Sutta Interpretations > Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta > Tiparivaṭṭa and Twelve Types of Ñāṇa (Knowledge)

January 29, 2016; revised January 7, 2019; February 22, 2020

Introduction

1. We discussed the tiparivaṭṭa (three rounds of bondage) briefly in the post “Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta Interpretation – Uddesa, Niddesa, Paṭiniddesa.” Here we will discuss it in a bit more depth.

▪We remind ourselves that the Buddha delivered this sutta to the five ascetics right after attaining the Buddhahood. The five ascetics first refused to believe that the ascetic Siddhartha had attained the Buddhahood. This and other details of Buddha’s life described in the Vinaya Piṭaka, “WebLink: suttacentral: Going forth (Pabbajjā).” This particular account is in the sub-section, “ON THE GROUP OF FIVE.”

▪According to that account, the five ascetics first refused to believe that ascetic Gotama had attained the Buddhahood. They did not believe Buddha’s words!

▪Some people ask me whether there is a way to know some other person has attained the Sotāpanna stage. Those five ascetics, who were with the ascetic Siddhartha for five years, could not even believe Buddha’s own words. How can any of us figure out whether another person has attained magga phala? Unless that person declares it, there is no way to know. Even then, there is no way to verify it. Now let us get back to the sutta.

Four Noble Truths Comprehended in Three Rounds (Tiparivaṭṭa)

2. At each round of the three rounds (tiparivaṭṭa,) three pieces of knowledge about the Four Noble Truths arose in the Buddha. Those 12 pieces of knowledge stated in section 4 through 7 of the sutta.

▪We will follow the text of the sutta (you may want to print it out so that you can refer to each section): Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta Text.

▪Of course the Buddha attained all 12 types of knowledges together upon attaining the Buddhahood, but we (normal humans) achieve them in four stages of Sotāpanna, Sakadāgāmi, Anāgāmi, and Arahant.

The Three Rounds or Barriers

3. There are three rounds or barriers (ti + parivaṭṭa) to overcome: (1) The apāyā or the four lowest realms, (2) kāma loka (human realm and the six deva realms), (3) rūpa loka (16 rūpi brahma realms) and arūpa loka (4 arūpi brahma realms).

▪At each round, one comprehends the Four Noble Truths to a certain extent.

▪For example, when one becomes a Sotāpanna and overcomes the first round (barrier), he/she understands all Four Noble truths to some extent. When one becomes an Anāgāmi by overcoming the second round, he/she has understood all Four Noble truths to a higher level, and it is complete at the Arahant stage.

▪The Four Noble Truths are discussed at, “Four Noble Truths – Suffering and Its Elimination.”

First Noble Truth in Three Rounds

4. First is the knowledge about the suffering in the wider world of 31 realms, as stated in verse 4(i) (Idan dukkhan ariyasaccan’ti me). This Dhamma had never been known to the world. That is what a average human comprehends when he/she attains the Sotāpanna stage, and overcomes the first round of bondage in the three rounds (tiparivaṭṭa), i.e., becomes free of rebirths in the apāyā.

▪Then that knowledge becomes even more evident when one starts to lose attachments to this world; verse 4(ii). That is the second round of tiparivaṭṭa overcome at the Anāgāmī stage. The keyword is “pariññeyyan’ti,” which means “seeing with less attachment to sense cravings” or “pirisindha” (“piri” or liking + “sindha” or removed in Sinhala). Thus an Anāgāmī will never be reborn in the kāma loka (i.e., overcome the second round of tiparivaṭṭa). [pariññeyya：[nt.] what should be known accurately]

▪The last round is when “seeing” is done with all cravings removed, as stated by “pariññātan’ti.” This happens to a human when attaining the Arahant stage. But here it is stated, “pariññātan’ti me,” as stated by the Buddha, where “me” means “I” in verse 4(īi). That will become more clear in section 8. [pariññāta：[pp. of parijānāti] known for certain； comprehended； known accurately.]

▪These three types of knowledge are about the First Noble Truth, dukkha sacca.

Second Noble Truth in Three Rounds

5. Section 5 describes three pieces of knowledge for Second Noble Truth, the causes for suffering (dukkha samudaya). The Four Noble Truths are succinctly stated in Section 3.

▪At the second round of the tiparivaṭṭa the root cause for suffering identified as “taṇhā”; verse 5(i): Idan dukkhasamudayan ariyasaccan’ti me. This is the knowledge a Sotāpanna acquires simultaneously with round 1 for dukkha sacca. See, “Taṇhā – How We Attach Via Greed, Hate, and Ignorance” for a discussion on taṇhā.

▪In the second round, one realizes that cause for suffering is attachments to all sensory pleasures (kāma rāga): “pahātabban’ti,” where “pahā” means “to remove”. For an average human, this knowledge comes in two stages of Sakadāgāmī and Anāgāmī; verse 5(ii). [pahātabba ：which must be discarded, to be eliminated.]

▪In the third round, at the Arahant stage, one realizes without any doubt that any taṇhā is a cause for suffering: “pahīnan’ti”; verse 5(iii). [pahīna ：[pp．of pajahati] eliminated； abandoned； destroyed.]

▪These three types of knowledge are about the Second Noble Truth, dukkha samudaya sacca.

Third Noble Truth in Three Rounds

6. Section 6 describes the three pieces of knowledge for Third Noble Truth, stopping causes for suffering (dukkha nirodhaya).

▪At the first round of the tiparivaṭṭa one realizes that taṇhā must be removed to end the suffering; Idaṁ dukkhanirodhan ariyasaccan’ti me. As stated in section 3: “..Yo tassā yeva taṇhāya asesa-virāga-nirodho, chāgo, paṭinissaggo, mutti, anālayo...”This was discussed in the previous post, “Majjima Patipada – Way to Relinquish Attachments to this World.” That realization sets in at preliminary level in the first round (i.e., Sotāpanna stage.) verse 6(i).

▪In the second round, the need to lose all attachments to sensory pleasures (kāma rāga) is realized: “sacchikātabban’ti.” For a normal human, this knowledge comes in two stages of Sakadāgāmī and Anāgāmī, when one actually starts seeing the perils of kāma rāga; verse 6(ii). [sacchikātabba：[pt. p. of sacchikaroti] realising.]

▪In the third round, one realizes without any doubt that any type of taṇhā (including bhava taṇhā and vibhava taṇhā) must be removed: “sacchikatan’ti”; verse 6(iii). [sacchikata：[pp. of sacchikaroti] realised; experienced for oneself.]

Fourth Noble Truth in Three Rounds

7. The way to accomplish this nirodhaya comes in three rounds, as stated in section 7.

▪The Noble Eightfold Path as the way to liberation is first grasped in the first round. For a normal human, this knowledge is gained when attaining the Sotāpanna stage: Idaṁ dukkha nirodhagāmini paṭipadā ariyasaccan’ti me. One “sees” the Path through the “Dhamma eye”: verse 7(i). An enormous amount of defilements disappear just with this “clear vision”. [dukkha nirodhagāmini paṭipadā = magga] [nirodha：[m.] extinction; cessation; the final truth.] [paṭipadā, (f.) [fr. paṭi+pad] means of reaching a goal or destination, path, way, means, method, mode of progress.]

▪Then in the second round, it is realized that one must cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path (bhāvanā) to remove the root causes (verse 7(ii)): bhāvetabban’ti [bhāvetabba：[pt. p. of bhāveti] should be cultivated.]

▪In the third round, it is realized that one has completed that task, and there is nothing else to be done (verse 7(iii)): bhāvitan’ti [bhāvita：[pp．of bhāveti] increased; cultivated; developed.]

▪However, as I mentioned above, all 12 types of knowledge arose in the Buddha simultaneously, upon attaining the Buddhahood.

Declaring the Attainment of the Buddhahood

8. In section 8, the Buddha says: “I had NOT previously declared the Buddhahood since I had not attained all 12 types of knowledge...” Here, “na suvisuddhaṁ ahosi” means “had not accomplished it completely”.

▪In the next phrase, the Buddha declares that he has now done that (suvisuddhaṁ ahosi), and that he is declaring to the “.. world of humans, Devā, Brahmā,..” that he has attained the Buddhahood.

▪In the next verse (Section 9,) he declares: “the vision arose in me (dassanaṁ udapādi) , unmovable calm mindset arose in me (akuppā me vimutti), this is my last birth (ayaṁantimā jāti), and there will be no more bhava for me (natthi’ dāni punabbhavo).”

▪Lastly: “Idamavoca Bhagavā”: “Thus declared the Buddha.”

The Last Long Section

9. Section 10 stats that one of the five ascetics, Koṇḍañña, attained the Sotāpanna stage at the conclusion of the desanā. This section was discussed in the previous post, “Majjima Patipada – Way to Relinquish Attachments to this World.”

▪Then those Devā and Brahmā who attended the desanā identified in a repetitive manner; see, “Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta Interpretation – Uddesa, Niddesa, Paṭiniddesa.”

▪Note that this sutta mentions many of the 31 realms. Large numbers of Devā and Brahmā from most of those realms were present to hear the first discourse. I have marked in blue those different realms.

Path to Be Followed Sequentially

10. The important thing to understand is that one needs to go through these stages sequentially (only a Buddha goes through them at once). Some people try to get rid of “the perception of a self” even before the Sotāpanna stage. A “self” is going to be there until any kind of “gati” are still there. With the “apāya gati” removed at the Sotāpanna stage, one overcomes the first stage. “Kāma gati” reduce at the Sakadāgāmī stage, and eliminated at the Anāgāmī stage, thus overcoming the second round of bondage.

▪The two saṁyojanā of māna and uddhacca go away only at the Arahant stage together with the other three sanṁyojanā of rūpa rāga, arūpa rāga, and avijjā. Māna is the perception, “I need to be treated well because I am superior in some way.” The tendency to get at least irritated when not respected is uddhacca.

▪However, the levels of māna, uddhacca, avijjā that an Anāgāmī has, are at much reduced level. They are gradually decrease through various stages of Nibbāna and disappear at the Arahant stage.

▪Thus the critical step is to understand the nature of the wider world of 31 realms and get through the first round of bondage. That releases one from rebirths in the apāyā where the dangers are the highest. The only way to do that is to learn and contemplate the true and pure Dhamma. Relinquishing sense pleasures comes naturally after that. trying to give up sense pleasures forcefully before the Sotāpanna stage will only lead to frustration.

11. A normal human, no matter how intelligent, cannot grasp the dangers of existence in the wider world of 31 realms because of various forms of wrong views or micchā diṭṭhi. A Buddha discovers the existence of those realms and the unbearable suffering encountered (especially in the apāyā).

▪Until one gets rid of the those wrong views and attain the Sotāpanna stage, it is impossible to “clearly see” the dangers of sense cravings.

Suttā Should Not Be Translated Word-by-Word

12. That is why a sutta cannot be translated word by word. A sutta, states the key ideas or steps. The key ideas need detailed explanations. This sutta, even though delivered overnight, is summarized in a few pages.

▪The Buddha must have described what we discussed here plus much more during the several hours of delivery of the sutta. In the next post, we will try to discuss some details making the connection to concepts that we have already discussed in other sections.

▪As we have seen, the same holds for other suttā and for Paṭicca Samuppāda. Just listing the eleven steps in Paṭicca Samuppāda will have no benefit. The steps in Paṭicca Samuppāda vary according to each individual Paṭicca Samuppāda cycle of relevance (Akusala-Mūla, kusala-mūla, etc.) Yet, the steps are same.