Reading guide
The hound that no longer circles, only stays close
Where SN 22.99's hound ran and circled, this discourse's hound "stays right beside that post or pillar" whether "walking, standing, sitting, or lying down" — a subtler image of confinement, since the hound need not move at all to remain bound.
This maps onto regarding an aggregate as "mine... I am this... this is my self": in every posture, the unlearned person "walks right beside," "stands right beside," "lies down right beside" the five grasping aggregates — bondage as constant proximity, not just as circular motion.
Checking the mind regularly
The discourse pivots to direct instruction: "you should regularly check your own mind: 'For a long time this mind has been corrupted by greed, hate, and delusion.'"
"Sentient beings are corrupted because the mind is corrupted. Sentient beings are purified because the mind is purified" — a compact statement making the mind, not external circumstance, the deciding factor in both bondage and freedom.
The painting named "Conduct," and the animal realm
The Buddha asks whether the mendicants have seen a painting named "Conduct" (Caraṇa) — evidently well known at the time — and observes: "that painting was devised by the mind, but the mind is even more diverse than that."
The same point is repeated for the animal realm itself: "I don't see any other order of beings as elaborate as the animal realm... [it was] devised by the mind, but the mind is even more diverse than that" — the visible variety of art and of animal life both offered as measures, and both found to fall short, of the mind's own inventive range.
The artist and the five aggregates
A final simile: an artist with dye, red lac, turmeric, indigo, and rose madder creates the full figure of a woman or man on a polished plank, wall, or canvas.
"In the same way, when an unlearned ordinary person generates a future life, all they generate is form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness" — a future rebirth painted, aggregate by aggregate, by an unexamined mind, closing into the same permanent/impermanent question and standard formula found throughout this vagga.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, this transmigration has no known beginning. No first point is found of sentient beings roaming and transmigrating, shrouded by ignorance and fettered by craving. Suppose a hound on a leash was tethered to a strong post or pillar. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, it stays right beside that post or pillar. In the same way, an unlearned ordinary person regards form like this: ‘This is mine, I am this, this is my self.’ They regard feeling … perception … choices … consciousness like this: ‘This is mine, I am this, this is my self.’ When walking, they walk right beside the five grasping aggregates. When standing … sitting … lying down, they lie down right beside the five grasping aggregates.
§2So you should regularly check your own mind: ‘For a long time this mind has been corrupted by greed, hate, and delusion.’ Sentient beings are corrupted because the mind is corrupted. Sentient beings are purified because the mind is purified.
§3Mendicants, have you seen the painting named ‘Conduct’?” “Yes, sir.” “That painting was devised by the mind, but the mind is even more diverse than that. So you should regularly check your own mind: ‘For a long time this mind has been corrupted by greed, hate, and delusion.’ Sentient beings are corrupted because the mind is corrupted. Sentient beings are purified because the mind is purified.
§4I don’t see any other order of beings as elaborate as the animal realm. The creatures in the animal realm were devised by the mind, but the mind is even more diverse than that. So you should regularly check your own mind: ‘For a long time this mind has been corrupted by greed, hate, and delusion.’ Sentient beings are corrupted because the mind is corrupted. Sentient beings are purified because the mind is purified.
§5Suppose an artist or painter had some dye, red lac, turmeric, indigo, or rose madder. And on a polished plank or a wall or a canvas they’d create the form of a woman or a man, whole in its major and minor limbs. In the same way, when an unlearned ordinary person generates a future life, all they generate is form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. What do you think, mendicants?
§6Is form permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent, sir.” “Is feeling … perception … choices … consciousness permanent or impermanent?” … “So you should truly see … Seeing this … They understand: ‘… there is nothing further for this place.’”
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.