sandalwood paste. Being born there, for ten months, he is cooked by the heat arising from the mother's womb, like something being cooked in a crucible, sweating like a lump of dough, without contraction or extension, experiencing extreme suffering. This is the suffering "with the entry into the womb as its origin." But when she suddenly Just as a goat in the hands of a drunkard, or a snakelet in the hands of a snake charmer, suffers exceedingly from being pulled, dragged, shaken, and pushed about in the womb during movements like rising up, sitting down, standing up, and turning over; and just as one fallen into a cold hell-pit during the mother's drinking of cold water, or like one surrounded by a rain of embers during the consumption of hot gruel and rice, or like one subjected to the actions of salt-makers during the consumption of salt and sour gruel, experiences intense suffering – this is suffering rooted in the care of the womb. And the suffering that arises for the fetus in the womb of a foolish mother, in a place where the origin of suffering is not to be seen even by friends, relatives, and well-wishers, through cutting and splitting – this is suffering rooted in fetal misfortune. And the suffering that arises for the mother giving birth, as she is turned about by the winds born of karma, and as she is made to fall into the extremely frightening vaginal passage like a hellish precipice, and as she is dragged out through the narrow vaginal opening like a bolt through a keyhole, and as she is crushed by the mountain ranges like a great serpent or a hell-being – this is suffering rooted in childbirth. And the suffering that arises for the newborn, whose tender body is like a fresh wound, during the handling, bathing, washing, and rubbing with cloths, like being pierced and split by a needle-point, a razor's edge – this is suffering rooted in emerging from the mother's womb. And the suffering that arises thereafter, as one kills oneself through one's own actions, as one engages in the practice of mortification and self-torment as an ascetic, as one abstains from food due to anger, and as one hangs oneself – this is suffering rooted in self-inflicted harm. And the suffering that arises as one experiences killing, imprisonment, and so forth from others – this is suffering rooted in harm inflicted by others. Thus, birth is the very basis of all this suffering. Therefore, it is said: If a being were not born in the hells, There the burning by fire and the like is unbearable; Could suffering be found, where does it reside? Thus spoke the wise one, "Suffering is birth." Suffering in animals, from whips and goads, From blows of sticks and such, so manifold; How could that birth be there, Without birth itself? Birth is more painful than that. Suffering in ghosts, from hunger and thirst,