1On one occasion a number of elder bhikkhus were dwelling at Macchikasaṇḍa in the Wild Mango Grove.

1Ekaṁ samayaṁ sambahulā therā bhikkhū macchikāsaṇḍe vihāranti ambāṭakavane.

Now on that occasion, when the elder bhikkhus had returned from their alms round, after their meal they assembled in the pavilion and were sitting together when this conversation arose: "Friends, ‘the fetter’ and ‘the things that fetter’: are these things different in meaning and also different in phrasing, or are they one in meaning and different only in phrasing?"

Tena kho pana samayena sambahulānaṁ therānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkantānaṁ maṇḍalamāḷe sannisinnānaṁ sannipatitānaṁ ayamantarākathā udapādi: "‘saṁyojanan’ti vā, āvuso, ‘saṁyojaniyā dhammā’ti vā ime dhammā nānatthā nānābyañjanā udāhu ekatthā byañjanameva nānan"ti?

Some elder bhikkhus answered thus: "Friends, ‘the fetter’ and ‘the things that fetter’ are different in meaning and also different in phrasing." But some other elder bhikkhus answered thus: "Friends, ‘the fetter’ and ‘the things that fetter’ are one in meaning and different only in phrasing."

Tatrekaccehi therehi bhikkhūhi evaṁ byākataṁ hoti: "‘saṁyojanan’ti vā, āvuso, ‘saṁyojaniyā dhammā’ti vā ime dhammā nānatthā ceva nānābyañjanā cā"ti. Ekaccehi therehi bhikkhūhi evaṁ byākataṁ hoti: "‘saṁyojanan’ti vā, āvuso, ‘saṁyojaniyā dhammā’ti vā ime dhammā ekatthā byañjanameva nānan"ti.

2Now on that occasion Citta the householder had arrived in Migapathaka on some business.[n.285] At AN I 26,5 Citta is declared the chief male lay disciple among the speakers on the Dhamma (etadaggạ dhammakathikānaṁ); see too SN17.23. For a biographical sketch, see Hecker, "Shorter Lives of the Disciples," in Nyanaponika and Hecker, Great Disciples of the Buddha, pp. 365–72. Migapathaka, according to Spk, was his own tributary village (bhogagāma), situated just behind the Wild Mango Grove. sn.iv.282 Then Citta the householder heard: "A number of elder bhikkhus, it is said, on returning from their alms round, had assembled in the pavilion after their meal and were sitting together when this conversation arose …

2Tena kho pana samayena citto gahapati migapathakaṁ anuppatto hoti kenacideva karaṇīyena. Assosi kho citto gahapati sambahulānaṁ kira therānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkantānaṁ maṇḍalamāḷe sannisinnānaṁ sannipatitānaṁ ayamantarākathā udapādi: "‘saṁyojanan’ti vā, āvuso, ‘saṁyojaniyā dhammā’ti vā ime dhammā nānatthā nānābyañjanā udāhu ekatthā byañjanameva nānan"ti? Tatrekaccehi therehi bhikkhūhi evaṁ byākataṁ: "‘saṁyojanan’ti vā, āvuso, ‘saṁyojaniyā dhammā’ti vā ime dhammā nānatthā ceva nānābyañjanā cā"ti. Ekaccehi therehi bhikkhūhi evaṁ byākataṁ: "‘saṁyojanan’ti vā, āvuso, ‘saṁyojaniyā dhammā’ti vā ime dhammā ekatthā byañjanameva nānan"ti.

3Then Citta the householder approached those elder bhikkhus, paid homage to them, sat down to one side, and said to them: "I have heard, venerable sirs, that when a number of elder bhikkhus were sitting together this conversation arose: ‘Friends, "the fetter" and "the things that fetter": are these things different in meaning and also different in phrasing, or are they one in meaning and different only in phrasing?’"

"That is so, householder."

3Atha kho citto gahapati yena therā bhikkhū tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā there bhikkhū abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho citto gahapati there bhikkhū etadavoca: "sutaṁ metaṁ, bhante, sambahulānaṁ kira therānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkantānaṁ maṇḍalamāḷe sannisinnānaṁ sannipatitānaṁ ayamantarākathā udapādi: ‘saṁyojanan’ti vā, āvuso, ‘saṁyojaniyā dhammā’ti vā ime dhammā nānatthā nānābyañjanā udāhu ekatthā byañjanameva nānan"ti? Ekaccehi therehi bhikkhūhi evaṁ byākataṁ: "‘saṁyojanan’ti vā, āvuso, ‘saṁyojaniyā dhammā’ti vā ime dhammā nānatthā ceva nānābyañjanā cā"ti. Ekaccehi therehi bhikkhūhi evaṁ byākataṁ "‘saṁyojanan’ti vā, āvuso, ‘saṁyojaniyā dhammā’ti vā ime dhammā ekatthā byañjanameva nānan"ti. "Evaṁ, gahapatī"ti.

4"Venerable sirs, ‘the fetter’ and ‘the things that fetter’ are different in meaning and also different in phrasing. I will give you a simile for this, since some wise people here understand the meaning of a statement by means of a simile.

4"‘Saṁyojanan’ti vā, bhante, ‘saṁyojaniyā dhammā’ti vā ime dhammā nānatthā ceva nānābyañjanā ca. Tena hi, bhante, upamaṁ vo karissāmi. Upamāyapidhekacce viññū purisā bhāsitassa atthaṁ ājānanti.

"Suppose, venerable sirs, a black ox and a white ox were yoked together by a single harness or yoke.[n.286] The simile and its application are also at SN35.232. Would one be speaking rightly if one were to say: ‘The black ox is the fetter of the white ox; the white ox is the fetter of the black ox’?" sn.iv.283

Seyyathāpi, bhante, kāḷo ca balībaddo odāto ca balībaddo ekena dāmena vā yottena vā saṁyuttā assu. Yo nu kho evaṁ vadeyya: ‘kāḷo balībaddo odātassa balībaddassa saṁyojanaṁ, odāto balībaddo kāḷassa balībaddassa saṁyojanan’ti, sammā nu kho so vadamāno vadeyyā"ti? "No hetaṁ, gahapati.

"No, householder. The black ox is not the fetter of the white ox nor is the white ox the fetter of the black ox, but rather the single harness or yoke by which the two are yoked together: that is the fetter there."

Na kho, gahapati, kāḷo balībaddo odātassa balībaddassa saṁyojanaṁ, napi odāto balībaddo kāḷassa balībaddassa saṁyojanaṁ; yena kho te ekena dāmena vā yottena vā saṁyuttā taṁ tattha saṁyojanan"ti.

"So too, friend, the eye is not the fetter of forms nor are forms the fetter of the eye, but rather the desire and lust that arise there in dependence on both: that is the fetter there. The ear is not the fetter of sounds … The nose is not the fetter of odours … The tongue is not the fetter of tastes … The body is not the fetter of tactile objects … The mind is not the fetter of mental phenomena nor are mental phenomena the fetter of the mind, but rather the desire and lust that arises there in dependence on both: that is the fetter there."

"Evameva kho, bhante, na cakkhu rūpānaṁ saṁyojanaṁ, na rūpā cakkhussa saṁyojanaṁ; yañca tattha tadubhayaṁ paṭicca uppajjati chandarāgo taṁ tattha saṁyojanaṁ. Na sotaṁ saddānaṁ … na ghānaṁ gandhānaṁ … na jivhā rasānaṁ … na kāyo phoṭṭhabbānaṁ saṁyojanaṁ, na phoṭṭhabbā kāyassa saṁyojanaṁ; yañca tattha tadubhayaṁ paṭicca uppajjati chandarāgo taṁ tattha saṁyojanaṁ. Na mano dhammānaṁ saṁyojanaṁ, na dhammā manassa saṁyojanaṁ; yañca tattha tadubhayaṁ paṭicca uppajjati chandarāgo taṁ tattha saṁyojanan"ti.

"It is a gain for you, householder, it is well gained by you, householder, in that you have the eye of wisdom that ranges over the deep Word of the Buddha."

"Lābhā te, gahapati, suladdhaṁ te, gahapati, yassa te gambhīre buddhavacane paññācakkhu kamatī"ti.

Paṭhamaṁ.