The Buddha delivering first discourse to Five Ascetics and many devas.
The First Sermon
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutra -- "Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth"
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the ancient kingdom of Benares in the Deer Park at Isipatana (the "Resort of Seers"). There he addressed five ascetics.
"Recluses, these two extremes should not to be cultivated by one gone forth from the house-life. What two? Devotion to indulgence in pleasure in the objects of sensual desire -- which is inferior, low, vulgar, ignoble, and leads to no good -- and devotion to self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, and leads to no good.
"The middle way discovered by a Perfected One avoids both these extremes. It gives rise to vision, knowledge, and leads to peace, to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to nirvana (full liberation). What is that middle way? It is simply the Noble Eightfold Path, which is to say, right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; and right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. That is the middle way discovered by a Perfected One, which gives rise to vision, knowledge, and which leads to peace, to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to nirvana.
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the ancient kingdom of Benares in the Deer Park at Isipatana (the "Resort of Seers"). There he addressed five ascetics.
"Recluses, these two extremes should not to be cultivated by one gone forth from the house-life. What two? Devotion to indulgence in pleasure in the objects of sensual desire -- which is inferior, low, vulgar, ignoble, and leads to no good -- and devotion to self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, and leads to no good.
"The middle way discovered by a Perfected One avoids both these extremes. It gives rise to vision, knowledge, and leads to peace, to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to nirvana (full liberation). What is that middle way? It is simply the Noble Eightfold Path, which is to say, right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; and right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. That is the middle way discovered by a Perfected One, which gives rise to vision, knowledge, and which leads to peace, to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to nirvana.
"Unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, is this: Birth is unsatisfactory, aging is unsatisfactory, sickness is unsatisfactory, death is unsatisfactory, sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are unsatisfactory; association with the loathed is unsatisfactory, separation from the loved is unsatisfactory, not to get what one wants is dissatisfying — in short, the five groups of clinging are unsatisfactory.
"The origin of this unsatisfactoriness [this unpleasantness and suffering], as a noble truth, is this: It is craving that produces renewal of being accompanied by enjoyment and lust, enjoying this and that; in other words, craving for sensual desires, craving for continued-being, craving for non-being.
NIRVANA: the end of all suffering
"The origin of this unsatisfactoriness [this unpleasantness and suffering], as a noble truth, is this: It is craving that produces renewal of being accompanied by enjoyment and lust, enjoying this and that; in other words, craving for sensual desires, craving for continued-being, craving for non-being.
NIRVANA: the end of all suffering
"The cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is the remainderless fading and ceasing, giving up, relinquishing, letting go, and abandoning of craving.
"The way leading to the cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is this very Noble Eightfold Path, which is to say, right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; and right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
"Unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in me with regard to things not heard by me before. 'This unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, can be diagnosed.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light, that arose in me with regard to things not heard before. 'This suffering, as a noble truth, has been diagnosed.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in me with regard to things not heard before.
"'The origin of unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision...'This origin of unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, can be abandoned.' Such was the vision... 'This origin of unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, has been abandoned.' Such was the vision...with regard to things not heard before.
"The cessation of unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision... 'This cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, can be verified.' Such was the vision... 'This cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, has been verified.' Such was the vision...with regard to things not heard before.
"'The way leading to the end of suffering, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision... 'This way leading to the cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, can be developed.' Such was the vision... 'This way leading to the cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, has been developed.' Such was the vision...with regard to ideas not heard before.
"As long as my knowing and seeing of how things actually are was not quite purified in these twelve aspects, in these three phases of each of the Four Noble Truths, I did not claim in this world with its devas ("demigods"), its Maras ("killers") and brahmas ("high divinities"), in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, with its princes and humans to have discovered the full and supreme Awakening. But as soon as my knowing and seeing of how actually things are was quite purified in these twelve aspects, in these three phases of each of the Four Noble Truths, then I claimed in the world with its demigods, its demons and divinities, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its princes and humans to have discovered the full and supreme Awakening. Knowing and seeing arose in me thus: 'My heart's deliverance is unassailable. This is the last birth. Now there is no renewal of being to come.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. The ascetics of the group of five were glad, and they approved his words.
Now during this utterance, there arose in the senior ascetic Kondañña the spotless, immaculate Vision of the Dharma: "Whatever is subject to arising is also subject to cessation."
When the Wheel of the Truth had thus been set in motion by the Blessed One the demigods (bhumi-devas) raised the cry: "At Benares, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, the matchless Wheel of Dharma has been set a rolling by the Blessed One, not to be stopped by ascetic or priest or deity or death-angel or high divinity or anyone in the world!"
On hearing the demigods' cry, all of the devas in turn in the six celestial worlds of the Sensual Sphere took up the cry until it reached beyond the Retinue of the High Divinity in the Sphere of Pure Form. And so indeed in that hour, at that very moment, the cry soared up to the World of High Divinity, and this ten-thousandfold world system shook and rocked and quaked, and a measureless radiance surpassing the luminescence of the deities went out through the world.
Then the Blessed One uttered the exclamation: "Kondañña knows! Kondañña knows!" And that is how that venerable ascetic [who had entered the first stage of enlightenment, gaining the Vision of the Dharma] acquired the name Añña-Kondañña — "Kondañña who knows."
"The way leading to the cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is this very Noble Eightfold Path, which is to say, right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; and right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
"Unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in me with regard to things not heard by me before. 'This unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, can be diagnosed.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light, that arose in me with regard to things not heard before. 'This suffering, as a noble truth, has been diagnosed.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in me with regard to things not heard before.
"'The origin of unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision...'This origin of unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, can be abandoned.' Such was the vision... 'This origin of unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, has been abandoned.' Such was the vision...with regard to things not heard before.
"The cessation of unsatisfactoriness, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision... 'This cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, can be verified.' Such was the vision... 'This cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, has been verified.' Such was the vision...with regard to things not heard before.
"'The way leading to the end of suffering, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision... 'This way leading to the cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, can be developed.' Such was the vision... 'This way leading to the cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, has been developed.' Such was the vision...with regard to ideas not heard before.
"As long as my knowing and seeing of how things actually are was not quite purified in these twelve aspects, in these three phases of each of the Four Noble Truths, I did not claim in this world with its devas ("demigods"), its Maras ("killers") and brahmas ("high divinities"), in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, with its princes and humans to have discovered the full and supreme Awakening. But as soon as my knowing and seeing of how actually things are was quite purified in these twelve aspects, in these three phases of each of the Four Noble Truths, then I claimed in the world with its demigods, its demons and divinities, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its princes and humans to have discovered the full and supreme Awakening. Knowing and seeing arose in me thus: 'My heart's deliverance is unassailable. This is the last birth. Now there is no renewal of being to come.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. The ascetics of the group of five were glad, and they approved his words.
Now during this utterance, there arose in the senior ascetic Kondañña the spotless, immaculate Vision of the Dharma: "Whatever is subject to arising is also subject to cessation."
When the Wheel of the Truth had thus been set in motion by the Blessed One the demigods (bhumi-devas) raised the cry: "At Benares, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, the matchless Wheel of Dharma has been set a rolling by the Blessed One, not to be stopped by ascetic or priest or deity or death-angel or high divinity or anyone in the world!"
On hearing the demigods' cry, all of the devas in turn in the six celestial worlds of the Sensual Sphere took up the cry until it reached beyond the Retinue of the High Divinity in the Sphere of Pure Form. And so indeed in that hour, at that very moment, the cry soared up to the World of High Divinity, and this ten-thousandfold world system shook and rocked and quaked, and a measureless radiance surpassing the luminescence of the deities went out through the world.
Then the Blessed One uttered the exclamation: "Kondañña knows! Kondañña knows!" And that is how that venerable ascetic [who had entered the first stage of enlightenment, gaining the Vision of the Dharma] acquired the name Añña-Kondañña — "Kondañña who knows."
The sutra set in stone where it was delivered, Isipatana Deer Park, India (Ankur)
The famous event chiseled in stone, the First Sermon (metmuseum.org)
TEXT SOURCE: Hinduwebsite.com.
*The measureless radiance and devas taking up a cry that rang throughout the world-system was a later addition to punctuate the momentousness of the Dharma again being made known to the world after aeons of absence and darkness (ignorance).
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