kātyāyanāvavāde
cāstīti nāstīti cobhayam |
pratiṣiddhaṃ bhagavatā
bhāvābhāva-vibhāvinā ||MMK15.7||
In
The Instructing of Kātyāyana,
both “It exists” and “It does not exist” are denied by the
Glorious One who clarified
the existence of
existence and
non-existence.
In MMK chap.
15, Nāgārjuna thus
makes explicit reference to the teaching which is recorded in Pali in
Kaccāyana-gotta-suttaṁ (Saṁyutta Nikāya, 12.15), The Discourse
to the One from the Kaccāyana Clan.
A
comparison of existing
translations can be found here.
My version follows:
Kaccāyana-gotta-suttaṁ (SN 12.15)
Evam
me suttam.
Thus
have I heard:
ekaṁ
samayaṁ Bhagavā Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati, Jetavane
Anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. At one time the Glorious One
was dwelling near Sāvatthī, in Jeta's Wood, at Anāthapiṇḍika's
monastery.
Atha
kho āyasmā kaccāyanagotto yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami,
At that time, there where the
Glorious One was, in that direction approached the venerable
life-possessor [=Skt. āyuṣmat] of the Kaccāyana Clan.
upasaṅkamitvā
bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā, ekamantaṁ nisīdi.
After
approaching and respecfully saluting the Glorious One, he sat to one
side.
ekamantaṁ
nisinno kho āyasmā kaccāyanagotto bhagavantaṁ etad avoca:
While
sitting to one side, the venerable life-possessor from the Kaccāyana
Clan said this to the Glorious One:
“ ‘sammādiṭṭhi
sammādiṭṭhī’ ti, bhante, vuccati.
In
what way, Venerable Sir, is there seeing straight?”
to
It-exists-ness, and to
It-does-not-exist-ness.
Loka-samudayaṁ
kho, Kaccāyana, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passato, yā loke
natthitā sā na hoti.
Whatever It-does-not-exist-ness
there is in regard to the world, Kaccāyana, does not occur to one
who, with nothing but wisdom, sees the arising of the world as it
really is.
Loka-nirodhaṁ
kho, Kaccāyana, yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passato, yā loke
atthitā sā na hoti.
Whatever It-exists-ness
there is in regard to the world, Kaccāyana, does not occur to one
who, with nothing but wisdom, sees the arising of the world as it
really is.
For the most part, Kaccāyana, this
world is bound by joining in,
by becoming attached and by identifying.
Tañ-cāyaṁ upayupādānaṁ cetaso
adhiṭṭhānaṁ abhinivesānusayaṁ na upeti na upādiyati
nādhiṭṭhāti: ‘Attā me’ ti.
But
this one [who sees straight] does not tend to join in and become
attached, does not tend mentally to take a position, does not tend to identify and unconsciously go along with; he neither attaches to [the view], nor takes as a position, that “I
have a self.”
dukkhaṁ
nirujjhamānaṁ nirujjhatī,’ ti
that
suffering when ceasing is ceasing;
he
does not doubt, is not uncertain;
aparapaccayā
ñāṇam-evassa ettha hoti.
his
knowing in this is not dependent on others.
ettāvatā
kho, Kaccāyana, sammādiṭṭhi hoti.
‘sabbaṁ
atthī,’ ti kho, Kaccāyana, ayam-eko anto.
‘sabbaṁ
natthī’ ti ayaṁ dutiyo anto.
Not
approaching either of these two extremes, Kaccāyana,
majjhena
tathāgato dhammaṁ deseti:
the
Tathāgata teaches the Dharma by way of the middle:
Avijjā-paccayā
bhikkhave saṅkhārā,
With
ignorance as their causal grounds, monks, there are habitual doings;
saṅkhāra-paccayā
viññāṇaṁ,
with
habitual doings as its causal grounds – divided consciousness;
viññāṇa-paccayā
nāma-rūpaṁ,
with
divided consciousness as its causal grounds – psycho-physicality;
nāmarūpa-paccayā
saḷāyatanaṁ,
with
psycho-physicality as causal grounds – six senses;
saḷāyatana-paccayā
phasso,
with
six senses as causal grounds – contact;
phassa-paccayā
vedanā,
with
contact as its causal grounds – feeling;
vedanā-paccayā
taṇhā,
with
feeling as its causal grounds – thirsting;
taṇhā-paccayā
upādānaṁ,
with
thirsting as its causal grounds – taking hold;
upādāna-paccayā
bhavo,
with
taking hold as its causal grounds – becoming;
bhava-paccayā
jāti,
with
becoming as its causal grounds – birth;
jāti-paccayā
jarā-maraṇaṁ soka-parideva-dukkha-domanassupāyāsā
sambhavanti,
with
birth as causal grounds there come into being old age and death,
grief, lamentations, pain, downheartedness, and despair;
evam-etassa
kevalassa dukkha-kkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
and
so there is an arising of this whole mass of suffering.
Avijjāya
tv eva asesa-virāga-nirodhā saṅkhāra-nirodho,
But
from the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance, there is
the cessation of habitual doings;
saṅkhāra-nirodhā
viññāṇanirodho,
from
the cessation of habitual doings – the cessation of divided
consciousness;
viññāṇanirodhā
nāmarūpanirodho,
from
the cessation of divided consciousness – the cessation of
pyscho-physicality;
nāmarūpanirodhā
saḷāyatananirodho,
from
the cessation of pyscho-physicality – the cessation of six senses;
saḷāyatananirodhā
phassanirodho,
from
the cessation of six senses – the cessation of contact;
phassa-nirodhā
vedanā-nirodho,
from
the cessation of contact – the cessation of feeling;
vedanā-nirodhā
taṇhā-nirodho,
from
the cessation of feeling – the cessation of thirsting;
taṇhā-nirodhā
upādāna-nirodho,
from
the cessation of thirsting – the cessation of taking hold;
upādānanirodhā
bhava-nirodho,
from
the cessation of taking hold – the cessation of becoming;
bhavanirodhā
jātinirodho,
from
the cessation of becoming – the cessation of birth;
jātinirodhā
jarāmaraṇaṁ soka-parideva-dukkha-domanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti,
from
the cessation of birth cease old age and death, grief, lamentations,
pain, sorrow, and despair;
evam-etassa
kevalassa dukkha-kkhandhassa nirodho hotī” ti.
and
so there is a cessation of this whole mass of suffering.”
NOTES:
Atthitā: -tā is the feminine abstract noun suffix ("-ness"). So atthi ("[it] exists") + tā means something like "it-exists-ness" -- that is, the view or the attitude or (as Gudo Nishijima would have said) the state [of the autonomic nervous system], in which things like an action, or karma produced by action, or the world, have real independent existence as things unto themselves. Because such things are immune to dependent arising and ceasing, this extreme is also called "eternalism" (sassatavāda / sassatadiṭṭhi; [Skt] śāśvata-dṛṣṭi).
Natthitā: "it-does-not-exist-ness." Sanskrit equivalent: nāstitva. Also called "annihilationism" (Pali: ucchedavāda; or [Skt] uccheda-dṛṣṭi). The Buddha's teaching of dependent arising negates the separate existence of things but affirms, in the middle way, that things do exist through dependent arising. Natthitā, in contrast, is the extreme nihilistic view (or attitude or state) which, ideals having been shattered and disillusionment having set in, asks the rhetorical question: "Since everything is empty, what is the point of anything?" Nāgārjuna will respond by clarifying that all movement in the right direction is possible only because everything is empty. What the nihilist means by "all is empty" is "all is futile," or "nothing has meaning." What Nāgārjuna means by "all is empty" is that every thing is dependently arisen, and therefore empty of separate existence as a thing unto itself. And precisely because all is empty in this sense, our efforts to get to the bottom of the four noble truths can be meaningful.
Upaya
= Sanskrit upāya: coming near, approach, arrival; joining in
or accompanying (in singing). Bhikkhu Bodhi: engagement.
Upādāna: attachment, taking hold, clinging – as per link no. 9
in the 12-fold dependent arising of suffering. Bhikkhu Bodhi:
clinging.
Abhinivesa =
Skt. abhi-niveśa: application, intentness, affection, devotion; determination (to effect a purpose or attain an object), tenacity, adherence to; from
abhi-ni-√viś: to enter ; to disembogue (as a river)
into; to devote one's self entirely to. Bhikkhu
Bodhi: adherence.
Adhiṭṭhāna
= Skt. adhi-ṣṭhāna: standing by; position; (with Buddhists)
steadfast resolution (one of the 6 or 10 pāramitās). Bhikkhu
Bodhi: standpoint. Thanissaro Bhikkhu: fixations [of awareness].
Anusaya
= Skt. anuśaya: close connection as with a consequence, close attachment
to any object; from anu- √śī: to sleep with, lie along or close,
adhere closely to. Bhikkhu Bodhi: underlying tendency. Thanissaro
Bhikkhu: latent tendencies.
Saṅkhārā
= Skt. saṁskārāḥ. Thanissaro Bhikkhu: fabrications. Maurice
Walshe: the formations. Bhikkhu Bodhi: volitional formations. Ānandajoti Bhikkhu: [volitional] processes. But cf. Nāgārjuna's usage in MMK chap. 26, where saṁskārāḥ are described as what the person engulfed in ignorance contrives to do. See also the traditional depiction of the 2nd link as a potter manufacturing pots. Cf. also the standard Chinese translation as 行, which means to act, but originally (as represented by the track-like pictograph) in the sense of going along established tracks. Hence I translate "habitual doings" or "doings." So far nobody recognizes that translation. But one day everybody will, because "habitual doings," I strongly believe, is the real meaning.
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