Ādittapariyāya Sutta

[5] English speakers might be familiar with the name of this discourse due to T. S. Eliot's titling the third section of his celebrated poem The Waste Land "The Fire Sermon."

), attributed to Buddhaghosa, draws a direct connection between the ascetics' prior practices and this discourse's main rhetorical device: Having led the thousand bhikkhus monks to Gayā's Head, the Blessed One reflected, 'What kind of Dhamma talk would be suitable for them?'

[9] After a prefatory paragraph identifying this discourse's location of deliverance (Gaya) and audience (a thousand monks or bhikkhus), the Buddha proclaims (represented here in English and Pali): The ensuing text reveals that "all" (sabba) refers to: By "burning" (āditta) is meant: According to the Buddha, a well-instructed noble disciple (sutavā ariyasāvako) sees this burning and thus becomes disenchanted (nibbindati) with the sense bases and their mental sequelae.

'"[14] Nibbindaṃ virajjativirāgā vimuccati,vimuttasmiṃ vimuttamiti ñāṇaṃ hoti,khīṇā jāti,vusitaṃ brahmacariyaṃ,kataṃ karaṇīyaṃnāparaṃ itthattāyāti pajānātī ti.

"[17] Regardless which edition is referenced, both the Fire Sermon and this subsequent discourse, with their seemingly diametric similes of burning and oppressiveness, underline that the senses, their objects and associated mental impressions are unto themselves beyond our complete control and are aversive; and, thus provide the escape of disenchantment, dispassion and release.

In this discourse, instead of describing the sense bases (ayatana) as being aflame, the Buddha describes the five aggregates (khandha) in this manner: Like the Fire Sermon, this discourse has a central metaphor related to fire – likening our physical and mental apparatus to hot embers (Pali: kukkuḷa) – and concludes with the well-instructed noble disciple becoming disenchanted with, dispassionate about and liberated from these burning constituents.

Unlike the Fire Sermon, instead of using the sense bases and their mental sequelae as the basis for this burning and disenchantment, this discourse uses the five aggregates (khandha) for the underlying physical-mental framework.