Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Three influential doctrines — that everything is fixed by past deeds, that everything is a god’s creation, or that everything happens by chance — each dissolve the very idea that some things should be done and others shouldn’t, and the Buddha rejects all three in favor of a teaching built on conditions that genuinely include present choice.
Three tenets, one shared flaw
The Buddha opens by naming three “sectarian tenets” (titthāyatana) — doctrinal positions associated with rival ascetic and brahmin schools of his day — and states his conclusion up front: each one, “pursued, pressed, and grilled,” ends in inaction. The three are stated in parallel form, each describing the totality of what a person experiences, whether pleasant, painful, or neutral:
| The tenet | Associated with |
|---|---|
| Everything is because of past deeds | a strict, exhaustive doctrine of karmic determinism, of the kind associated with certain ascetic groups including some Jain teachers |
| Everything is because of a supreme god’s creation | theistic creator doctrines current among some brahmin schools |
| Everything happens with no cause or reason at all | a doctrine of pure chance or indeterminism |
For each one, the Buddha describes going directly to its holders, confirming that this is really their view, and then pointing out the same consequence: if it’s really true that everything — without exception — traces back to past deeds, or to a god, or to nothing at all, then a person could kill, steal, lie, or act in any other harmful way and it would equally be “because of” that same cause. Nothing about the view leaves room to say a person chose to act well or badly in the present moment; the explanation has already used up all the causal room there is.
Why this actually matters, not just as logic-chopping
The refutation isn’t simply a debating trick. The Buddha’s point is practical: people who genuinely hold one of these views “have no enthusiasm or effort, no idea that there are things that should and should not be done.” Once a person accepts that literally everything is already settled by the past, by divine will, or by nothing at all, there is no longer any actual basis, internal to the view itself, for effort, restraint, or ethical care — even if the person holding the view is personally sincere and well-intentioned. A view can be attractive, even comforting, and still be one nobody could actually live by consistently. That is the specific sense in which the Buddha calls all three “irrefutable” in appeal yet unlivable in practice.
The alternative: a chain of conditions, not one single cause
Having dismissed all three, the Buddha turns to his own teaching, describing it as irrefutable in a different, positive sense — not scorned even by sensible outside observers. He summarizes it under four headings: the six elements (earth, water, fire, air, space, and consciousness), the six fields of contact (the six sense doors), the eighteen mental preoccupations (each sense door engaging an object that becomes a basis for pleasant, painful, or neutral feeling), and the four noble truths. He then shows how these connect: supported by the six elements an embryo is conceived; from this, name-and-form and the six senses develop; the six senses condition contact; contact conditions feeling. It is for one who feels that the four truths are then declared — suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path to its cessation, restated here in the familiar chain of dependent origination running from ignorance through to old age and death, and its reverse, cessation, running back the other way.
The structural point is easy to miss if the ending is read only as a doctrinal appendix: unlike the three rejected tenets, dependent origination names many interacting conditions, including craving and grasping that arise freshly in the present, rather than pointing to one single all-explaining cause located entirely in the past, in a deity, or in nothing. That multiplicity is exactly what leaves room for the eightfold path — right view through right immersion — to actually do something: present effort can interrupt the chain at points like craving and grasping, which a single deterministic, theistic, or chance-based cause could never allow.
A caution about “refuting” sincere views
It is worth noticing what the Buddha does not claim. He does not say that karma is irrelevant, that no divine beings exist in his cosmology, or that chance events never occur — elsewhere in the canon all three ideas appear in qualified forms. What he rejects here is specifically the totalizing version of each claim: that this one factor accounts for everything, with no remainder for present choice. The three schools he is arguing against were populated by real, often disciplined and sincere practitioners; the critique is aimed at a logical consequence of an idea, not at the character of the people who held it.
Key terms
The text
Three tenets named
§1“Mendicants, these three sectarian tenets — as pursued, pressed, and grilled by the astute — when taken to their conclusion, end with inaction. What three? There are some ascetics and brahmins who have this doctrine and view: ‘Everything this individual person experiences — pleasurable, painful, or neutral — is because of past deeds.’ There are some ascetics and brahmins who have this doctrine and view: ‘Everything this individual person experiences — pleasurable, painful, or neutral — is because of God Almighty’s creation.’ There are some ascetics and brahmins who have this doctrine and view: ‘Everything this individual person experiences — pleasurable, painful, or neutral — has no cause or reason.’
The first refutation: past deeds
§2–3Regarding this, I went up to the ascetics and brahmins whose view is that everything an individual person experiences is because of past deeds, and I said to them: ‘Is it really true that this is the venerables’ view?’ And they answered, ‘Yes’. I said to them: ‘In that case, you might kill living creatures, steal, be unchaste; use speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical; be covetous, malicious, or have wrong view, all because of past deeds.’ Those who believe that past deeds are the most important thing have no enthusiasm or effort, no idea that there are things that should and should not be done. Not finding as a genuine fact that there are things that should and should not be done, they’re unmindful and careless, and can’t rightly be called ascetics. This is my first legitimate refutation of the ascetics and brahmins who have this doctrine and view.
The second refutation: a creator god
§4–5Regarding this, I went up to the ascetics and brahmins whose view is that everything that an individual person experiences is because of God Almighty’s creation, and I said to them: ‘Is it really true that this is the venerables’ view?’ And they answered, ‘Yes’. I said to them: ‘In that case, you might kill living creatures, steal, be unchaste; use speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical; be covetous, malicious, or have wrong view, all because of God Almighty’s creation.’ Those who believe that God Almighty’s creative power is the most important thing have no enthusiasm, no effort, no idea that there are things that should and should not be done. Not finding as a genuine fact that there are things that should and should not be done, they’re unmindful and careless, and can’t rightly be called ascetics. This is my second legitimate refutation of the ascetics and brahmins who have this doctrine and view.
The third refutation: pure chance
§6–7Regarding this, I went up to the ascetics and brahmins whose view is that everything that an individual person experiences has no cause or reason, and I said to them: ‘Is it really true that this is the venerables’ view?’ And they answered, ‘Yes’. I said to them: ‘In that case, you might kill living creatures, steal, be unchaste; use speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical; be covetous, malicious, or have wrong view, all without cause or reason.’ Those who believe that the absence of cause or reason is the most important thing have no enthusiasm, no effort, no idea that there are things that should and should not be done. Not finding as a genuine fact that there are things that should and should not be done, they’re unmindful and careless, and can’t rightly be called ascetics. This is my third legitimate refutation of the ascetics and brahmins who have this doctrine and view.
§8These are the three sectarian tenets — as pursued, pressed, and grilled by the astute — which, when taken to their conclusion, end with inaction.
The Buddha’s own teaching
§9But the Dhamma that I’ve taught is irrefutable, uncorrupted, beyond reproach, and not scorned by sensible ascetics and brahmins. What is the Dhamma that I’ve taught? ‘These are the six elements’: this is the Dhamma I’ve taught… ‘These are the six fields of contact’: this is the Dhamma I’ve taught… ‘These are the eighteen mental preoccupations’: this is the Dhamma I’ve taught… ‘These are the four noble truths’: this is the Dhamma I’ve taught that is irrefutable, uncorrupted, beyond reproach, and is not scorned by sensible ascetics and brahmins.
§10‘“These are the six elements”: this is the Dhamma I’ve taught…’ That’s what I said, but why did I say it? There are these six elements: the elements of earth, water, fire, air, space, and consciousness. That’s what I said, and this is why I said it.
§11‘“These are the six fields of contact”: this is the Dhamma I’ve taught…’ That’s what I said, but why did I say it? There are these six fields of contact: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact. That’s what I said, and this is why I said it.
§12‘“These are the eighteen mental preoccupations”: this is the Dhamma I’ve taught…’ This is what I said, but why did I say it? Seeing a sight with the eye, one is preoccupied with a sight that’s a basis for happiness or sadness or equanimity. Hearing a sound with the ear… smelling an odor with the nose… tasting a flavor with the tongue… encountering a touch with the body… becoming conscious of an idea with the mind, one is preoccupied with an idea that’s a basis for happiness or sadness or equanimity. That’s what I said, and this is why I said it.
§13‘“These are the four noble truths”: this is the Dhamma I’ve taught…’ That’s what I said, but why did I say it? Supported by the six elements, an embryo is conceived. When it is conceived, there are name and form. Name and form are requirements for the six sense fields. The six sense fields are requirements for contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. It’s for one who feels that I declare: ‘This is suffering’… ‘This is the origin of suffering’… ‘This is the cessation of suffering’… ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’.
§14And what is the noble truth of suffering? Rebirth is suffering; old age is suffering; death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress are suffering; being coupled with the disliked is suffering; separation from the liked is suffering; not getting what you wish for is suffering. In brief, the five grasping aggregates are suffering. This is called the noble truth of suffering.
§15And what is the noble truth of the origin of suffering? Ignorance is a requirement for choices. Choices are a requirement for consciousness. Consciousness is a requirement for name and form. Name and form are requirements for the six sense fields. The six sense fields are requirements for contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Feeling is a requirement for craving. Craving is a requirement for grasping. Grasping is a requirement for continued existence. Continued existence is a requirement for rebirth. Rebirth is a requirement for old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress to come to be. That is how this entire mass of suffering originates. This is called the noble truth of the origin of suffering.
§16And what is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering? When ignorance fades away and ceases with no residue left behind, choices cease. When choices cease, consciousness ceases. When consciousness ceases, name and form cease. When name and form cease, the six sense fields cease. When the six sense fields cease, contact ceases. When contact ceases, feeling ceases. When feeling ceases, craving ceases. When craving ceases, grasping ceases. When grasping ceases, continued existence ceases. When continued existence ceases, rebirth ceases. When rebirth ceases, old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress cease. That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases. This is called the noble truth of the cessation of suffering.
§17And what is the noble truth of the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering? It is simply this noble eightfold path, that is: right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. This is called the noble truth of the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering. ‘“These are the four noble truths”: this is the Dhamma I’ve taught that is irrefutable, uncorrupted, beyond reproach, and is not scorned by sensible ascetics and brahmins.’ That’s what I said, and this is why I said it.”
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