Chapter 34
beginning with ‚
yadÈ ca so mato seti
‛. Furthermore, the Buddha revealed, thereby, the state
of the fool who thought that the body was pleasant, for he was overcome by ignorance
regarding the body that was really devoid of permanency (
nicca
), pleasantness (
subha
) and
soul (
attÈ
). By so doing, the Buddha disclosed the fact that the round of suffering (
vaÔÔa
dukkha
) indeed was led by ignorance (
avijjÈ
). Now, in order, to point out the state of the
wise man regarding the body of such nature and the fact that the end of suffering (
vivaÔÔa
)
was led by the three phases of thorough understanding (
pariÒÒÈ
), the Buddha uttered these
verses:
(10) SutvÈna Buddha-vacanaÑ
bhikkhu paÒÒÈÓavÈ idha
so kho naÑ parijÈnÈti
yathÈbh|taÒ hi passati.
In this dispensation of the Buddha which consists of eight wonders, the
bhikkhu
, who is a worldling (
puthujjana
), a learner (
sekkha
) or a meditator
(
yogÈvacara
), endowed with VipassanÈ Wisdom, having heard properly this
discourse of the Buddha named Vijaya Sutta (or
KÈya-vicchandanika Sutta
)
sees with the eye of VipassanÈ, the body in its true nature; he therefore
discerns the body clearly through the three phases of understanding
(
pariÒÒÈ
), namely, knowledge (
ÒÈta
), judgment (
tÊraÓa
) and abandonment
(
pahÈna
).
The way of discernment of the body by the three phases of
pariÒÒÈ
is as follows:
After inspecting carefully a variety of merchandise, a merchant considers: ‚If I buy it at
this price my profit would be this much.‛ Then only he buys the merchandise and sells it at
a profit. In the same way, the worldling learning or meditating
bhikkhu
inspects his body
with his eye of wisdom and comes to understand thoroughly, by
ÒÈta-pariÒÒÈ
: ‚Things that
truly constitute the body are merely bones, sinews, etc. (which are directly mentioned in the
text) and hair on the head, hair on the body, etc. (which are not directly mentioned in the
text).‛ He then reflects and judges the body with the eye of VipassanÈ Wisdom and comes
to understand by
tÊraÓa-pariÒÒÈ
: ‚The phenomena that occur in the body are only
impermanent (
anicca
), unsatisfactory (
dukkha
), and non-soul (
anatta
).‛ Finally, he arrives
at the Noble Path (
Ariya Magga
) and comes to understand by
pahÈna-pariÒÒÈ
and
abandons his attachment to the body or his desire and passion for the body.
(Herein, because this body, which is visible to all, would not have been thoroughly
understood through the three phases of
pariÒÒÈ
should there be no chance to listen
to the Buddha's teaching (in spite of the body's visibility), because such thorough
understanding is possible only when His Teaching is heard, and in order to point
out that there is also the way of understanding the characteristics of
suÒÒata
, etc.
through the three phases of
pariÒÒÈ
and also to point out that those who are outside
the Buddha's dispensation are unable to discern in this manner, the Buddha uttered:
‚
SutvÈna Buddha-vacanaÑ idha
.‛
(On account of the BhikkhunÊ NandÈ TherÊ and on that of the
bhikkhu
whose mind
craved for the beauty of SirimÈ, the Vijaya Sutta (or the KÈyavicchandanika Sutta)
was delivered. Of the four assemblies, the assembly of monks ranks highest; it was
only that very assembly of monks that was ever close to the Buddha. Anybody, be
he a monk or a lay man, who meditates on
anicca
,
dukkha
and
anatta
, can be
designated ‘
bhikkhu’
. In order to point out these things, the Buddha uses the term
‘
bhikkhu
’, not because the three phases of
pariÒÒÈ
are confined to monks. This
import should also be noted in particular.)
Now, in order to point out the way of seeing things as they really are in accordance with
the word ‚
yathÈ bh|taÒ hi passati
‛, the Buddha uttered this verse:
(11) YathÈ idaÑ tathÈ etaÑ