Pancha Verabhaya Sutta: Discourse on five types of hate and fear
By Dr. Ari Ubeysekara
Introduction
All of the discourses delivered by the Lord Gautama Buddha, who lived and preached in India during the 6th and 5th century BC, were grouped into five collections at the first Buddhist council that was held three months after the passing away of the Buddha in 483 BC.
- Collection of long discourses (dīgha nikāya)
- Collection of middle length discourses (majjhima nikāya)
- Collection of connected discourses (samyutta nikāya)
- Collection of numerical discourses (anguttara nikāya)
- Collection of minor discourses (khuddaka nikāya)
The collection of the connected discourses (samyutta nikāya), consist of the Buddha’s discourses on related topics grouped into five sections called Vaggas. They are named Sagātā Vagga, Nidhāna Vagga, Khanda Vagga, Salāyatana Vagga and Mahā Vagga. Each Vagga is further sub-divided into groups called samyuttas, containing a number of discourses on related topics. Each samyutta is again sub-divided into smaller units called vaggas, each containing around ten discourses. Pancha Verabhaya sutta is included in the Gahapati vagga, of the Nidhāna samyutta of the Nidhāna Vagga (1).
Content of Pancha Verabhaya sutta
Thus have I heard.
[All the discourses of the Buddha contained in the five collections were narrated by Venerable Arahant Ananda from memory at the first Buddhist council that was held three months after the Buddha’s passing away. He was the chief attendant of the Buddha and was known as the “guardian of the Dhamma” due to his excellent skill in remembering the Buddha’s discourses. At the Buddhist council, each discourse was begun by him with the same phrase found at the beginning of this discourse too, “evaṁ me sutaṁ” meaning “Thus have I heard”.]
At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatti in the Jeta Grove, Anathapindika’s monastery.
[At the time that this discourse was delivered, the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatti. It was named Jetavana, as the land on which it was built was bought from a prince named Jeta. Sāvatti was a favourite residence of the Buddha and it is recorded that the Buddha spent twenty five rainy retreats at Sāvatti.]
Then the householder Anāthapindika went up to the Buddha, paid homage to the Buddha and sat to one side. As he was sitting to one side, the Buddha said to him:
“Householder, when a noble disciple has quelled five types of hate and fear, and is endowed with the four factors of a Stream Enterer, and has clearly seen and thoroughly penetrated the noble way with wisdom, if he wishes, he may declare of himself: ‘I have finished with further rebirth in hell, the realm of animals, the realm of hungry ghosts, finished with the plane of misery, the bad destination, the suffering state. I am a Stream Winner, no longer bound for the underworld, sure of reaching enlightenment as my destination’.”
“What are the five types of hate and fear that he has quelled?”
“Householder, one who kills any living beings generates hate and fear in this life, and generates hate and fear in the next life too, and experiences pain and sadness. But for one who abstains from killing any living beings, that hate and fear are quelled.”
“Householder, one who steals generates hate and fear in this life, and generates hate and fear in the next life too, and experiences pain and sadness. But for one who abstains from stealing, that hate and fear are quelled.”
“Householder, one who engages in sexual misconduct generates hate and fear in this life, and generates hate and fear in the next life too, and experiences pain and sadness. But for one who abstains from engaging in sexual misconduct, that hate and fear are quelled.”
“Householder, one who tells lies generates hate and fear in this life, and generates hate and fear in the next life too, and experiences pain and sadness. But for one who abstains from telling lies, that hate and fear are quelled.”
“Householder, one who indulges in strong drinks, distilled drinks, and fermented drinks that lead to heedlessness, generates hate and fear in this life, and generates hate and fear in the next life too, and experiences pain and sadness. But for one who abstains from indulging in strong drinks, distilled drinks, and fermented drinks that lead to heedlessness, that hate and fear are quelled.”
“These are the five types of hate and fear that he has quelled.”
[The minimum moral code to be observed by a lay Buddhist disciple has been described as the five precepts (pancha sīla). They are:
- Abstaining from killing any living beings
- Abstaining from stealing or taking what is not given
- Abstaining from sexual misconduct
- Abstaining from false speech or lying
- Abstaining from alcohol and intoxicants that can lead to heedlessness
Observing the five precepts with diligence will lead to positive worldly benefits both in this life and future lives. Morality (sīla) is also the basic foundation of the Buddhist spiritual path of liberation which is the Noble Eight-fold Path consisting of: Right view (sammā ditthi), right thought (sammā sankappa), right speech (sammā vācā), right action (sammā kammantha), right livelihood (sammā ājīva), right effort (sammā vāyāma), right mindfulness (sammā sati) and right concentration (sammā samādhi). From the standpoint of practical training, there is a threefold division contained within the Noble Eight-fold Path: Training in moral discipline (sīla), consisting of right speech, right action and right livelihood, training in concentration (samādhi), consisting of right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration, and training in wisdom (paññā), consisting of right view and right thought. (2)
In the Vipāka sutta of the Anguttara Nikāya,, the Buddha has stated the negative results of violating the five precepts as rebirth in the realm of hell, rebirth in the realm of hungry ghosts and rebirth in the animal kingdom. If reborn as a human being, the least negative result would be the following:
- Violation of the first precept will result in short life span
- Violation of the second precept will result in the loss of one’s wealth
- Violation of the third precept will result in rivalry and revenge
- Violation of the fourth precept will result in false accusations
- Violation of the fifth precept will result in mental derangement] (3)
“What are the four factors of a Stream Enterer that he is endowed with?”
“Here, householder, a noble disciple has confirmed confidence in the Buddha: ‘The Blessed One is an Arahant, fully self-awakened, accomplished in true knowledge and conduct, well-farer, knower of the worlds, unsurpassed leader of tamable persons, teacher of gods and humans, Awakened One, the Blessed One’.”
“He has confirmed confidence in the Dhamma: ‘The Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed One, visible in this very life, immediately effective, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise’.”
“He has confirmed confidence in the Sangha: ‘The Sangha of the Blessed One is practising the good way, practising the straight way, practising the true way, practising the proper way; that is the four pairs of persons, the eight individuals. This is the Sangha disciples of the Blessed One, worthy of offerings, worthy of hospitality, worthy of religious donations, worthy of reverential salutation with joined palms, an incomparable field of merit for the world’.”
“He possesses moral virtues dear to the noble ones, unbroken, impeccable, spotless, unmarred, liberating, praised by the wise, untarnished, leading to concentration.”
“These are the four factors of a Stream Enterer that he is endowed with.”
[According to Buddhist teaching, one who cultivates the Noble Eight-fold Path as described by the Buddha with diligence, will sooner or later attain full enlightenment or Nibbana, passing through four progressive stages of spiritual development namely;
- Stream Enterer (sotāpanna)
- Once Returner (sakadāgāmi)
- Non-Returner (anāgāmi)
- Arahant (arhat)
The Stream Enterer is the first supra mundane stage of the Buddhist spiritual path of liberation. A Stream Enterer has completely eradicated three of the ten fetters (dasa samyojanā) namely, self-identification view (sakkāya ditthi), sceptical doubt (vicikiccā) and attachment to rites and rituals (sīlabbata parāmāsa). In the Anga sutta of the Samyutta Nikāya, the Buddha has described four wholesome qualities of a Stream Enterer:
- Unshakable confidence with wisdom (aveccappasāda) in the Awakened One (Buddha).
- Unshakable confidence with wisdom (aveccappasāda) in the Buddha’s teaching (Dhamma).
- Unshakable confidence with wisdom (aveccappasāda) in the Buddhist Monastics (Sangha).
- Unbroken and perfect morality that is pleasing to the Noble ones (Ariya kanta sīla). (4)
A Stream Enterer has entered the spiritual path to attain enlightenment either in the same life time or within a maximum of seven further rebirths.]
“And what householder, is the noble way that he has clearly seen and thoroughly penetrated with wisdom?”
“Here, householder, the noble disciple skilfully attends to Dependent Origination itself:
‘When this exists, this comes to be,
With the arising of this, this arises,
When this does not exist, this does not come to be,
With the cessation of this, this ceases’.”
“That is:
With ignorance as condition, formations arise,
With formations as condition, consciousness arises,
With consciousness as condition, name and form arise,
With name and form as condition, six sense bases arise,
With six sense bases as condition, contact arises,
With contact as condition, feeling arises,
With feeling as condition, craving arises,
With craving as condition, clinging arises,
With clinging as condition, becoming arises,
With becoming as condition, birth arises,
With birth as condition, ageing, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair arise.
Such is the arising of this whole mass of suffering.”
“But with the remainder-less fading away and cessation of ignorance, formations cease,
With the cessation of formations, consciousness ceases,
With the cessation of consciousness, name and form cease,
With the cessation of name and form, six sense bases cease,
With the cessation of six sense bases, contact ceases,
With the cessation of contact, feeling ceases,
With the cessation of feeling, craving ceases,
With the cessation of craving, clinging ceases,
With the cessation of clinging, becoming ceases,
With the cessation of becoming, birth ceases,
With the cessation of birth, ageing, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair cease.”
“Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.”
[Dependent Origination (paticca samuppāda) consisting of these twelve conditioning and conditioned factors is a key aspect of the Buddha’s teaching. It can be described as a pragmatic teaching and a statement of universal law explaining the fact that physical and mental phenomena do not arise on their own accord but due to other interdependent conditioning factors. It also explains the mechanism of the cycle of birth and death (samsāra), as well as the arising and cessation of suffering.] (5)
“This is the noble way that he has clearly seen and thoroughly penetrated with wisdom.”
“Householder, when a noble disciple has quelled five types of hate and fear, and is endowed with the four factors of a Stream Enterer, and has clearly seen and thoroughly penetrated the noble way with wisdom, if he wishes, he may declare of himself: ‘I have finished with further rebirth in hell, the realm of animals, the realm of hungry ghosts, finished with the plane of misery, the bad destination, the suffering state. I am a Stream Winner, no longer bound for the underworld, sure of reaching enlightenment as my destination’.”
It should be noted that the Buddha has delivered the Pancha Verabhaya sutta to the householder Anāthapindika who was already a Stream Enterer. A Stream Enterer has weakened the three unwholesome roots of greed (rāga), ill-will (dosa) and ignorance (moha) to such an extent that no unwholesome physical, verbal or mental deeds that will lead to rebirth in any of the realms of suffering will be committed. In this discourse, the Buddha has highlighted the four qualities of a Stream Enterer including the perfect morality praised by the noble ones. One who diligently observes the five precepts of morality will be free of the hate and fear associated with breaking the five precepts. The Buddha has described the wisdom in a Stream Enterer in terms of a clear knowledge of the Dependent Origination which is a key aspect of the Buddha’s teaching, describing the cause and effect process that operates in the arising of suffering and continued existence in the cycle of birth and death (samsāra).
References
- Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999, Pancha Verabhaya sutta, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Samyutta Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
- Ven. Ledi. Sayadaw (1977), ‘The Noble Eightfold Path and It’s Factors Explained’, The Wheel Publication, No. 245/247, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka.
- Bhikkhu Bodhi 2012, Vipāka sutta , The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, Anguttara Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
- Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999, Anga sutta, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Samyutta Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
- Piyadassi Thera, 2008, Dependent Origination (paticca samuppāda), Wheel Publication No:15, Buddhist Publication society, Kandy, Sri Lanka.
End.
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