Thanissaro's 'Unprovoked' in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta

[Viscid]

Was reading Thanissaro's translation of the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, and there's the verse:

"And, monks, as long as this — my three-round, twelve-permutation knowledge & vision concerning these four noble truths as they have come to be — was not pure, I did not claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its deities, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & commonfolk. But as soon as this — my three-round, twelve-permutation knowledge & vision concerning these four noble truths as they have come to be — was truly pure, then I did claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its deities, Maras & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & commonfolk. Knowledge & vision arose in me: 'Unprovoked is my release. This is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.'"

What does he mean by 'Unprovoked'? Others have translated the last sentence as:

Knowing and seeing arose in me thus: 'My heart's deliverance is unassailable. This is the last birth. Now there is no renewal of being.'

or

Indeed, knowledge and seeing arose in me: 'Unshakeable is the liberation of my mind; this is my last birth: now there is no more renewed existence.'

Anyone know what exactly is being translated into 'Unprovoked'?

[piotr]

Hi,

The word is akuppa:

Akuppa (adj.) [a + kuppa, grd. of kup, cp. BSk. akopya M Vastu iii.200] not to be shaken, immovable; sure, steadfast safe Vin i.11 (akuppā me ceto -- vimutti) = S ii.239 Vin ii.69; iv.214; D iii.273; M i.205, 298; S ii.171 A iii.119, 198; Miln 361.

— PTS Pāli Dictionary

a-kuppa, mfn. [Buddh. sa. akopya] 'free from anger', immovable, imperturbable, firm, cool (of mind): ~ā cetovimutti, MN I 197,32 (Ps = arahatta-phala-vimutti), 298,24; DN III 273,13 (Sv — do.); SN II 172,11; 239,6; AN I 259,11; IV 305,4; Vin I 11,30; It 53,12*; ~ā vimutti, MN I 167,28 (Ps — akuppâram-maṇatāya ~ā, etc.); III 162,24; 245,16; ~aṁ ñāṇaṁ, DN III 273,9 (Sv); ~o vimokkho, Paṭis II 40,28; dhammikena kammena ~ena (not subvertible), Vin II 68,33; guṇā ekarasā arogā ~ā, Mil 157,20. — a-kuppa n. subst., ~aṁ paṭivijjhati, AN III 119,27 (Mp = arahattaṁ); 198,15 (patitthātabbaṁ sacce ca ~e ca) = Vin II 251,4; = khanti, Ja VI 260,23' (~saṁ-khātā); ~aṁ avipariṇāmadhammaṁ (= asaṁ-kuppaṁ', i.e. Nibbāna) Pj II 607,13. — Ifc. paṭi-viddhâ-°.

— Critical Pāli Dictionary

[piotr]

Hi,

As for bhante Ṭhānissaro take on this, here is a quote you'll find useful:

Akuppa. This term is sometimes translated as "unshakable," but it literally means, "unprovoked." The reference is apparently to the theory of dhātu, or properties underlying physical or psychological events in nature. The physical properties according to this theory are four: earth [solidity], liquid, heat, and wind [motion]. Three of them — liquid, heat, & wind — are potentially active. When they are aggravated, agitated, or provoked — the Pali term here, 'pakuppati', is used also on the psychological level, where it means angered or upset — they act as the underlying cause for natural activity. When the provocation ends, the corresponding activity subsides.


"Now there comes a time, friends, when the external liquid property is provoked, and at that time the external earth property vanishes...

"There comes a time, friends, when the external liquid property is provoked and washes away village, town, city, district, & country. There comes a time when the water in the great ocean drops down one hundred leagues, two hundred... three hundred... four hundred... five hundred... six hundred... seven hundred leagues. There comes a time when the water in the great ocean stands seven palm-trees deep, six... five... four... three... two palm-trees deep, one palm-tree deep. There comes a time when the water in the great ocean stands seven fathoms deep, six... five... four... three... two fathoms deep, one fathom deep. There comes a time when the water in the great ocean stands half a fathom deep, hip-deep, knee-deep, ankle deep. There comes a time when the water in the great ocean is not even the depth of the first joint of a finger...

"There comes a time, friends, when the external fire property is provoked and consumes village, town, city, district, & country; and then, coming to the edge of a green district, the edge of a road, the edge of a rocky district, to the water's edge, or to a lush, well-watered area, goes out from lack of sustenance. There comes a time when people try to make fire using a wing-bone & tendon parings...

"There comes a time, friends, when the external wind property is provoked and blows away village, town, city, district, & country. There comes a time when, in the last month of the hot season, people try to start a breeze with a fan or bellows, and even the grass at the fringe of a thatch roof doesn't stir."

— MN 28

A similar theory attributes the irruption of mental states to the provocation of the properties of sensuality, form, or formlessness.


"In dependence on the property of sensuality there occurs the perception of sensuality. In dependence on the perception of sensuality there occurs the resolve for sensuality... the desire for sensuality... the fever for sensuality... the quest for sensuality. Questing for sensuality, monks, an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person conducts himself wrongly through three means: through body, through speech, & through mind."

— SN 14.12

Even unbinding is described as a property (Iti 44). However, there is a crucial difference in how unbinding is attained, in that the unbinding property is not provoked. Any events that depend on the provocation of a property are inherently unstable and inconstant, subject to change when the provocation ends. But because true release is not caused by the provocation of anything, it is not subject to change.

— http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .html#fn-2

[Viscid]

Thanks piotr, the dhatu etymology is actually quite fascinating.

So am I wrong in thinking Thanissaro uses 'Unprovoked' to mean Nibbana is thus an 'Unconditioned'? It looks like a very deliberate change in translation to further a view that Nibbana is a sort of eternal reality. Not that I mind.

[piotr]

Hi,

I can't speak for bhante Ṭhānissaro, since I haven't heard more on this from him.

As for Commentary it says in one place (MN-a 26) — if I understand it correctly — that liberation is not disturbed by lust, aversion and delusion. (Sā hi rāgādīhi na kuppatīti akuppatāyapi akuppā.)

[Viscid]

Right, but if Thanissaro believed that akuppa meant that release is not disturbable by greed, hatred and delusion, he would've stuck with 'unshakable.' But he changed the meaning of the utterance from 'The Buddha's liberation was fixed' to 'The Buddha's liberation was uncaused.' The commentaries, too, seem to interpret liberation as 'unshakable.'