The Not-born
This was said by the Lord…
“There is, bhikkhus, a not-born, a not-brought-to-being, a not-made, a not-conditioned. If, bhikkhus, there were no not-born, not-brought-to-being, not-made, not-conditioned, no escape would be discerned from what is born, brought-to-being, made, conditioned. But since there is a not-born, a not-brought-to-being, a not-made, a not-conditioned, therefore an escape is discerned from what is born, brought-to-being, made, conditioned.”
The born, come-to-be, produced,
The made, the conditioned, the transient,
Conjoined with decay and death,
A nest of disease, perishable,
Sprung from nutriment and craving’s cord—
That is not fit to take delight in.
The escape from that, the peaceful,
Beyond reasoning, everlasting,
The not-born, the unproduced,
The sorrowless state that is void of stain,
The cessation of states linked to suffering,
The stilling of the conditioned—bliss.
- Translator: John D. Ireland
- Editor: Bhikkhu Sujato
Unborn
This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
“There is, mendicants, an unborn, unproduced, unmade, and unconditioned.
If there were no unborn, unproduced, unmade, and unconditioned, then you would find no escape here from the born, produced, made, and conditioned.
But since there is an unborn, unproduced, unmade, and unconditioned, an escape is found from the born, produced, made, and conditioned.”
The Buddha spoke this matter.
On this it is said:
“What’s born, produced, and arisen,
made, conditioned, not lasting,
wrapped in old age and death,
frail, a nest of disease,
generated by food and the conduit to rebirth:
that’s not fit to delight in.
The escape from that is peaceful,
beyond the scope of logic, everlasting,
unborn and unarisen,
the sorrowless, stainless state,
the cessation of all painful things,
the stilling of conditions, bliss.”
This too is a matter that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.
