In MN 38, a monk named Sati The Fisherman's Son has some wrong views about 'samsara', as follows:
> “tathāhaṁ bhagavatā dhammaṁ desitaṁ ājānāmi yathā tadevidaṁ viññāṇaṁ
> sandhāvati **saṁsara**ti anaññan”ti.
>
> “As I understand the Buddha’s teaching, it is this very same
> consciousness that roams and transmigrates, not another.” (Sujato translation)
>
> “As I understand the Dhamma taught by the Blessed One, it is this same consciousness that runs and wanders through the round of rebirths, not another.” (Bodhi translation)
>
> As I understand the Dhamma taught by the Blessed One, it is this very consciousness which wanders in Saṁsāra, and nothing else. ([Suddhāso](https://suttacentral.net/mn38/en/suddhaso?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false) translation)
>
> As I understand the Dhamma taught by the Blessed One, it is just this consciousness that runs and wanders on [from birth to birth], not another. (Thanissaro translation)
The translation of [MN 38 by Sujato](https://suttacentral.net/mn38/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=linebyline&reference=none¬es=sidenotes&highlight=false&script=latin) includes a footnote asserting the view "*the
primary locus of transmigration is consciousness (viññāṇa)*":
> Sāti attributes three teachings to the Buddha. First, that there is a
> “transmigration” (saṁsāra) from one life to another. Second, that **the
> primary locus of transmigration is “consciousness” (viññāṇa)**. And
> thirdly, that the consciousness that transmigrates remains “this very
> same” (tadevidaṁ), not another (anaññaṁ); in other words, it retains
> its self-same identity through the process of rebirth. **The Buddha did
> in fact teach the first two of these ideas**, but not the third, as he
> will explain below. | The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad says that as death
> approaches, the senses and vital energies withdraw into the heart
> (hṛdaya), from the top of which the self departs. That same
> consciousness proceeds to a new body (4.4.2: savijñāno bhavati,
> savijñānamevānvavakrāmati). This core Upaniṣadic chapter on rebirth
> reflects Sāti’s wording as well as his meaning. Sāti asserts emphatic
> identity using doubled demonstrative pronouns conjoined with (e)va
> (tadevidaṁ), and identical constructions are found throughout the
> Bṛhadāraṇyaka chapter: sa vā ayam (4.4.5), sa vā eṣa (4.4.22, 4.4.24,
> 4.4.25); see also tameva (4.4.17). For anaññaṁ we find the inverse anya for the “other” body (4.4.3, 4.4.4). For the Pali verbs
> sandhāvati saṁsarati we have instead avakrāmati (4.4.1, 4.4.2). But
> the connection with saṁsarati is made in the Brahmanical tradition
> itself, for it says below, “That self is indeed divinity, made of
> consciousness” (sa vā ayamātmā brahma vijñānamayo; 4.4.5, see too
> 4.4.22), which the commentator Śaṅkara explains as “the transmigrating self” (saṁsaratyātmā)
Here, does the footnote asserting "*the
primary locus of transmigration (samsara) is consciousness*" have the same wrong view as Sati The Fisherman's Son?
In other words, in the Pali Suttas, did the Buddha really teach the primary locus of samsara is “consciousness” (viññāṇa)?
Asked by Paraloka Dhamma Dhatu
(45860 rep)
May 10, 2025, 09:28 PM
Last activity: May 12, 2025, 09:33 AM
Last activity: May 12, 2025, 09:33 AM