Sāvatthiyaṃ viharati. “Avijjānīvaraṇassa, bhikkhave, bālassa taṇhāya sampayuttassa evamayaṃ kāyo samudāgato. Iti ayañceva kāyo bahiddhā ca nāmarūpaṃ, itthetaṃ dvayaṃ, dvayaṃ paṭicca phasso saḷevāyatanāni, yehi phuṭṭho bālo sukhadukkhaṃ paṭisaṃvedayati etesaṃ vā aññatarena.
At Savatthī. “Bhikkhus, for the fool, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, this collection (of five aggregates: kaya) goes towards (gato) origination (samudā). So there is this (internal) collection and external minds-and-bodies: thus this dyad. Dependent on the dyad there is contact. There are just six sense bases, contacted through which—or through a certain one among them—the fool experiences happiness and suffering.
Bhikkhus, for the wise man, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, this collection (of five aggregates: kaya) goes towards (gato) origination (samudā). So there is this (internal) collection and external minds-and-bodies: thus this dyad. Dependent on the dyad there is contact. There are just six sense bases, contacted through which—or through a certain one among them—the fool experiences happiness and suffering. What, bhikkhus, is the distinction here, what is the disparity, what is the difference between the wise man and the fool?
Bhikkhus, for the fool, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, this collection (of five aggregates: kaya) goes towards (gato) origination (samudā). For the fool at ignorance has not been abandoned and that craving has not been utterly destroyed. For what reason? Because the fool has not lived the holy life for the complete destruction of suffering. Therefore, with the breakup of the collection, the fool fares on to another collection. Faring on to another collection, he is not freed from birth, aging and death; not freed from sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair; not freed from suffering, I say.
Bhikkhus, for the wise man, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, this collection (of five aggregates: kaya) goes towards (gato) origination (samudā). For the wise man that ignorance has been abandoned and that craving has been utterly destroyed. For what reason? Because the wise man has lived the holy life for the complete destruction of suffering. Therefore, with the breakup of the collection, the wise man does not fare on to another collection. Not faring on to another collection, he is freed from birth, aging and death; freed from sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair; freed from suffering, I say.
This, bhikkhus, is the distinction, the disparity, the difference between the wise man and the fool, that is, the living of the holy life.
Commentary: The above is an altered translation of SN 12.19, which is generally translated in a manner that is illogical & difficult to understand.
The Pali word ‘kaya’, often used for the physical body, means ‘collection’ or ‘group’. Thus, in SN 12.19, it is appropriate to use the term ‘collection’ (referring to the five aggregates) rather than ‘body’ (since a physical body alone cannot engage in sense contact with the external world).
The Pali word ‘namarupam’ refers to external ‘bodies & minds’ (since a person or mind cannot experience external ‘names & forms’) given ‘naming’ is an internal process & forms are external (where as external minds can be experienced via the outward behaviour of other people & beings).
The Pali word ‘gato’ means ‘gone’ or ‘goes’. ‘Origination’ refers to the dependent origination of both happiness & suffering. The verse does not refer to pleasant & unpleasant feelings (vedana) from sense contact since the term ‘vedana’ is not found in the Pali.
In summary, the beginning of SN 12.19 should be regarded the same as the following verse from SN 12.81:
At Sāvatthī. Then Venerable Rāhula went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Sir, how does one know and see so that there’s no ego, possessiveness, or underlying tendency to conceit for this conscious body and all external stimuli?” “Rāhula, one truly sees any kind of form at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; coarse or fine; inferior or superior; far or near: all form—with right understanding: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’ One truly sees any kind of feeling … perception … choices … consciousness at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; coarse or fine; inferior or superior; far or near: all consciousness—with right understanding: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’ That’s how to know and see so that there’s no ego, possessiveness, or underlying tendency to conceit for this conscious body and all external stimuli.”
Also, the phrases ‘ breakup of the collection’ & ‘fare on to another collection’ in SN 12.19 refer to individual acts of karma or behaviour via attachment. For example, the act & results of indulging in delicious food requires & gives rise to a certain set of aggregates (such as using the body to eat, tasting with the tongue, desiring with the mind, feeling pleasure with the mind, being conscious of the food, etc). When the aggregates that perform such pleasurable acts end (‘break up’), eventually, due to conditioned craving, a person will fare on to seek other pleasures, which is another collection of the five aggregates. In other words, the sutta is not about reincarnation. Instead, it is about the continuation of craving & becoming.
The alternative or wise process of ‘not faring on to another collection’ is more plainly explained in the Bhāra Sutta, as follows:
“The five aggregates are truly burdens,
The burden-carrier is the person.
Taking up the burden is suffering in the world,
Laying the burden down is blissful.
Having laid the heavy burden down
Without taking up another burden,
Having drawn out craving with its root,
One is free from hunger, fully quenched.”
SN 22.22
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