TheAnattalakkhaṇa Sutta (Pali) orAnātmalakṣaṇa Sūtra (Sanskrit), is traditionally recorded as the second discourse delivered byGautama Buddha.[1] The title translates to the "Not-Self Characteristic Discourse", but is also known as thePañcavaggiya Sutta (Pali) orPañcavargīya Sūtra (Skt.), meaning the "Group of Five" Discourse.[2]
In this discourse, the Buddha analyzes the constituents of a person's body and mind (khandha) and demonstrates that they are each impermanent (anicca), subject to suffering (dukkha) and thus unfit for identification with a "self" (attan). The Pali version of this discourse reads:
"Form, ... feeling, ... perception, ... [mental] fabrications, ... consciousness is not self. If consciousness were the self, this consciousness would not lend itself to dis-ease. It would be possible [to say] with regard to consciousness, 'Let my consciousness be thus. Let my consciousness not be thus.' But precisely because consciousness is not self, consciousness lends itself to dis-ease. And it is not possible [to say] with regard to consciousness, 'Let my consciousness be thus. Let my consciousness not be thus.'...
"Thus, monks, any form, ... feeling, ... perception, ... fabrications, ... consciousness whatsoever that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near: every consciousness is to be seen as it actually is with right discernment as: 'This is not mine. This is not my self. This is not what I am.'
"Seeing thus, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with fabrications, disenchanted with consciousness. Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, 'Fully released.' He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'"[3]
In thePali Canon, theAnattalakkhana Sutta is found in theSamyutta Nikaya ("Connected Collection," abbreviated as either "SN" or "S") and is designated by either "SN 21.59" (SLTP) or "SN 22.59" (CSCD)[4] or "S iii 66" (PTS).[5] This discourse is also found in the Buddhist monastic code (Vinaya).[1]
In the Chinese set ofĀgamas, this discourse can be found asSaṃyukta Āgama 34, or "SA 34".[6]
A version of this sutra, called the Aṇatvalakṣaṇa Sutra, is found among the Gāndhārī Buddhist Texts attributed to theDharmaguptaka sect.[7]
^"SN 22.59" denotes that this discourse is the fifty-ninth discourse in the 22nd group in the Samyutta Nikaya. Due to a different grouping of the SN suttas (e.g., in the SLTP, the CSCD'ssamyutta 13 is included as a finalvaggo [chapter] in SLTPsamyutta 12), this issamyutta 21 of the SLTP redaction andsamyutta 22 of the CSCD redaction.
^"S iii 66" denotes that, in thePali Text Society edition of the Canon, this discourse starts on page 66 of the third volume of the Samyutta Nikaya. An example of this notation can be found in Thanissaro (1993).
Anōmadassi Thero, Alawwe (November 2019)."The Three Characteristics of Existence To be realised through Wisdom".anomadassi.lk (Booklet). Translated by Jayawardena, Anura. Renaketuwagala Aranya Senasana Bharaya, Ettapolawatta, Wademada, Ovilikanda, Matale, Sri Lanka. Retrieved1 January 2025.
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