Buddham Dhammam

Pupphasutta

SN 22.94

Flowers

The Buddha doesn’t dispute with the world; the world disputes with him. He has understood the five aggregates and explains them. Like a lotus, he was born in the swamp, but rises above it.

Translations

Pheṇapiṇḍūpamasutta

SN 22.95

A Lump of Foam

The Buddha gives a series of similes for the aggregates: physical form is like foam, feeling is like a bubble, perception is like a mirage, choices are like a coreless tree, and consciousness is like an illusion.

Translations

Gomayapiṇḍasutta

SN 22.96

A Lump of Cow Dung

Nothing in the aggregates has even the tiniest bit of stability or permanence. In a past life, the Buddha was a great king with vast properties, but all those conditions have passed away.

Translations

Nakhasikhāsutta

SN 22.97

A Fingernail

A mendicant asks whether anything in the aggregates has even the tiniest bit of stability or permanence. The Buddha answers using the simile of a little dirt under his fingernail.

Translations

Suddhikasutta

SN 22.98

Plain Version

A mendicant asks whether anything in the aggregates has even the tiniest bit of stability or permanence.

Translations

Gaddulabaddhasutta

SN 22.99

A Leash

Transmigration has no knowable beginning; even the oceans, mountains, and this great earth will perish. But like a dog on a leash running around a post, beings remain attached to the aggregates.

Translations

Dutiyagaddulabaddhasutta

SN 22.100

A Leash (2nd)

A dog leashed to a post will always remain close to that post. In the same way, beings remain close to aggregates in this endless cycle of transmigration. The Buddha refers to a well-known painting called “Conduct”, and says the...

Translations