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Aṅguttara Nikāya - The Numerical Discourses

10: The Book of the Tens

55. Decline

1There the Venerable Sāriputta addressed the bhikkhus: "Friends, bhikkhus!"

1Tatra kho āyasmā sāriputto bhikkhū āmantesi:  "āvuso bhikkhave"ti.

"Friend!" those bhikkhus replied. The Venerable Sāriputta said this:

"Āvuso"ti kho te bhikkhū āyasmato sāriputtassa paccassosuṁ. Āyasmā sāriputto etadavoca: 



2"Friends, it is said: ‘A person subject to decline, a person subject to decline.’ In what way has the Blessed One said that a person is subject to decline, and in what way that a person is not subject to decline?"

2"‘Parihānadhammo puggalo, parihānadhammo puggalo’ti, āvuso, vuccati. ‘Aparihānadhammo puggalo, aparihānadhammo puggalo’ti, āvuso, vuccati. Kittāvatā nu kho, āvuso, parihānadhammo puggalo vutto bhagavatā, kittāvatā ca pana aparihānadhammo puggalo vutto bhagavatā"ti?

"We would come from far away, friend, to learn the meaning of this statement from the Venerable Sāriputta. It would be good if he would clear up the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him, the bhikkhus will retain it in mind."

"Dūratopi kho mayaṁ, āvuso, āgacchāma āyasmato sāriputtassa santike etassa bhāsitassa atthamaññātuṁ. Sādhu vatāyasmantaṁyeva sāriputtaṁ paṭibhātu etassa bhāsitassa attho. Āyasmato sāriputtassa sutvā bhikkhū dhāressantī"ti.

3"Well then, friends, listen and attend closely. I will speak."

3"Tenahāvuso, suṇātha, sādhukaṁ manasi karotha, bhāsissāmī"ti.

"Yes, friend," those bhikkhus replied. The Venerable Sāriputta said this:

"Evamāvuso"ti kho te bhikkhū āyasmato sāriputtassa paccassosuṁ. Āyasmā sāriputto etadavoca: 



4"In what way, friends, has the Blessed One said that a person is subject to decline? Here, a bhikkhu does not get to hear a teaching he has not heard before, forgets those teachings he has already heard, does not bring to mind those teachings with which he is already familiar, and does not understand what he has not understood. It is in this way that the Blessed One has said a person is subject to decline.[n.2065] A similar passage is at AN6.51. In the present sutta, Be and Ee read the second item as sammosaṁ gacchanti, lit. "go to forgetting," which seems preferable to Ce sammohaṁ gacchanti, "go to delusion." In AN6.51 all three editions read na sammosaṁ gacchanti, which is supported by Mp's gloss: vināsaṁ na gacchanti ("they are not lost"). Here and below, where Ce and Ee read pubbe cetaso samphuṭṭhapubbā, Be has the negative pubbe cetaso asamphuṭṭhapubbā, "with which he had previously not been familiar." This is likely to be a typographical error; at AN6.51 Be reads, in conformity with Ce and Ee, pubbe cetaso samphuṭṭhapubbā.

4"Kittāvatā nu kho, āvuso, parihānadhammo puggalo vutto bhagavatā? Idhāvuso, bhikkhu assutañceva dhammaṁ na suṇāti, sutā cassa dhammā sammosaṁ gacchanti, ye cassa dhammā pubbe cetaso asamphuṭṭhapubbā te cassa na samudācaranti, aviññātañceva na vijānāti. Ettāvatā kho, āvuso, parihānadhammo puggalo vutto bhagavatā.

5"And in what way, friends, has the Blessed One said that a person is not subject to decline? Here, a bhikkhu gets to hear a teaching he has not heard before, does not forget those teachings he has already heard, brings to mind those teachings with which he is already familiar, and understands what he has not understood. It is in this way that the Blessed One has said a person is not subject to decline.

5Kittāvatā ca panāvuso, aparihānadhammo puggalo vutto bhagavatā? Idhāvuso, bhikkhu assutañceva dhammaṁ suṇāti, sutā cassa dhammā na sammosaṁ gacchanti, ye cassa dhammā pubbe cetaso asamphuṭṭhapubbā te cassa samudācaranti, aviññātañceva vijānāti. Ettāvatā kho, āvuso, aparihānadhammo puggalo vutto bhagavatā.

6"Friends, a bhikkhu who is not skilled in the ways of others’ minds should train: ‘I will be skilled in the ways of my own mind.’ It is in this way that you should train yourselves.

6No ce, āvuso, bhikkhu paracittapariyāyakusalo hoti, atha ‘sacittapariyāyakusalo bhavissāmī’ti – evañhi vo, āvuso, sikkhitabbaṁ.



7"And how, friends, is a bhikkhu skilled in the ways of his own mind? It is just as if a woman or a man—young, youthful, and fond of ornaments—would look at her or his own facial reflection in a clean and bright mirror or in a bowl of clear water. If they see any dust or blemish there, they will make an effort to remove it. But if they do not see any dust or blemish there, they will be glad about it; and their wish fulfilled, they will think, ‘How fortunate for me that I’m clean!’ So too, self-examination is very helpful for a bhikkhu to grow in wholesome qualities.

7Kathañcāvuso, bhikkhu sacittapariyāyakusalo hoti? Seyyathāpi, āvuso, itthī vā puriso vā daharo yuvā maṇḍanakajātiko ādāse vā parisuddhe pariyodāte acche vā udapatte sakaṁ mukhanimittaṁ paccavekkhamāno sace tattha passati rajaṁ vā aṅgaṇaṁ vā, tasseva rajassa vā aṅgaṇassa vā pahānāya vāyamati. No ce tattha passati rajaṁ vā aṅgaṇaṁ vā, tenevattamano hoti paripuṇṇasaṅkappo:  ‘lābhā vata me, parisuddhaṁ vata me’ti. Evameva kho, āvuso, bhikkhuno paccavekkhaṇā bahukārā hoti kusalesu dhammesu: 

"One should ask oneself: (1) ‘Am I often without longing? Does this quality exist in me or not? (2) Am I often without ill will? Does this quality exist in me or not? (3) Am I often free from dullness and drowsiness? Does this quality exist in me or not? (4) Am I often calm? Does this quality exist in me or not? (5) Am I often free from doubt? Does this quality exist in me or not? (6) Am I often without anger? Does this quality exist in me or not? (7) Is my mind often undefiled? Does this quality exist in me or not? (8) Do I gain internal joy of the Dhamma? Does this quality exist in me or not? (9) Do I gain internal serenity of mind? Does this quality exist in me or not? (10) Do I gain the higher wisdom of insight into phenomena? Does this quality exist in me or not?’

‘Anabhijjhālu nu kho bahulaṁ viharāmi, saṁvijjati nu kho me eso dhammo udāhu no, abyāpannacitto nu kho bahulaṁ viharāmi, saṁvijjati nu kho me eso dhammo udāhu no, vigatathinamiddho nu kho bahulaṁ viharāmi, saṁvijjati nu kho me eso dhammo udāhu no, anuddhato nu kho bahulaṁ viharāmi, saṁvijjati nu kho me eso dhammo udāhu no, tiṇṇavicikiccho nu kho bahulaṁ viharāmi, saṁvijjati nu kho me eso dhammo udāhu no, akkodhano nu kho bahulaṁ viharāmi, saṁvijjati nu kho me eso dhammo udāhu no, asaṅkiliṭṭhacitto nu kho bahulaṁ viharāmi, saṁvijjati nu kho me eso dhammo udāhu no, lābhī nu khomhi ajjhattaṁ dhammapāmojjassa, saṁvijjati nu kho me eso dhammo udāhu no, lābhī nu khomhi ajjhattaṁ cetosamathassa, saṁvijjati nu kho me eso dhammo udāhu no, lābhī nu khomhi adhipaññādhammavipassanāya, saṁvijjati nu kho me eso dhammo udāhu no’ti.

8"If, by such self-examination, a bhikkhu does not see any of these wholesome qualities present in himself, then he should put forth extraordinary desire, effort, zeal, enthusiasm, indefatigability, mindfulness, and clear comprehension to obtain those wholesome qualities. Just as one whose clothes or head had caught fire would put forth extraordinary desire, effort, zeal, enthusiasm, indefatigability, mindfulness, and clear comprehension to extinguish the fire on his clothes or head, so that bhikkhu should put forth extraordinary desire, effort, zeal, enthusiasm, indefatigability, mindfulness, and clear comprehension to obtain those wholesome qualities.

8Sace pana, āvuso, bhikkhu paccavekkhamāno sabbepime kusale dhamme attani na samanupassati, tenāvuso, bhikkhunā sabbesaṁyeva imesaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ paṭilābhāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṁ. Seyyathāpi, āvuso, ādittacelo vā ādittasīso vā. Tasseva celassa vā sīsassa vā nibbāpanāya adhimattaṁ chandañca vāyāmañca ussāhañca ussoḷhiñca appaṭivāniñca satiñca sampajaññañca kareyya. Evamevaṁ kho, āvuso, tena bhikkhunā sabbesaṁyeva kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ paṭilābhāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṁ.

9"But if, by such self-examination, a bhikkhu sees some wholesome qualities present in himself but not others, he should base himself on those wholesome qualities that he sees in himself and put forth extraordinary desire, effort, zeal, enthusiasm, indefatigability, mindfulness, and clear comprehension to obtain those wholesome qualities that he does not see in himself. Just as one whose clothes or head had caught fire would put forth extraordinary desire … to extinguish the fire on his clothes or head, so that bhikkhu should base himself on the wholesome qualities that he sees in himself and put forth extraordinary desire … to obtain those wholesome qualities that he does not see in himself.

9Sace panāvuso, bhikkhu paccavekkhamāno ekacce kusale dhamme attani samanupassati, ekacce kusale dhamme attani na samanupassati, tenāvuso, bhikkhunā ye kusale dhamme attani samanupassati tesu kusalesu dhammesu patiṭṭhāya, ye kusale dhamme attani na samanupassati tesaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ paṭilābhāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṁ. Seyyathāpi, āvuso, ādittacelo vā ādittasīso vā. Tasseva celassa vā sīsassa vā nibbāpanāya adhimattaṁ chandañca vāyāmañca ussāhañca ussoḷhiñca appaṭivāniñca satiñca sampajaññañca kareyya. Evamevaṁ kho, āvuso, tena bhikkhunā ye kusale dhamme attani samanupassati tesu kusalesu dhammesu patiṭṭhāya, ye kusale dhamme attani na samanupassati tesaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ paṭilābhāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṁ.

10"But if, by such self-examination, a bhikkhu sees all these wholesome qualities present in himself, he should base himself on those same wholesome qualities and make a further effort to reach the destruction of the taints."

10Sace panāvuso, bhikkhu paccavekkhamāno sabbepime kusale dhamme attani samanupassati, tenāvuso, bhikkhunā sabbesveva imesu kusalesu dhammesu patiṭṭhāya uttari āsavānaṁ khayāya yogo karaṇīyo"ti.

Pañcamaṁ.