Evaṁ me sutaṁ—ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā uruvelāyaṁ viharati najjā nerañjarāya tīre bodhirukkhamūle paṭhamābhisambuddho. Tena kho pana samayena bhagavā sattāhaṁ ekapallaṅkena nisinno hoti vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī.
Thus have I heard—At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling at |Uruvelā::name of a town in Magadha, lit. broad banks [uruvelā]| on the bank of the river Nerañjarā at the foot of a goatherd’s banyan tree, having just attained full awakening. Then, for seven days, the Blessed One sat in one posture experiencing the ease of liberation.
Atha kho bhagavā tassa sattāhassa accayena tamhā samādhimhā vuṭṭhahitvā buddhacakkhunā lokaṁ volokesi. Addasā kho bhagavā buddhacakkhunā volokento satte anekehi santāpehi santappamāne, anekehi ca pariḷāhehi pariḍayhamāne—rāgajehipi, dosajehipi, mohajehipi.
When seven days had passed, the Blessed One emerged from that |collectedness::stability of mind, stillness of mind, mental composure [samādhi]| and looked upon the world with the |eye of complete understanding::lit. eye of a Buddha [buddhacakkhu]|. As he surveyed the world with the eye of complete understanding, he saw beings tormented by various afflictions, being burnt by many |fevers::mental torment, distress, strong desire, discomfort [pariḷāha]|—born from |passion::intense desire, strong emotion, infatuation, obsession, lust [rāga]|, |aversion::hatred, hostility, mental attitude of rejection, fault-finding, resentful disapproval [dosa]|, and |delusion::illusion, misperception, erroneous belief, false idea, misapprehension; a fundamental distortion of reality that sustains confusion, clouds discernment, and fuels further doubt [moha]|.
Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:
Then, understanding the significance of this, the Blessed One at that time expressed this inspired utterance:
“Ayaṁ loko santāpajāto,
Phassapareto rogaṁ vadati attato;
Yena yena hi maññati,
Tato taṁ hoti aññathā.
“This world, arisen from |torment::agony, anguish, lit. heat [santāpa]|
and afflicted by |contact::sense impingement, raw experience, touch [phassa]|, calls |disease::illness, sickness [roga]| as |self::soul, spirit, essence, personal, related to oneself [atta]|;
In whatever way it |conceives::thinks, imagines, presumes, supposes [maññati]| [anything],
it becomes otherwise [than that].
Aññathābhāvī bhavasatto loko,
Bhavapareto bhavamevābhinandati;
Becoming otherwise, the world |clings to existence::is attached to becoming [bhavasatta]|,
afflicted by |becoming::continued conditional existence, the karmically conditioned mode of being that leads to future rebirth [bhava]|, yet delighting in [that very] becoming;
Yadabhinandati taṁ bhayaṁ,
Yassa bhāyati taṁ dukkhaṁ;
Bhavavippahānāya kho,
Panidaṁ brahmacariyaṁ vussati.
Whatever it delights in, in that there is |fear::panic, scare, dread, terror [bhaya]|,
whatever is fearful, in that there is |suffering::discomfort, unpleasantness, discontentment, dissatisfaction, stress, pain, disease, i.e. mild or intense suffering [dukkha]|;
This |spiritual life::a life of celibacy, contemplation, and ethical discipline lived for the sake of liberation; oriented toward inner development rather than sensual pleasures [brahmacariya]| is lived,
for |giving up of existence::abandoning the delight and attachment to continued conditional existence, i.e. such success and failure, gain and loss, eternity and annihilation, good and evil [bhavavippahāna]|.
‘Ye hi keci samaṇā vā brāhmaṇā vā bhavena bhavassa vippamokkhamāhaṁsu, sabbe te avippamuttā bhavasmā’ti vadāmi. ‘Ye vā pana keci samaṇā vā brāhmaṇā vā vibhavena bhavassa nissaraṇamāhaṁsu, sabbe te anissaṭā bhavasmā’ti vadāmi.
Whoever among the ascetics or brahmins say that release from continued existence comes through continued existence, I say that they are not released from continued existence. And whoever among the ascetics or brahmins say that release from continued existence comes through |non-existence::the desire for non-existence or annihilation; a reaction against the suffering inherent in conditional existence (bhava), leading to the craving for extinction or non-being [vibhava]|, I say that they too are not released from continued existence.
Upadhiñhi paṭicca dukkhamidaṁ sambhoti, sabbupādānakkhayā natthi dukkhassa sambhavo.
For suffering arises dependent on |acquisition::attachment, taking as mine, appropriation, sense of ownership, identification [upadhi]|. With the ending of all |clinging::grasping, acquiring, appropriating, taking possession, identifying [upādāna]|, suffering does not arise.
Lokamimaṁ passa; puthū avijjāya paretā bhūtā bhūtaratā aparimuttā; ye hi keci bhavā sabbadhi sabbatthatāya sabbe te bhavā aniccā dukkhā vipariṇāmadhammāti.
Look at this world—beings, overwhelmed by |ignorance::fundamental unawareness or misunderstanding of the true nature of reality, not experientially understanding the four noble truths [avijjā]|, |delighting in being::enjoying (other) beings [bhūtarata]|, are not freed from existence. Whatever states of existence there are—everywhere, in every way—they are |impermanent::not lasting, transient, unreliable [anicca]|, |dissatisfactory::uncomfortable, unpleasant [dukkha]|, and |subject to change::of the nature of alteration, decay [vipariṇāmadhamma]|.
Evametaṁ yathābhūtaṁ,
Sammappaññāya passato;
Bhavataṇhā pahīyati,
Vibhavaṁ nābhinandati;
Sabbaso taṇhānaṁ khayā,
Asesavirāganirodho nibbānaṁ.
Seeing this—|as it has come to be::as it truly is, as it is in reality [yathābhūta]|—
with |right wisdom::with correct distinctive knowledge [sammappaññāya]|;
|craving for becoming::craving for continued existence, desire for a stable identity, attachment to a future self, attainment, or experience [bhavataṇhā]| is abandoned,
and one does not delight in non-existence;
With the complete |wearing away::exhaustion, depletion, gradual destruction [khaya]| of |craving::wanting, yearning, longing, attachment, lit. thirst [taṇha]|,
comes the |fading of desire::dispassion, detachment [virāga]|, |gradual ending::cessation, termination [nirodha]|, and |Nibbāna::complete cooling, letting go of everything, deathless, freedom from calamity, the non-disintegrating [nibbāna]| without remainder.
Tassa nibbutassa bhikkhuno,
Anupādā punabbhavo na hoti;
Abhibhūto māro vijitasaṅgāmo,
Upaccagā sabbabhavāni tādī”ti.
For that |quenched::liberated from mental defilements [nibbuta]| bhikkhu,
|not grasping::not holding (onto), detaching (from), not taking possession (of) [anupādā]|, there is no |renewed existence::future life [punabbhava]|;
He has vanquished |Māra::embodiment of all forces that keeps beings trapped in the cycle of rebirth [māra]|, won the battle,
and gone past all states of existence: Such.”