Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Encyclopedia
The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Pali
; Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra, Sanskrit
; The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma, English
; 转法轮经, Chinese
) is traditionally the Buddha
's first discourse after he attained Bodhi
and Nirvāṇa.
, this sutta
is contained in the Sutta Pitaka
's Saṃyutta Nikāya
, chapter 56 ("Saccasamyutta" or "Connected Discourses on the Truths"), sutta number 11. (Thus, an abbreviated reference to this sutta is "SN
56:11"). A similar account can be found in the Pali Canon's Vinaya Pitaka
's Mahākhandhaka
.
In the Chinese Buddhist canon
there are numerous editions of this sutra from a variety of different schools in ancient India, including the Sarvāstivāda
, Dharmaguptaka
, and Mahīśāsaka
schools, as well as an edition translated as early as 170 CE by An Shigao.
Parallel texts can be found in other early Buddhist sources as well, such as the Sarvāstivādin Lalitavistara; and, the Lokottaravādin Mahāvastu
.
," which can be translated as "Dhamma-Wheel," is a Buddhist symbol referring to Buddha's teaching of the path
to enlightenment. "Pavattana" (Pāli) can be translated as "turning" or "rolling" or "setting in motion."
English translations of this sutta's full title include:
" (majjhimā patipadā).
The Buddha then states that the middle way he awakened to involves pursuing a "Noble Eightfold Path
" (ariyo atthangiko maggo) that includes "right" (sammā) understanding, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. This path leads to vision, knowledge, peace, enlightenment and Nibbana.
The Buddha then identifies the following "Four Noble Truths
":
These Four Noble Truths should be individually achieved in a threefold manner: the noble truth is recognized, its pursuit envisioned, its attainment fully achieved. The Buddha relays that, once he achieved each of the four truths in this threefold manner, he awakened to unsurpassed perfect "Enlightenment
" (anuttaram sammāsambodhim ).
While each of the monks listening to the Buddha delighted in his words, one in particular, Ven. Kondanna, understood.
Thus the Dhamma-Wheel had been set unstoppably in motion.
school. The early Buddhist schools
in India
called their collections the Āgamas, rather than the Nikayas. The extant Saṃyukta Āgama version only teaches the Four Noble Truths and has no mention of some of the other major doctrines found in the Pali version.http://lapislazulitexts.com/dharmacakra_pravartana_sutra.html In this version, the Four Noble Truths are taught in three turnings, or sections, of the discourse. There is also mention of the Four Noble Truths leading to Enlightenment, with no mention of Nirvana.
Páli
- External links :* *...
; Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra, Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
; The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
; 转法轮经, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
) is traditionally the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
's first discourse after he attained Bodhi
Bodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
and Nirvāṇa.
Sources
In the Pali CanonPāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
, this sutta
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
is contained in the Sutta Pitaka
Sutta Pitaka
The Sutta Pitaka is the second of the three divisions of the Tipitaka or Pali Canon, the Pali collection of Buddhist writings, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism...
's Saṃyutta Nikāya
Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...
, chapter 56 ("Saccasamyutta" or "Connected Discourses on the Truths"), sutta number 11. (Thus, an abbreviated reference to this sutta is "SN
Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...
56:11"). A similar account can be found in the Pali Canon's Vinaya Pitaka
Vinaya Pitaka
The ' is a Buddhist scripture, one of the three parts that make up the Tripitaka. Its primary subject matter is the monastic rules for monks and nuns...
's Mahākhandhaka
Khandhaka
Khandhaka is the second book of the Theravadin Vinaya Pitaka and includes the following two volumes:* Mahavagga:includes accounts of the Buddha's and his great disciples' awakenings, as well as rules for uposatha days and monastic ordination....
.
In the Chinese Buddhist canon
Chinese Buddhist canon
The Chinese Buddhist Canon refers to the total body of Buddhist literature deemed canonical in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese Buddhism...
there are numerous editions of this sutra from a variety of different schools in ancient India, including the Sarvāstivāda
Sarvastivada
The Sarvāstivāda were an early school of Buddhism that held to 'the existence of all dharmas in the past, present and future, the 'three times'. Vasubandhu's states:-Name:...
, Dharmaguptaka
Dharmaguptaka
The Dharmaguptaka are one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools, depending on one's source. They are said to have originated from another sect, the Mahīśāsakas...
, and Mahīśāsaka
Mahisasaka
Mahīśāsaka is one of the early Buddhist schools according to some records. Its origins may go back to the dispute in the Second Buddhist Council...
schools, as well as an edition translated as early as 170 CE by An Shigao.
Parallel texts can be found in other early Buddhist sources as well, such as the Sarvāstivādin Lalitavistara; and, the Lokottaravādin Mahāvastu
Mahavastu
The Mahāvastu is a text of the Lokottaravāda school of Early Buddhism. It describes itself as being a historical preface to the Buddhist monastic codes...
.
English title
"Dhamma" (Pāli) or "Dharma" (Sanskrit) can mean a variety of things depending on its context; in this context, it refers to the Buddha's teachings or his "truth" that leads to one's liberation from suffering. "Chakka" (Pāli) or "chakra" (Sanskrit) can be translated as "wheel." The "dhammacakkaDharmacakra
The Dharmachakra , lit. "Wheel of Dharma" or "Wheel of Life" is a symbol that has represented dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment, since the early period of Indian Buddhism. A similar symbol is also in use in Jainism...
," which can be translated as "Dhamma-Wheel," is a Buddhist symbol referring to Buddha's teaching of the path
Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path , is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion...
to enlightenment. "Pavattana" (Pāli) can be translated as "turning" or "rolling" or "setting in motion."
English translations of this sutta's full title include:
- "Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma" (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 1843–7)
- "Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth" (Piyadassi, 1999)http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html
- "Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth" (Ñanamoli, 1993)http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.nymo.html
- "Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion" (Thanissaro, 1993)http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.than.html
- "Turning the Wheel of Dhamma" (Dhamma, 1997).
Theravada edition
In this discourse, the Buddha addresses five monks who attended to him just prior to his Enlightenment. The Buddha cautions the monks against pursuing either of two extremes: worldly sensual pleasures or painful self-mortification. The Buddha refers to the path that avoids these extremes as the "Middle WayMiddle way
The Middle Way or Middle Path is the descriptive term that Siddhartha Gautama used to describe the character of the path he discovered that led to liberation. It was coined in the very first teaching that he delivered after his enlightenment...
" (majjhimā patipadā).
The Buddha then states that the middle way he awakened to involves pursuing a "Noble Eightfold Path
Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path , is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion...
" (ariyo atthangiko maggo) that includes "right" (sammā) understanding, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. This path leads to vision, knowledge, peace, enlightenment and Nibbana.
The Buddha then identifies the following "Four Noble Truths
Four Noble Truths
The Four Noble Truths are an important principle in Buddhism, classically taught by the Buddha in the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra....
":
- Suffering (dukkhaDukkhaDukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...
) involves birth, aging, illness, death, being with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing, not getting what one wants, and "in brief" the five aggregatesSkandhaIn Buddhist phenomenology and soteriology, the skandhas or khandhas are any of five types of phenomena that serve as objects of clinging and bases for a sense of self...
-of-clingingUpadanaUpādāna is a word used in both Buddhism and Hinduism.*In Buddhism, upādāna is a critical link in the arising of suffering.*In Hinduism, upādāna is the material manifestation of Brahman.-Buddhism:...
(pancupādānakkhandhā). - Suffering's origin (dukkhasamudayo) is craving (tanhāTanha' or ' literally means "thirst," and is a synonym for "desire" or "craving," traditionally juxtaposed with upekkha .Synonyms:*愛 Cn: ài; Vi: ái...
) for sensual pleasures, existence and extermination. - Suffering's end (dukkhanirodho) comes from the relinquishment of and freedom from this craving.
- The path leading to suffering's end is the aforementioned Noble Eightfold Path.
These Four Noble Truths should be individually achieved in a threefold manner: the noble truth is recognized, its pursuit envisioned, its attainment fully achieved. The Buddha relays that, once he achieved each of the four truths in this threefold manner, he awakened to unsurpassed perfect "Enlightenment
Bodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
" (anuttaram sammāsambodhim ).
While each of the monks listening to the Buddha delighted in his words, one in particular, Ven. Kondanna, understood.
Thus the Dhamma-Wheel had been set unstoppably in motion.
Saṃyukta Āgama edition
The Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra can be found in the Saṃyukta Āgama of the SarvāstivādaSarvastivada
The Sarvāstivāda were an early school of Buddhism that held to 'the existence of all dharmas in the past, present and future, the 'three times'. Vasubandhu's states:-Name:...
school. The early Buddhist schools
Early Buddhist schools
The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which, according to most scholars, the Buddhist monastic saṅgha initially split, due originally to differences in vinaya, and later also due to doctrinal differences and geographical separation of groups of monks.The original saṅgha split into the...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
called their collections the Āgamas, rather than the Nikayas. The extant Saṃyukta Āgama version only teaches the Four Noble Truths and has no mention of some of the other major doctrines found in the Pali version.http://lapislazulitexts.com/dharmacakra_pravartana_sutra.html In this version, the Four Noble Truths are taught in three turnings, or sections, of the discourse. There is also mention of the Four Noble Truths leading to Enlightenment, with no mention of Nirvana.
Alternative viewpoints
Gombrich (1988/2002, p. 61), a modern scholar, remarks:- Of course we do not really know what the Buddha said in his first sermon ... and it has even been convincingly demonstrated that the language of the text as we have it is in the main a set of formulae, expressions which are by no means self-explanatory but refer to already established doctrines. Nevertheless, the compilers of the CanonPāli CanonThe Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
put in the first sermon what they knew to be the very essence of the Buddha's Enlightenment.
See also
- DharmacakraDharmacakraThe Dharmachakra , lit. "Wheel of Dharma" or "Wheel of Life" is a symbol that has represented dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment, since the early period of Indian Buddhism. A similar symbol is also in use in Jainism...
- EnlightenmentEnlightenment in BuddhismThe English term enlightenment has commonly been used in the western world to translate several Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese and Japanese terms and concepts, especially bodhi, prajna, kensho, satori and buddhahood.-Insight:...
- Four Noble TruthsFour Noble TruthsThe Four Noble Truths are an important principle in Buddhism, classically taught by the Buddha in the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra....
- Middle WayMiddle wayThe Middle Way or Middle Path is the descriptive term that Siddhartha Gautama used to describe the character of the path he discovered that led to liberation. It was coined in the very first teaching that he delivered after his enlightenment...
- Noble Eightfold PathNoble Eightfold PathThe Noble Eightfold Path , is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion...
External links
- Saṃyutta Nikāya 56.11 Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu with links to alternative translations.
- Saṃyukta Āgama version translated into English
- Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta read aloud (talking book) by Guy Armstrong
- Romanized Pāli version with English translation