Sutta Interpretations > Na Cetanākaraṇīya Sutta

May 21, 2018; revised May 23, 2018; November 19, 2021; July 23, 2022

1. “Na Cetanākaraṇīya Sutta” is the correct name of the sutta, NOT “Cetanākaraṇīya Sutta,” as it is entitled on several websites, including the Sutta Central website: “WebLink: suttacentral: Cetanākaraṇīyasutta (AN 11.2).” The English translation there is entitled accordingly and erroneously: “Making a Wish.”

▪Cetanā is what one intends or wishes; karaṇiya means “what one should do,” and “na” means “not.” The sutta is the teaching: “Just by wishing such and such, one will not get to Nibbāna.”

▪The correct title appears in the Pāli/Sinhala Buddha Jayanthi Tipiṭaka Series XXIII, Aṅguttara Nikāya (Part 6, p.586).

▪Therefore, the English title of the sutta should be something like “Making a Wish Will Not Work.”

2. It is a fairly short sutta. So, I decided to translate the full sutta and put it side-by-side with the Pāli version so that one can see how it is translated.

▪As mentioned above, there is no point in just chanting or repeating to oneself, “May I be free of this, May I be that,” etc.

▪One must map out what must be done to stop future suffering and follow that path. There are no easy solutions like sitting down in a quiet place and just chanting or meditating, even though that should be a part of the whole process.

▪This step-by-step process is summarized clearly in the sutta.

▪I have put in bold every other verse, so it would be easier to match the English and Pāli verses.

“For a person engaged in moral conduct (sīla), and is thus moral and virtuous, there is no need to wish (cetanā): “May I be able to act with a calm mind.” Agitation of the mind does not arise in a person engaged in sīla and is virtuous.	“Sīlavato, bhikkhave, sīlasampannassa na cetanāya karaṇīyaṁ: ‘avippaṭisāro me uppajjatū’ti. Dhammatā esā, bhikkhave, yaṁ sīlavato sīlasampannassa avippaṭisāro uppajjati.
“For a person free from an agitated mind, there is no need to wish (cetanā): “May happiness arises in me.” Happiness (tranquility) arises naturally in a person free from agitation of the mind.	Avippaṭisārissa, bhikkhave, na cetanāya karaṇīyaṁ: ‘pāmojjaṁ me uppajjatū’ti. Dhammatā esā, bhikkhave, yaṁ avippaṭisārissa pāmojjaṁ uppajjati.
“For a person with happiness (tranquility of mind), there is no need to wish (cetanā): “May joy arises in me.”Joy arises in a person with a peaceful mind.	Pamuditassa, bhikkhave, na cetanāya karaṇīyaṁ: ‘pīti me uppajjatū’ti. Dhammatā esā, bhikkhave, yaṁ pamuditassa pīti uppajjati.
“For a joyful person, there is no need to wish (cetanā): “May I feel lightness in the body.”A joyful person attains bodily lightness (passaddhi).	Pītimanassa, bhikkhave, na cetanāya karaṇīyaṁ: ‘kāyo me passambhatū’ti. Dhammatā esā, bhikkhave, yaṁ pītimanassa kāyo passambhati.
“For a person with bodily lightness, there is no need to wish (cetanā): “May I experience sukha.” A person with bodily lightness experiences sukha.	Passaddhakāyassa, bhikkhave, na cetanāya karaṇīyaṁ: ‘sukhaṁ vediyāmī’ti. Dhammatā esā, bhikkhave, yaṁ passaddhakāyo sukhaṁ vediyati.
“For a person experiencing sukha, there is no need to wish (cetanā): “May my mind get to samādhi.” Naturally, the mind of a person experiencing sukha gets to samādhi.	Sukhino, bhikkhave, na cetanāya karaṇīyaṁ: ‘cittaṁ me samādhiyatū’ti. Dhammatā esā, bhikkhave, yaṁ sukhino cittaṁ samādhiyati.
“For a person who gets to samādhi, there is no need to wish (cetanā): “May I know and see the true nature of things in this world (yathābhūta ñāna or comprehension of Tilakkhaṇa).” A person who gets to samādhi will see the true nature of this world. (Here, it is assumed that one has learned Tilakkhaṇa from an Ariya; see #3 and #4 below).	Samāhitassa, bhikkhave, na cetanāya karaṇīyaṁ: ‘yathābhūtaṁ jānāmi passāmī’ti. Dhammatā esā, bhikkhave, yaṁ samāhito yathābhūtaṁ jānāti passati.
“For a person with yathābhūta ñāna, there is no need to wish (cetanā): “May I not be attracted to temptations in this world (virāga) .” A person who knows and sees things as they are naturally dispassionate towards things in this world.	Yathābhūtaṁ, bhikkhave, jānato passato na cetanāya karaṇīyaṁ: ‘nibbindāmī’ti. Dhammatā esā, bhikkhave, yaṁ yathābhūtaṁ jānaṁ passaṁ nibbindati.
“For a person who thus naturally dispassionate, there is no need to wish (cetanā): “May I be free of cravings for things in this world.” A person who is dispassionate through understanding the real nature of things will be free of cravings.	Nibbinnassa, bhikkhave, na cetanāya karaṇīyaṁ: ‘virajjāmī’ti. Dhammatā esā, bhikkhave, yaṁ nibbinno virajjati.
“For a person who is free of cravings, there is no need to wish (cetanā): “May I realize the knowledge of the final release from all suffering (vimuttiñāṇadassana).” A person who is free of cravings will attain the final release from all suffering.	Virattassa, bhikkhave, na cetanāya karaṇīyaṁ: ‘vimuttiñāṇadassanaṁ sacchikaromī’ti. Dhammatā esā, bhikkhave, yaṁ viratto vimuttiñāṇadassanaṁ sacchikaroti.
“In this way, bhikkhus, freedom from cravings (dispassion) has released from all suffering as its reward, Disenchantment has dispassion as its reward, yathābhūta ñāna has , disenchantment as its reward, samādhi has yathābhūta ñāna as its reward, sukha has samādhi as its reward, bodily lightness (passaddhi) has sukha as its reward, joy has bodily lightness as its reward. A calm mind has joy as its reward, freedom from an agitated mind has a calm mind as its reward, and moral conduct has freedom from an agitated mind as its reward. “In this way, dhamma qualities cultivated and fulfilled will lead to more dhamma qualities in the Noble Path in getting from this shore to the Far shore (Nibbāna).”	Iti kho, bhikkhave, virāgo vimuttiñāṇadassanattho vimuttiñāṇadassanānisaṁso, nibbidā virāgatthā virāgānisaṁsā, yathābhūtañāṇadassanaṁ nibbidatthaṁ nibbidānisaṁsaṁ, samādhi yathābhūtañāṇadassanattho yathābhūtañāṇadassanānisaṁso, sukhaṁ samādhatthaṁ samādhānisaṁsaṁ, passaddhi sukhatthā sukhānisaṁsā, pīti passaddhatthā passaddhānisaṁsā, pāmojjaṁ pītatthaṁ pītānisaṁsaṁ, avippaṭisāro pāmojjattho pāmojjānisaṁso, kusalāni sīlāni avippaṭisāratthāni avippaṭisārānisaṁsāni. Iti kho, bhikkhave, dhammā dhamme abhisandenti, dhammā dhamme paripūrenti apārā pāraṁ gamanāyā”ti.

3. The path to Nibbāna is not a straight step-by-step process in a linear fashion. Rather, a given person cycles through the steps repeatedly until the Arahant phala moment is attained.

▪One starts with mundane sīla and can get to the early stages of samādhi without hearing about Tilakkhaṇa. One cannot proceed beyond that with just sīla, which is on shaky grounds, until one comprehends Tilakkhaṇa.

▪Once one starts comprehending Tilakkhaṇa (and becomes a Sotāpanna/Sotāpanna Anugāmi), one’s sīla (moral conduct) will become unbreakable: It is called Ariyakānta sīla.

▪That is when one gets into the Noble Eightfold Path.

4. In other words, there are two paths: One starts on the mundane path, and with the comprehension of Tilakkhaṇa, one switches to the Noble Path; see, “Buddha Dhamma – In a Chart.”

▪Only a Sammasambuddha or a pacceka Buddha can figure out (or comprehend) Tilakkhaṇa by themselves; all others have to learn Tilakkhaṇa from an Ariya.

5. Another key thing to note is that there is no mention of the need to attain jhānā.

Jhānā are a special kind of samādhi. It is good to cultivate jhānā, but they are not necessary to attain magga phala.

And there are innumerable types of samādhi; one gets to Ariya samādhi (conducive to attaining Nibbāna) with the comprehension of Tilakkhaṇa.

6. Key words:

▪Avippaṭisāra (විපිලිසර බව (vigilance) in Sinhala [vipilisara bava in Sinhala]): One’s mind is normally agitated. It tends to go everywhere. This is why it is hard for most people to comprehend Dhamma. When one focuses on maintaining moral conduct (sīla) and stays away from dasa akusala, this agitation of the mind will gradually diminish, and one will be able to concentrate on a given concept for longer. [Avippaṭisāra ; [a + vippaṭisāra] absence of regret or remorse]

▪pāmojja (සතුට or ප්රමෝදය (wellness) in Sinhala [satuṭa or pramodaya in Sinhala]): Happiness or tranquility of mind is the closest English translation. This is below the “joyful state of mind” or pīti (ප්රීති in Sinhala [prīti in Sinhala]).

▪passambhati/passaddha: calming down (lightness) of the physical body (කායික සැහැල්ලුව [kāyika sæhælluva] (physically light)).

▪nibbindati: get weary of, unsatisfied with (කලකිරීම [kalakirīma] (disappointment)).

▪virajjati (related to virāga): absence of cravings. [virajjati : [vi + rad + ya] detaches oneself; shows lack of interest in.]

▪vimutti: becomes free of suffering, final release (විමුක්ති [vimukti] (liberation)).