Sutra on Turning the Dharma Wheel

聞如是：

Thus have I heard:

一時，佛在波羅㮈國鹿野樹下坐，時
有千比丘諸天神，皆大會側塞空中，於是有
自然法輪，飛來當佛前轉。佛以手撫輪曰：
「止！往者吾從無數劫來，為名色轉受苦無
量，今者癡愛之意已止，漏結之情已解，諸
根已定生死已斷，不復轉於五道也。」輪即
止。

At one time, the Buddha was seated beneath a tree in the Deer Park in the country of Vārāṇasī. At that time a thousand bhikṣus and devas were gathered there in great assembly, filling the air around him. Then a Dharma Wheel, appearing of itself, came flying and turned before the Buddha. The Buddha laid his hand upon the Wheel and said: "Stop. In times past, throughout innumerable kalpas, I have been turned about by name and form and have undergone immeasurable suffering. Now the mind of delusion and craving has ceased; the bonds of the outflows and fetters have been loosed; the faculties are settled; birth and death is cut off; I no longer revolve through the five destinies." And the Wheel at once stopped.

於是，佛告諸比丘：「世間有二事墮邊行，
行道弟子捨家者，終身不當與從事。何等二？
一為念在貪欲無清淨志，二為猗著身愛
不能精進。是故退邊行，不得值佛道德具
人。若此比丘不念貪欲著身愛行，可得受中，
如來最正覺得眼得慧，從兩邊度自致泥洹。
何謂受中？謂受八直之道，一曰正見，二曰
正思，三曰正言，四曰正行，五曰正命，六曰
正治，七曰正志，八曰正定。若諸比丘本末
聞道，當已知甚苦為真諦，已一心受眼受禪
思受慧見，覺所念令意解，當知甚苦習盡為
真諦，已受眼觀禪思慧見，覺所念令意解，如
是盡真諦。何謂為苦？謂生老苦、病苦，憂、悲、惱
苦，怨憎會苦，所愛別苦，求不得苦，要從五陰
受盛為苦。何謂苦習？謂從愛故而令復有樂
性，不離在在貪憙，欲愛、色愛、不色之愛，是
習為苦。何謂苦盡？謂覺從愛復有所樂，婬
念不受，不念無餘無婬，捨之無復禪，如是
為習盡。何謂苦習盡欲受道？謂受行八直

道，正見、正思、正言、正行、正命、正治、正志、正定，
是為苦習盡受道真諦也。

Then the Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: "In the world there are two things that fall into extreme conduct, in which a disciple who walks the path, one who has gone forth from home, must never engage so long as he lives. What are the two? The first is to set the mind upon sensual desire, with no aspiration to purity. The second is to cling to attachment centered on the body, so that one cannot exert oneself in true diligence. For these reasons one falls into extreme conduct and does not attain the Buddha's Way, nor become complete in its virtues. If this bhikṣu does not dwell on sensual desire and does not practise attachment to the body, he is able to receive the Middle. The Tathāgata, the Perfectly and Rightly Awakened One, attained the eye and attained wisdom, crossed beyond the two extremes, and of himself reached nirvāṇa.

"What is meant by receiving the Middle? It means receiving the Noble Eightfold Path: first, right view; second, right thought; third, right speech; fourth, right action; fifth, right livelihood; sixth, right effort; seventh, right mindfulness; eighth, right concentration.

"Bhikṣus, having heard the Way from beginning to end, you should know this very suffering as the noble truth. With one-pointed mind, one attains the eye, attains meditative reflection, and attains wisdom-vision; awakening to what is contemplated, the mind is released. You should know that the cessation of the origin of this very suffering is the noble truth. Having attained the eye that observes, meditative reflection, and wisdom-vision, awakening to what is contemplated, the mind is released. Thus is the noble truth of cessation.

"What is suffering? Birth and old age are suffering; sickness is suffering; sorrow, grief and distress are suffering; union with what is hated is suffering; separation from what is loved is suffering; not obtaining what one seeks is suffering. In brief, the flourishing of the five aggregates of grasping is suffering.

"What is the origin of suffering? It is craving, by reason of which there is renewed existence, accompanied by a tendency toward delight, not free from greed and gladness here and there: craving for sensuality, craving for form, and craving for the formless. This is the origin of suffering.

"What is the cessation of suffering? It is to awaken to how, from craving, there again arises something in which one delights; not to receive lustful thoughts; not to think upon them; to leave no remainder and have no lust; to abandon them, so that there is no further dwelling upon them. Thus the origin is exhausted.

"What is the path to be received for the cessation of the origin of suffering? It is to receive and practise the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the noble truth of the path to be received for the cessation of the origin of suffering."

「又是，比丘！苦為真諦，苦由習為真諦，苦習
盡為真諦，苦習盡欲受道為真諦，若本在昔
未聞是法者，當受眼觀禪行受慧見受覺念
令意得解。若令在斯未聞是四諦法者，當受
道眼、受禪思、受慧覺，令意行解。若諸在彼不
得聞是四諦法者，亦當受眼、受禪、受慧、受覺，
令意得解，是為四諦三轉合十二事，知而未
淨者吾不與也。一切世間諸天人民，若梵、若
魔、沙門、梵志，自知證已，受行戒、定、慧、解、度知
見成，是為四極。是生後不復有，長離世間無
復憂患。」佛說是時，賢者阿若拘鄰等及八
千姟天，皆遠塵離垢諸法眼生。其千比丘
漏盡意解，皆得阿羅漢，及上諸習法應當
盡者一切皆轉。眾祐法輪聲三轉，諸天世間
在法地者莫不遍聞，至于第一四天王、忉
利天、焰天、兜術天、不驕樂天、化應聲天，至諸
梵界須臾遍聞。爾時，佛界三千日月萬二千
天地皆大震動，是為佛眾祐，始於波羅㮈以
無上法輪轉未轉者，照無數度諸天人從是
得道。

"Again, bhikṣus: suffering is the noble truth; the origin of suffering is the noble truth; the cessation of the origin of suffering is the noble truth; and the path to be received for the cessation of the origin of suffering is the noble truth. As for those who in former times had not heard this Dharma, they were to receive the eye of insight, receive meditative practice, receive wisdom-vision, and receive awakened mindfulness, so that their minds might attain release. As for those here who had not heard this Dharma of the Four Truths, they were to receive the eye of the Way, receive meditative reflection, and receive wisdom-awakening, so that their minds might proceed to release. As for those elsewhere who had not heard this Dharma of the Four Truths, they too were to receive the eye, receive meditation, receive wisdom, and receive awakening, so that their minds might attain release. This is called the Four Truths in three turnings, comprising twelve aspects. If knowledge of them had not yet been purified, I would not have accepted it as complete. In all the world, among devas and humans, among Brahmās and Māras, among śramaṇas and brahmins, when I had known and realized this for myself, morality, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge and vision of deliverance were fulfilled. This is the fourfold culmination. This birth is the last. There is no further becoming. Long separated from the world, there is no further sorrow or affliction."

When the Buddha spoke this, in the venerable Ājñāta Kauṇḍinya and the others, together with the eight thousand great multitudes of devas, the dust-free, stainless Dharma-eye arose. As for the thousand bhikṣus, their taints were exhausted and their minds were released; they all attained arhatship, and all remaining habitual dharmas that were to be exhausted were brought to an end.

The sound of the Dharma-wheel of the Blessed One (Bhagavān) turned three times. Throughout the worlds of devas, all those established on the Dharma-ground heard it everywhere. It reached the Heaven of the Four Great Kings, the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, the Yāma heaven, the Tuṣita heaven, the Nirmāṇarati heaven and the Paranirmita-vaśavartin heaven, and in an instant it was heard throughout all the Brahmā realms.

At that time, throughout the Buddha-realm, the three thousand suns and moons and the twelve thousand heavens and earths all shook greatly. Thus the Buddha, the Blessed One, beginning at Vārāṇasī, turned the unsurpassed Dharma-wheel that had not been turned before. Its light illumined innumerable devas and humans, who through it were carried across and attained the Way.

佛說是已，皆大歡喜。

When the Buddha had spoken thus, all rejoiced greatly.