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Saį¹yutta NikÄya 22.22 Linked Discourses 22.22
3. BhÄravagga 3. The Burden
BhÄrasutta The Burden of Responsibility
SÄvatthiyaį¹ ā¦ tatra kho ā¦ At SÄvatthÄ«. This discourse is much-quoted in later texts of both Pali and Sanskrit Buddhism, especially in discussing what the Buddha meant by āindividualā (puggala). One school of Buddhism, the PudgalavÄdins, argued that the āindividualā was ultimately real but not defined, being neither identical with nor separate from the aggregates. This position was rejected by other schools, including the Theravada (Kv 1.1). The text itself, however, is about spiritual responsibility, not the nature of personal identity.
ābhÄraƱca vo, bhikkhave, desessÄmi bhÄrahÄraƱca bhÄrÄdÄnaƱca bhÄranikkhepanaƱca. āMendicants, I will teach you the burden, the bearer of the burden, the taking up of the burden, and the putting down of the burden. Pali bhÄra, like English āburdenā, has the dual senses of āloadā and āresponsibilityā. The opening phrase clearly indicates three of the four noble truths (the burden = suffering, picking up = origin, putting down = cessation), leaving the status of the ābearer of the burdenā unclear. I propose that the sequence of the truths has been altered for rhetorical purposes, and the ābearer of the burdenā is one who has undertaken the path. Compare AN 2.98ā99, where the fool is the one who improperly ācarries the burdenā (i.e. āshoulders responsibilityā), while the astute carry the burden properly.
Taį¹ suį¹Ätha. Listen ā¦
Katamo ca, bhikkhave, bhÄro? And what is the burden?
PaƱcupÄdÄnakkhandhÄ tissa vacanÄ«yaį¹. The five grasping aggregates, it should be said. Vedic skandha has no technical use, being simply the ātrunkā of a tree (Rig Veda 1.32.5, Atharva Veda 10.7.38) or a person (plural = āshouldersā, Atharva Veda 6.25.2, 6.135.1, etc.). The Buddhist use shares more in common with the Jains, for whom the skandha was a type of matter (pudgala) consisting of two or more combined āatomsā (aį¹u), namely a āmoleculeā (TattvÄrthasÅ«tra 5.5). Thus the aggregates themselves can be considered what āshouldersā the burden (like buffaloes, ArthaÅÄstra 2.29.8).
Katame paƱca? What five?
RÅ«pupÄdÄnakkhandho, vedanupÄdÄnakkhandho, saƱƱupÄdÄnakkhandho, saį¹
khÄrupÄdÄnakkhandho, viƱƱÄį¹upÄdÄnakkhandho; The grasping aggregates of form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness.
ayaį¹ vuccati, bhikkhave, bhÄro. This is called the burden. The aggregates are a āloadā in the sense of being hard to bear and therefore suffering. But they are also a āresponsibilityā, like a wound that must be cared for if one is to heal (MN 105:19.1).
Katamo ca, bhikkhave, bhÄrahÄro? And who is the bearer of the burden? BhÄrahÄra is attested almost entirely in discussion of this discourse. However, we do find an unrelated idiomatic use in the commentary to AN 3.91, where it means āone who takes responsibilityā (for looking after a monastery). Also, ÅÄį¹
khÄyana Äraį¹yaka 14.2 speaks of a student who repeats the Veda without understanding, like a pillar that merely ābears the burdenā (bhÄrahÄra), thus also referring to a person who has undertaken a responsibility.
Puggalo tissa vacanÄ«yaį¹. The individual, it should be said; Puggala (Sanskrit pudgala) is a Buddhist and Jain term, being absent from pre-Buddhist texts and rare later. Abruptly, the Suttas then use it some 3000 times for descriptions of āindividualsā and their characteristics, especially in the Aį¹
guttara NikÄya, and collected in the Abhidhamma book PuggalapaƱƱatti. Pali is rich in terms for āpersonā, so why did puggala became so characteristic? The Jain meaning of pudgala is āparticulate matterā (TattvÄrthasÅ«tra 5.5, IsibhÄsiyam 1.31, UttarÄdhyayanasÅ«tra 28.12). They say āsubstantial realityā (astikÄya = sakkÄya) includes āmatterā (pudgala), which is comprised of āatomsā (anu) and āmoleculesā (skandha). Pudgala is also used for an individual āarticleā (of gold) by Kauį¹ilya (ArthaÅastra 2.14.7, 2.14.43). Further, we find the notion that beings are pudgalÄÅrayÄįø„ (ācomprised of a composite massā, Viį¹£į¹u PurÄį¹a 5.30.13) related to a criticism of those who assert not-self, i.e. Buddhists. Rarely, later Sanskrit references the meaning ābodyā. Thus puggala approaches the same semantic field as khandha (āaggregateā) and kÄya (ābodyā, from the root ci, āheapā), which gives us sakkÄya (āsubstantial realityā, SN 22.105 and notes), all three of which are technical terms in Buddhism and Jainism but not Vedism. Our findings support Paul Tedescoās proposed derivation from pį¹thak (āSanskrit pudgalaāābody, soulāā, Journal of the American Oriental Society 67, 1947, 172ā7). Given that Pali puthu combines the senses of Sanskrit pį¹thu (āexpansive, manifoldā) and pį¹thak (āseparate, individualā), the original sense was probably ācomposite individualā (cf. English āorganismā). Perhaps the Buddha favored puggala because it avoided Vedic terminology, while at the same time suggesting a connection with the khandha doctrine that the āindividualā comprised a āmassā of components.
YvÄyaį¹ ÄyasmÄ evaį¹nÄmo evaį¹
gotto; the venerable of such name and such clan. The commentary says this refers to any person from the time of birth. However, the same phrase is used at SN 22.106:1.16 and SN 23.4:2.13, both cases referring to the arahant specifically, which is why they are referred to as āvenerableā. Thus the one who ābears the burdenā is not someone who is reborn and has to suffer the aggregates, but someone who has full accepted the responsibility of spiritual practice in regard to the aggregates.
ayaį¹ vuccati, bhikkhave, bhÄrahÄro. This is called the bearer of the burden. To sum up, I argue that the ābearer of the burdenā is the one who āundertakes responsibilityā for practicing the path on four grounds: (1) the pattern of the teaching (four noble truths); (2) idiomatic meaning; (3) similarity to AN 2.98ā99; and (4) the fact that the āvenerableā phrase elsewhere refers to an arahant.
KatamaƱca, bhikkhave, bhÄrÄdÄnaį¹? And what is the taking up of the burden?
YÄyaį¹ taį¹hÄ ponobhavikÄ nandÄ«rÄgasahagatÄ tatratatrÄbhinandinÄ«, seyyathidaį¹āItās the craving that leads to future lives, mixed up with relishing and greed, taking pleasure there wherever it alights. That is,
kÄmataį¹hÄ, bhavataį¹hÄ, vibhavataį¹hÄ. craving for sensual pleasures, craving for continued existence, and craving for nonexistence.
Idaį¹ vuccati, bhikkhave, bhÄrÄdÄnaį¹. This is called the taking up of the burden.
KatamaƱca, bhikkhave, bhÄranikkhepanaį¹? And what is the putting down of the burden?
Yo tassÄyeva taį¹hÄya asesavirÄganirodho cÄgo paį¹inissaggo mutti anÄlayo. Itās the fading away and cessation of that very same craving no residue left behind; giving it away, letting it go, releasing it, and not clinging to it.
Idaį¹ vuccati, bhikkhave, bhÄranikkhepananāti. This is called the putting down of the burden.ā
Idamavoca bhagavÄ. That is what the Buddha said.
Idaį¹ vatvÄna sugato athÄparaį¹ etadavoca satthÄ: Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:
āBhÄrÄ have paƱcakkhandhÄ, āThe five aggregates are indeed burdens,
bhÄrahÄro ca puggalo; and the individual is the bearer of the burden.
BhÄrÄdÄnaį¹ dukhaį¹ loke, Taking up the burden is suffering in the world,
bhÄranikkhepanaį¹ sukhaį¹. and putting the burden down is happiness.
NikkhipitvÄ garuį¹ bhÄraį¹, When the heavy burden is put down
aƱƱaį¹ bhÄraį¹ anÄdiya; without taking up another,
SamÅ«laį¹ taį¹hamabbuyha, one who has plucked out craving, root and all,
nicchÄto parinibbutoāti. is hungerless, quenched.ā
Paį¹hamaį¹.