Chapter 10
BrahmÈs, become miserable. (According to the Œdittapariyaya Sutta, the
Sermon on the Ways of Burning, the twelve bases are ablaze with the eleven
fires of
rÈga
,
dosa
,
moha
, etc. From the point of view of the
Paramattha
Dhamma
, the
satta-loka
, consisting of beings, i.e., devas, humans and
BrahmÈs, is also just these twelve
Èyatanas
, six internal and six external. The
Èyatanas
are also perpetually and severally ablaze with the eleven fires.
Because there are
Èyatanas
, there is burning; because there is burning, there
is misery. If there were no
Èyatanas
, there would have been no burning; if
there were no burning, there would have been no misery. That is why the
Buddha answered thus: ‚
Chasu loko vihaÒÒati
— When the six internal and
the six external
Èyatanas
clearly appear (or, on account of these
Èyatanas
) all
beings, i.e., devas, humans and BrahmÈs, become miserable.‛)
End of Question and Answer on vatta (round of suffering)
Thereafter Hemavata Deva, being unable to remember clearly the answer given in brief
by the Buddha (such as
Chasu loko samuppanno
, etc.), which centres around the twelve
Èyatanas
, to the question put by him on the round of suffering, and being desirous of
knowing the enumeration of the
Èyatanas
as well as their opposites, as contained in the
Buddha's answer, recited the following verse in order to question on
vaÔÔa
and
vivaÔÔa
(round of suffering and cessation of the round of suffering, respectively):
KatamaÑ taÑ upÈdÈnÑ;
yattha loko vihaÒÒati.
NiyyÈnaÑ pucchito br|hi:
kathaÑ dukkhtÈ pamuccati.
Glorious Buddha, (if, according to the answer, ‘
Chasu loko vihaÒÒati’
)
beings i.e., devas, humans and BrahmÈs, become miserable from the
existence of the six
Èyatanas
(or, on account of the six
Èyatanas
), what are
these six, the cause of misery for beings? (By this is
Dukkha-sacca
(the Truth
of Suffering) is directly asked; by asking
Dukkha-sacca
,
Samudaya-sacca
(the Truth of the Cause of Suffering) is also asked.
What is the factor that brings about release from
saÑsÈra vaÔÔa
(the round of
suffering)? In what manner (or, what extraordinary Dhamma,) can release
from
saÑsÈra vaÔÔa
be realised? May Venerable Buddha, who has thus been
asked about release from
saÑsÈra
vaÔÔa
, favour us with the answer. (By the
latter half of this verse is
Magga
-
sacca
(the Truth of the Path leading to the
Cessation of Suffering) is directly asked; and by asking
Magga-sacca
,
Nirodha-sacca
(the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering i.e. NibbÈna), is also
asked as ‚one draws the whole bower by snatching one single creeper.‛)
When Hemavata Deva asked the Four Noble Truths, mentioning
Dukkha-sacca
and
Magga-sacca
explicitly, and
Samudaya-sacca
and
Nirodha-sacca
implicitly, the Buddha
delivered the following verse in order to answer in the way He was asked by Hemavata
Deva:
PaÒca kÈmaguÓa loke;
manochattha paveditÈ.
Ettha chandaÑ virÈjetvÈ;
evaÑ dukkhÈ pamuccati.
Devotee Hemavata Deva, I, the Buddha, have clearly shown the five
kÈmaguÓas
(sensual pleasures) of form, sound, smell, taste and contact with
mind as the sixth in the world. (By the word ‘mind’ in the first half of this
verse is
manÈyatana
(the mind-organ) directly taught; and by teaching
manÈyatana
,
dhammÈyatana
(the mind-object) is also taught. By the five
kÈmaguÓas
of form, sound, smell, taste and contact are the five
Èyatanas