Other Translations: Deutsch , Srpski
From: ,
Saį¹yutta NikÄya 14.1 Linked Discourses 14.1
1. NÄnattavagga 1. Diversity
DhÄtunÄnattasutta Diversity of Elements
SÄvatthiyaį¹ viharati. At SÄvatthÄ«.
āDhÄtunÄnattaį¹ vo, bhikkhave, desessÄmi. āMendicants, I will teach you the diversity of elements. The āelementsā (dhÄtu) are the many different phenomena that can be observed in the world and in experience. These can be the various aspects of sense experience, diverse character types (SN 14.14ā29), states of matter (SN 14.30ā39), or other things. Vedic dhÄtu has a special affinity for the numbers three (as in worlds) and seven. ChÄndogya Upaniį¹£ad 6.5.1ā3 discusses how food, water, and heat each break down into three elements.
Taį¹ suį¹Ätha, sÄdhukaį¹ manasi karotha, bhÄsissÄmÄ«āti. Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.ā
āEvaį¹, bhanteāti kho te bhikkhÅ« bhagavato paccassosuį¹. āYes, sir,ā they replied.
BhagavÄ etadavoca: The Buddha said this:
āKatamaƱca, bhikkhave, dhÄtunÄnattaį¹? āAnd what is the diversity of elements? For nÄnatta (ādiversityā), compare puthutta (āexpansivenessā) at SN 12.48:5.1 and vemattatÄ (ādisparityā) at SN 48.13:1.6. At MN 1:24.1, the Buddha taught ādiversityā as the opposite fallacy to āonenessā; based on the diversity of sense experience, it interprets the world as irreducibly manifold. An example would be the Jains, who believed the world was made up of countless separate entities, a view criticized in MÄį¹įøÅ«kya Upaniį¹£ad 3.13 (nÄnÄtvaį¹ nindyate). Both these fallacies take a particular mode of perception which is true in certain respects and make it into an absolute. The Buddha treats diversity as a way of analyzing experience, not as a metaphysical postulate.
CakkhudhÄtu rÅ«padhÄtu cakkhuviƱƱÄį¹adhÄtu, sotadhÄtu saddadhÄtu sotaviƱƱÄį¹adhÄtu, ghÄnadhÄtu gandhadhÄtu ghÄnaviƱƱÄį¹adhÄtu, jivhÄdhÄtu rasadhÄtu jivhÄviƱƱÄį¹adhÄtu, kÄyadhÄtu phoį¹į¹habbadhÄtu kÄyaviƱƱÄį¹adhÄtu, manodhÄtu dhammadhÄtu manoviƱƱÄį¹adhÄtuāThe eye element, sight element, and eye consciousness element. The ear element, sound element, and ear consciousness element. The nose element, smell element, and nose consciousness element. The tongue element, taste element, and tongue consciousness element. The body element, touch element, and body consciousness element. The mind element, ideas element, and mind consciousness element. The chapter is structured in two āpentadsā (paƱcaka), a formalism that gained prominence in the Abhidhamma. The first discourse merely lists the eighteen elements. Subsequent discourses elaborate, each one introducing a new complexity. Discourses 2ā5 treat the internal sense fields, while 6ā10 treat the external sense fields. In this way the student is introduced to new concepts gradually, and can spend time contemplating each topic before the next is introduced. | For these eighteen elements, see MN 28:37.1, MN 115:4.8, and notes there.
idaį¹ vuccati, bhikkhave, dhÄtunÄnattanāti. This is called the diversity of elements.ā
Paį¹hamaį¹.