20.2 The Story about the Characteristic of Impermanence
Aniccalakkhaṇavatthu
Dhp 277
Burlingame: Impermanence
Five hundred bhikkhus strove hard but were unable to attain Arahatship, so they approached the Buddha for further teaching; seeing into their past lives and knowing they had previously meditated on impermanence, the Buddha gave them this teaching, after hearing which, they became Arahats. AJ: this and the next two verses have very weak stories attached to them, while being some of the most profound verses in the collection. One can’t help thinking it would have been better if the story at Dhp-a 20.9 had been used to introduce them.
Keywords: Insight, Past Lives
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“All conditions are impermanent,”
It seems that these five hundred bhikkhus, who had received a subject of meditation from the Teacher and who had striven and struggled with might and main in the forest without attaining Arahatship, returned to the Teacher for the purpose of obtaining a subject of meditation better suited to their needs.
The Teacher enquired within himself: “What will be the most profitable subject of meditation for these bhikkhus?” Then he considered within himself: “In the dispensation of the Buddha Kassapa these bhikkhus devoted themselves for twenty thousand years to meditation on the characteristic of impermanence; therefore the characteristic of impermanence shall be the subject of the single verse which I shall pronounce.” And he said to them: “Bhikkhus, in the sphere of sensual existence and in the other spheres of existence all the conditions, because they become non-existent, are impermanent.” So saying, he pronounced the following verse:
277. Sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā ti, yadā paññāya passati,
atha nibbindatī dukkhe – esa maggo visuddhiyā.
All conditions are impermanent,
when one sees this with deep wisdom,
then one grows tired of suffering,
this is the path to purity.
At the end of the teaching those bhikkhus were established in Arahatship, and those who had assembled also had benefit from the Dhamma teaching.