43. The Not-born

Vuttañhetaṁ bhagavatā vuttamarahatāti me sutaṁ:

“Atthi, bhikkhave, ajātaṁ abhūtaṁ akataṁ asaṅkhataṁ.

No cetaṁ, bhikkhave, abhavissa ajātaṁ abhūtaṁ akataṁ asaṅkhataṁ, nayidha jātassa bhūtassa katassa saṅkhatassa nissaraṇaṁ paññāyetha.

Yasmā ca kho, bhikkhave, atthi ajātaṁ abhūtaṁ akataṁ asaṅkhataṁ, tasmā jātassa bhūtassa katassa saṅkhatassa nissaraṇaṁ paññāyatī”ti.

Etamatthaṁ bhagavā avoca.

Tatthetaṁ iti vuccati:

“Jātaṁ bhūtaṁ samuppannaṁ,

kataṁ saṅkhatamaddhuvaṁ;

Jarāmaraṇasaṅghāṭaṁ,

roganīḷaṁ pabhaṅguraṁ.

Āhāranettippabhavaṁ,

nālaṁ tadabhinandituṁ;

Tassa nissaraṇaṁ santaṁ,

atakkāvacaraṁ dhuvaṁ.

Ajātaṁ asamuppannaṁ,

asokaṁ virajaṁ padaṁ;

Nirodho dukkhadhammānaṁ,

saṅkhārūpasamo sukho”ti.

Ayampi attho vutto bhagavatā, iti me sutanti.

Chaṭṭhaṁ.

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.