There are some ascetics and brahmins who are
eternalists, who assert that the self and the cosmos are eternal on four grounds.
Santi, bhikkhave, eke samaṇabrāhmaṇā sassatavādā, sassataṃ attānañca lokañca paññapenti catūhi vatthūhi.
And what are the four grounds on which they rely?
Te ca bhonto samaṇabrāhmaṇā kimāgamma kimārabbha sassatavādā sassataṃ attānañca lokañca paññapenti catūhi vatthūhi?
It’s when some ascetic or brahmin—by dint of keen, resolute, committed, and diligent effort, and right focus—experiences an immersion of the heart of such a kind that they recollect their many kinds of past lives.
Idha, bhikkhave, ekacco samaṇo vā brāhmaṇo vā ātappamanvāya padhānamanvāya anuyogamanvāya appamādamanvāya sammāmanasikāramanvāya tathārūpaṃ cetosamādhiṃ phusati, yathāsamāhite citte anekavihitaṃ pubbenivāsaṃ anussarati.
That is: one, two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand rebirths; many eons of the cosmos contracting, many eons of the cosmos expanding, many eons of the cosmos contracting and expanding. They remember: ‘There, I was named this, my clan was that, I looked like this, and that was my food. This was how I felt pleasure and pain, and that was how my life ended. When I passed away from that place I was reborn somewhere else. There, too, I was named this, my clan was that, I looked like this, and that was my food. This was how I felt pleasure and pain, and that was how my life ended. When I passed away from that place I was reborn here.’ And so they recollect their many kinds of past lives, with features and details.
Seyyathidaṃ—ekampi jātiṃ dvepi jātiyo tissopi jātiyo catassopi jātiyo pañcapi jātiyo dasapi jātiyo vīsampi jātiyo tiṃsampi jātiyo cattālīsampi jātiyo paññāsampi jātiyo jātisatampi jātisahassampi jātisatasahassampi anekānipi jātisatāni anekānipi jātisahassāni anekānipi jātisatasahassāni: ‘amutrāsiṃ evaṃnāmo evaṃgotto evaṃvaṇṇo evamāhāro evaṃsukhadukkhappaṭisaṃvedī evamāyupariyanto, so tato cuto amutra udapādiṃ; tatrāpāsiṃ evaṃnāmo evaṃgotto evaṃvaṇṇo evamāhāro evaṃsukhadukkhappaṭisaṃvedī evamāyupariyanto, so tato cuto idhūpapanno’ti. Iti sākāraṃ sauddesaṃ anekavihitaṃ pubbenivāsaṃ anussarati.
They say:
So evamāha:
‘The self and the cosmos are eternal, barren, steady as a mountain peak, standing firm like a pillar.
‘sassato attā ca loko ca vañjho kūṭaṭṭho esikaṭṭhāyiṭṭhito;
They remain the same for all eternity, while these sentient beings wander and transmigrate and pass away and rearise.
te ca sattā sandhāvanti saṃsaranti cavanti upapajjanti, atthi tveva sassatisamaṃ.
Why is that?
Taṃ kissa hetu?
Because by dint of keen, resolute, committed, and diligent effort, and right focus I experience an immersion of the heart of such a kind that I recollect my many kinds of past lives,
Ahañhi ātappamanvāya padhānamanvāya anuyogamanvāya appamādamanvāya sammāmanasikāramanvāya tathārūpaṃ cetosamādhiṃ phusāmi, yathāsamāhite citte anekavihitaṃ pubbenivāsaṃ anussarāmi.
with features and details.
Because of this I know:
Imināmahaṃ etaṃ jānāmi:
“The self and the cosmos are eternal, barren, steady as a mountain peak, standing firm like a pillar.
“yathā sassato attā ca loko ca vañjho kūṭaṭṭho esikaṭṭhāyiṭṭhito;
They remain the same for all eternity, while these sentient beings wander and transmigrate and pass away and rearise.’
te ca sattā sandhāvanti saṃsaranti cavanti upapajjanti, atthi tveva sassatisaman”’ti.
This is the first ground on which some ascetics and brahmins rely to assert that the self and the cosmos are eternal.
Idaṃ, bhikkhave, paṭhamaṃ ṭhānaṃ, yaṃ āgamma yaṃ ārabbha eke samaṇabrāhmaṇā sassatavādā sassataṃ attānañca lokañca paññapenti.
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