Mil 3.7.16
16. The Question on the Difficulty of Distinguishing Formless Dhammas
16. Arūpadhammavavatthānadukkarapañha
from: Analysis of Formless Dhammas Chapter
16. The Question on the Difficulty of Distinguishing Formless Dhammas
The king asked: “Venerable Nāgasena, did the Blessed One accomplish something difficult?” The elder said, “The Blessed One accomplished something difficult, your majesty.” “But what difficult thing, Venerable Nāgasena, did the Blessed One accomplish?” “The Blessed One accomplished something difficult, your majesty, in that he explained the distinction of these formless mental dhammas that occur with a single object, declaring: ‘This is contact, this is feeling, this is perception, this is volition, this is consciousness.’”
“Please give me an analogy.” “Suppose, your majesty, some man were to go out onto the great ocean in a boat, take up water in the hollow of his hand, taste it with his tongue—would that man be able to know: ‘This is water from the Ganges, this is water from the Yamunā, this is water from the Aciravatī, this is water from the Sarabhū, this is water from the Mahī’?” “It would be difficult to know, venerable sir.” “More difficult than that, your majesty, is what the Blessed One accomplished in explaining the distinction of these formless phenomena that occur with a single object, declaring: ‘This is contact, this is feeling, this is perception, this is volition, this is consciousness.’” “Very good, venerable sir,” said the king in approval.
The Question on the Difficulty of Distinguishing Formless Dhammas sixteenth
Analysis of Formless Dhammas Chapter seventh
In this chapter sixteen questions
16. Arūpadhammavavatthānadukkarapañha
Rājā āha— “bhante nāgasena, dukkaraṁ nu kho bhagavatā katan”ti? Thero āha— “dukkaraṁ, mahārāja, bhagavatā katan”ti. “Kiṁ pana, bhante nāgasena, bhagavatā dukkaraṁ katan”ti. “Dukkaraṁ, mahārāja, bhagavatā kataṁ imesaṁ arūpīnaṁ cittacetasikānaṁ dhammānaṁ ekārammaṇe vattamānānaṁ vavatthānaṁ akkhātaṁ ‘ayaṁ phasso, ayaṁ vedanā, ayaṁ saññā, ayaṁ cetanā, idaṁ cittan’”ti.
“Opammaṁ karohī”ti. “Yathā, mahārāja, kocideva puriso nāvāya mahāsamuddaṁ ajjhogāhetvā hatthapuṭena udakaṁ gahetvā jivhāya sāyitvā jāneyya nu kho, mahārāja, so puriso ‘idaṁ gaṅgāya udakaṁ, idaṁ yamunāya udakaṁ, idaṁ aciravatiyā udakaṁ, idaṁ sarabhuyā udakaṁ, idaṁ mahiyā udakan’”ti? “Dukkaraṁ, bhante, jānitun”ti. “Ito dukkarataraṁ kho, mahārāja, bhagavatā kataṁ imesaṁ arūpīnaṁ cittacetasikānaṁ dhammānaṁ ekārammaṇe vattamānānaṁ vavatthānaṁ akkhātaṁ ‘ayaṁ phasso, ayaṁ vedanā, ayaṁ saññā, ayaṁ cetanā, idaṁ cittan’”ti. “Suṭṭhu, bhante”ti rājā abbhānumodīti.
Arūpadhammavavatthānadukkarapañho soḷasamo.
Arūpadhammavavatthānavaggo sattamo.
Imasmiṁ vagge soḷasa pañhā.