The Natthidinna Sutta
“There Is No Gift” — On the Arising and Abandoning of Nihilistic Views
[425] Sāvatthī. The Blessed One asked the bhikkhus:
“Bhikkhus (bhikkhu), when what exists, through clinging to what, through grasping what, does such a view arise:
‘There is no result of giving (natthi dinnaṃ); no result of offering; no result of sacrifice; there is no fruit or result of good or bad actions; there is no this world, no next world; no mother, no father; no spontaneously-born beings (opapātika); no ascetics or brahmins who, practicing rightly, realize this world and the next by their superior wisdom and teach others to do so. A person is merely the four great elements. When one dies, earth returns to earth, water to water, fire to fire, air to air. The faculties scatter into space. Four men carry the fifth (the corpse); its footprints end at the charnel ground. Then it becomes ashes — grey like a dove’s wing. Offerings end in ashes. Giving is a notion invented by fools. Whatever some say, “There is fruit,” is empty, false, vain. When the body breaks up, both the foolish and the wise are utterly annihilated, perish, and do not exist after death.’
Bhikkhus responded: “Bhante, our Dhamma has the Blessed One as root, …”
The Buddha’s Explanation
The Blessed One said:
“Bhikkhus, when form (rūpa) exists, through clinging to form, through grasping form, such a view arises: ‘There is no result of giving … no next world … after death all are annihilated.’
When feeling (vedanā) exists … when perception (saññā) exists … when formations (saṅkhārā) exist … when consciousness (viññāṇa) exists — through clinging to consciousness, grasping consciousness, such a view arises: ‘There is no fruit of giving … after death all perish and do not exist.’”
[426] “Bhikkhus, what do you think? Is form (rūpa) permanent or impermanent?”
“Impermanent, Bhante.”
“And what is impermanent — is it suffering or happiness?”
“Suffering, Bhante.”
“What is impermanent, suffering, subject to change — if one does not cling to it, could such a view arise: ‘There is no fruit of giving … after death all are annihilated’?”
“No, Bhante, such a view would not arise.”
“And the same with feeling (vedanā), perception (saññā), formations (saṅkhārā), and consciousness (viññāṇa)—are they permanent or impermanent?”
“Impermanent, Bhante.”
“And what is impermanent is suffering, subject to change. If one does not cling to these, could such nihilistic views arise?”
“No, Bhante.”
“Even regarding what a person sees, hears, senses, cognizes, attains, seeks, and reflects upon with the mind — is that permanent or impermanent?”
“Impermanent, Bhante.”
“And what is impermanent — is it suffering or happiness?”
“Suffering, Bhante.”
“What is impermanent, suffering, subject to change — if one does not cling to it, could such a view arise: ‘There is no fruit of giving … after death all are annihilated’?”
“No, Bhante.”
Conclusion: The Stream-enterer
“Bhikkhus, whenever a noble disciple (ariyasāvaka) abandons doubt concerning these six bases, he is said to have abandoned doubt regarding:
- suffering (dukkha),
- the origin of suffering (dukkha-samudaya),
- the cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodha),
- and the path leading to the cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodha-gāminī paṭipadā).
Such a noble disciple, bhikkhus, the Tathāgata calls a stream-enterer (sotāpanna) — one who is no longer liable to decline, one who is certain to attain full awakening in the future.”
End of the Natthidinna Sutta.
Short Pāli Glossary (concise, intensive)
- Natthi dinnaṃ — “there is no gift”; nihilistic view denying karmic fruits.
- Rūpa / vedanā / saññā / saṅkhārā / viññāṇa — the five aggregates.
- Upādāna — clinging, appropriation of phenomena.
- Opapātika — spontaneously-born beings (non-womb birth).
- Dukkha-samudaya / nirodha / nirodha-gāminī paṭipadā — the Four Noble Truths.
- Sotāpanna — stream-enterer; first stage of awakening.
- Annihilationism (uccheda-diṭṭhi) — wrong view that the person is annihilated at death.
- Nihilism (natthika-diṭṭhi) — the view that denies kamma, fruits, and the next world.