z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 04.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 235
WHAT IS DHAMMA ?
235
“With the fire of passion say I, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of infatuation ; with birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief and despair are they on fire.”
“The ear is on fire ; sounds are on fire ; the nose is on fire ; odours are on fire ; the tongue is on fire ; tastes are on fire ; the body is on fire ; ideas are on fire ; and whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent, originates in dependence on impression received by the mind, that also is on fire.
“And with what are these on fire ? ”
“With the fire of passion, say I ; with the fire of hatred ; with the fire of infatuation ; with birth ; old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, and despair are they on fire.”
“Perceiving this, O Bhikkus, the learned and noble conceives an aversion. And in conceiving this aversion, he becomes divested of passion, and by the absence of passion he becomes free, and when he is free he becomes aware that he is free.”
How can Nibbana give happiness ? That is the next question which calls for explanation.
The common notion is that man is unhappy because he is in want. But this is not always true. Man is unhappy even though he is in the midst of plenty.
Unhappiness is the result of greed, and greed is the bane of life of those who have as well as of those who have not.
This the Buddha has made clear in a sermon delivered to the Bhikkus in which he said.
“Excited by greed (lobha), brothers, furious with anger (dosa), blinded by delusion (moha), with mind overwhelmed, with mind enslaved, men reflect upon their own misfortune, men reflect upon the misfortune of others, men experience mental suffering and anguish.
If, however, greed, anger and delusion are done away, men reflect neither upon their own misfortune nor on mental suffering and anguish.
Thus, brothers, is Nibbana visible in this
III