Tutiya Kāmabhu Sutta
(The Second Kāmabhu Discourse — On the Three Fabrications / Saṅkhāra Threefold)
[560] — Setting & Question
At one time Venerable Kāmabhu (Kāmabhu — a monk’s name) was dwelling in Ampāṭaka Grove (Ampāṭaka-vana — a woodland place) near the stretch of the Maccika-forest (a locality). Then a householder named Citta (Citta — a lay supporter’s name) went to Venerable Kāmabhu, paid respects and sat to one side. Then the householder Citta asked Venerable Kāmabhu: “Venerable sir, how many saṅkhāras (saṅkhāra — conditioned fabrications, volitional formations) are there?” The Venerable Kāmabhu replied: “Householder, saṅkhāras are threefold: bodily-fabrication (kāya-saṅkhāra), verbal or vocal-fabrication (vacī-saṅkhāra), and mental-fabrication (citta-saṅkhāra).”
[561] — Clarification requested
The householder Citta said: “Good, venerable sir,” and rejoiced and approved the words of Venerable Kāmabhu. Then he asked a further question: “Venerable sir, what is bodily-fabrication (kāya-saṅkhāra)? What is verbal-fabrication (vacī-saṅkhāra)? What is mental-fabrication (citta-saṅkhāra)?”
Venerable Kāmabhu said: “Householder, the in-and-out breathing (ānāpāna — the respiration in and out; here treated as bodily process) is called bodily-fabrication (kāya-saṅkhāra). Thought and initial application and investigation (vitakka–vicāra — thought/adduction and discursive investigation) are called verbal-fabrication (vacī-saṅkhāra). Perception (saññā — recognition) and feeling (vedanā — sensation/affect) are called mental-fabrication (citta-saṅkhāra).”
(Short glossary inserted inline: ānāpāna = breath in/out (physiological bodily process); vitakka–vicāra = initial application/pondering and subsequent investigation — mental activities that condition speech; saññā = recognition/mental labeling; vedanā = feeling tone: pleasant, unpleasant, neutral.)
[562] — Why those names?
The householder Citta said: “Good, venerable sir,” and then asked again: “Venerable sir, why is in-and-out breathing called bodily-fabrication, why are vitakka–vicāra called verbal-fabrication, and why are saññā and vedanā called mental-fabrication?”
Venerable Kāmabhu answered: “Householder, in-and-out breathing arises as a happening of the body (kāya). These phenomena are connected with the body; therefore the in-and-out breathing is called bodily-fabrication (kāya-saṅkhāra). A person reflects (thinks) first and only afterwards utters speech; therefore vitakka–vicāra (the thinking/word-formation process) are called verbal-fabrication (vacī-saṅkhāra). Perception (saññā) and feeling (vedanā) arise as dependently originated happenings in the mind (citta); these phenomena are associated with the mind; therefore perception and feeling are called mental-fabrication (citta-saṅkhāra).”
[563] — On the arising of the attainment: how the samāpatti is entered
The householder Citta said: “Good, venerable sir,” and then asked further: “Venerable sir, how does the saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti (here in the Thai text: sanya vedit nirodha samāpatti — rendered roughly the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, i.e., the absorption in which perception and feeling are extinguished) arise? How does one enter into that absorption?”
Venerable Kāmabhu answered: “Householder, when a bhikkhu is about to enter that attainment he does not think to himself, ‘I will enter into the cessation-of-perception-and-feeling attainment,’ nor say, ‘I am entering it,’ nor, ‘I have entered it.’ Rather, before entering he has trained (abhisikkhita) the mind to incline toward that state — he has cultivated the mind so that it naturally turns toward and settles into that attainment.”
(Brief note: this teaching emphasizes that the samāpatti is not a mere deliberate mental label or conceptual act; it arises because the mind has been prepared through training and so naturally goes into the attainment.)
[564] — Which fabrications cease first on entry?
The householder Citta said: “Good, venerable sir,” and asked again: “Venerable sir, when a bhikkhu enters the saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti, which of the fabrications cease first — the bodily-fabrication (kāya-saṅkhāra), the verbal-fabrication (vacī-saṅkhāra), or the mental-fabrication (citta-saṅkhāra)?”
Venerable Kāmabhu replied: “Householder, when a bhikkhu enters the saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti, the verbal-fabrication (vacī-saṅkhāra) ceases first; thereafter the bodily-fabrication (kāya-saṅkhāra) ceases; and thereafter the mental-fabrication (citta-saṅkhāra) ceases.”
[565] — Difference from death (kāla/killing-off) — comparison
The householder Citta said: “Good, venerable sir,” and asked further: “Venerable sir, what is the difference between one who is dead and gone (one who has ‘made an end’ — katam-kāla / dead) and a bhikkhu who has entered the saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti?”
Venerable Kāmabhu explained: “Householder, the person who is dead and gone (killed off, finished — katam-kāla) has bodily-fabrication (kāya-saṅkhāra) ended and settled, verbal-fabrication (vacī-saṅkhāra) ended and settled, mental-fabrication (citta-saṅkhāra) ended and settled; lifespan ( āyusa ) has been exhausted; the warmth of life is extinguished; the bodily faculties disintegrate and fall apart. By contrast, a bhikkhu who has entered the saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti has bodily-fabrication ended and settled, verbal-fabrication ended and settled, mental-fabrication ended and settled — yet his lifespan has not been exhausted, the warmth of life is not extinguished, and the faculties remain clear. That is the difference between one dead-and-gone and a bhikkhu in that samāpatti.”
(Concise gloss: the samāpatti is a profound meditative cessation in which the formations are temporarily stilled, but the meditator’s life-continuum and faculties remain intact; death is irreversible biological cessation.)
On the saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti (continued)
[566] — How one comes out of the samāpatti
The householder Citta said: “Good, venerable sir,” and asked further: “Venerable sir, how does one emerge from the saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti?”
Venerable Kāmabhu answered: “Householder, when a bhikkhu is to come out of that attainment he does not think, ‘I will come out,’ nor say, ‘I am coming out,’ nor, ‘I have come out.’ Rather, before coming out he has trained the mind so that it inclines toward emergence; he has prepared the mind to turn again toward normal mental activity.”
[567] — Which fabrications arise first on exit?
The householder Citta said: “Good, venerable sir,” and asked further: “Venerable sir, when a bhikkhu comes out of the saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti, which of the fabrications arise first — bodily, verbal, or mental?”
Venerable Kāmabhu answered: “Householder, when a bhikkhu emerges from that attainment the mental-fabrication (citta-saṅkhāra) arises first; thereafter the bodily-fabrication (kāya-saṅkhāra) arises; and thereafter the verbal-fabrication (vacī-saṅkhāra) arises.”
[568] — What kinds of contact (phassa) touch the bhikkhu on emergence?
The householder Citta said: “Good, venerable sir,” and asked: “Venerable sir, what kinds of contact (phassa) then strike a bhikkhu who has come out of the saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti?”
Venerable Kāmabhu answered: “Householder, three kinds of contact strike the bhikkhu on emergence: (1) suññaphassa (suñña-phassa — empty contact: a contact experienced as vacuous/void), (2) animitta-phassa (animitta-phassa — signless contact: contact devoid of conventional sign and not fixed to any visualized mark), and (3) appaniṭṭha-phassa (appaniṭṭha / appaññhita-phassa — here translated as that which has no fixed location or designation, an unstable/unlocatable contact). These three kinds of contact affect the bhikkhu on emergence from that attainment.”
(Clarifying note: the Pali technical terms indicate subtle varieties of post-samadhi touching of experience that are not the ordinary sensory-contact; classical commentaries discuss such contacts in detail. Here they are listed as three kinds.)
[569] — The mind’s natural bias after emergence
The householder Citta said: “Good, venerable sir,” and asked further: “Venerable sir, to what does the mind of the bhikkhu who has come out of that attainment incline? Toward what does it turn — where does it tend?”
Venerable Kāmabhu answered: “Householder, the mind of that bhikkhu is naturally inclined, directed toward, and thrown into seclusion (viveka — solitude; withdrawal). It tends toward seclusion, inclines toward seclusion, and turns to seclusion.”
[570] — What qualities support this attainment?
The householder Citta said: “Good, venerable sir,” and, rejoicing in Venerable Kāmabhu’s words, asked again: “Venerable sir, which mental qualities (dhammas) are most helpful for the saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti?”
Venerable Kāmabhu replied: “Householder, you ask a question that should have been asked earlier, but I will answer it. Two qualities greatly assist that attainment: (1) samatha (samatha — calm/concentration / tranquility practice) and (2) vipassanā (vipassanā — insight / discernment practice). These two — tranquility and insight — are of great service for attaining the cessation of perception and feeling.”
Thus ends the Second Kāmabhu Sutta (Tutiya Kāmabhu Sutta), sutta number 6.
Compact Pāli glossary — intensive (short, precise)
- saṅkhāra (saṅkhāra) — conditioned fabrications / volitional formations; phenomena fabricated by conditions (here distinguished into bodily, verbal, mental).
- kāya-saṅkhāra (kāya-saṅkhāra) — bodily-fabrication (bodily processes that fabricate/constitute: respiration/breathing here).
- vacī-saṅkhāra (vacī-saṅkhāra) — verbal/vocal-fabrication (the mental processes that give rise to speech: vitakka–vicāra = initial thought and discursive investigation).
- citta-saṅkhāra (citta-saṅkhāra) — mental-fabrication (mental processes such as saññā — perception/recognition — and vedanā — feeling/tone).
- ānāpāna (ānāpāna) — in-and-out breathing (physiological respiration, treated as the bodily fabrication).
- vitakka–vicāra (vitakka–vicāra) — initial application (thought) and sustained investigation / discursive thinking (mental processes that condition speech).
- saññā (saññā) — perception / recognition (the mental factor that identifies).
- vedanā (vedanā) — feeling / affect (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral experiences).
- saññā-vedayita-nirodha samāpatti — the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling (a meditative absorption in which perception and feeling are stilled / temporarily ceased). (Thai rendered: สัญญาเวทยิตนิโรธสมาบัติ.)
- suñña-phassa (suññaphassa) — empty/void contact (a subtle contact experienced as empty).
- animitta-phassa (animittaphassa) — signless contact (contact free from conventional signfication).
- appaniṭṭha-phassa / appanihita-phassa — contact that is unestablished/unlocatable (rendered here as unstable/unlocatable contact).
- viveka (viveka) — seclusion / withdrawal / solitude (a mental bias toward solitude and inwardness after emergence).
- samatha (samatha) — tranquility/concentration practice (stills the mind).
- vipassanā (vipassanā) — insight/discernment practice (develops penetrating knowledge).