The Nimokkha Sutta
On Liberation and Nibbāna (Nimokkha — Nibbāna)
[4] Thus have I heard: Once, the Blessed One was staying at Jetavana Monastery in Sāvatthī, the park of Anāthapiṇḍika the householder.
When the first watch of the night had passed, a certain deity (devatā) of lovely appearance, illuminating all of Jetavana, approached the Blessed One. Having paid homage to him, the deity stood respectfully to one side.
[5] Standing there, the deity asked the Blessed One:
“Lord, you who are free from suffering — do you truly know the path of escape (mokkha-magga), the fruit of release (vimutti-phala), and Nibbāna (nibbāna) as the place of supreme serenity for beings?”
The Blessed One answered:
“Deity, indeed I know the path of escape, the fruit of release, and Nibbāna, the supreme serenity for beings — truly and in reality.”
The deity then asked again:
“But how, Lord — how do you know the path of escape, the fruit of release, and Nibbāna as that serene state for all beings?”
The Verse Spoken by the Blessed One
[6] The Blessed One replied in verse:
**When delight in existence ends (nandi-bhava-parikkhaya), when perception (saññā) and consciousness (viññāṇa) come to cessation, when all feeling (vedanā) grows still and peaceful —
thus do I know the path of escape (nimokkha-magga), the fruit of release (vimutti-phala), and Nibbāna, the serene refuge for all beings.”**
Thus ends the Nimokkha Sutta.
Short Pāli Glossary (concise, intensive)
- Nimokkha — release, escape from bondage; cessation of all grasping.
- Mokkha-magga — the path of liberation; the Noble Path leading out of saṃsāra.
- Vimutti-phala — the fruit of deliverance; liberation experienced at fruition.
- Nibbāna — complete cessation of all defilements and all becoming; supreme serenity.
- Nandi-bhava-parikkhaya — the ending of delight (nandi) that sustains existence (bhava).
- Saññā — perception; the aggregate that marks and recognizes objects.
- Viññāṇa — consciousness; the knowing of sense-objects.
- Vedanā — feeling; the experience of pleasure, pain, or neutrality.
- Devatā — celestial being.
- Tathāgata — “Thus-Gone/Thus-Come”; epithet of the Buddha.