the bodhipakkhiyā dhammā or 37 factors of enlightenment is a list of seven sets of teachings typically presented like this:
And moreover, sir, how the Buddha teaches skillful qualities is unsurpassable.
Aparaṁ pana, bhante, etadānuttariyaṁ, yathā bhagavā dhammaṁ deseti kusalesu dhammesu.This consists of such skillful qualities as
Tatrime kusalā dhammā seyyathidaṁ—the four kinds of mindfulness meditation, the four right efforts, the four bases of psychic power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven awakening factors, and the noble eightfold path.
cattāro satipaṭṭhānā, cattāro sammappadhānā, cattāro iddhipādā, pañcindriyāni, pañca balāni, satta bojjhaṅgā, ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo.By these a mendicant realizes the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life. And they live having realized it with their own insight due to the ending of defilements.
Idha, bhante, bhikkhu āsavānaṁ khayā anāsavaṁ cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja viharati.This is unsurpassable when it comes to skillful qualities.
Etadānuttariyaṁ, bhante, kusalesu dhammesu.
The above list of cattāro satipaṭṭhānā, cattāro sammappadhānā, cattāro iddhipādā, pañcindriyāni, pañca balāni, satta bojjhaṅgā, ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo. however is never called bodhipakkhiyā dhammā in the 4N, in fact the phrase bodhipakkhiyā dhammā occurs only in SN and there is only used to refer to the five faculties, as in ;
And what are the qualities that lead to awakening?
Katame ca, bhikkhave, bodhipakkhiyā dhammā?The faculties of faith,
Saddhindriyaṁ, bhikkhave, bodhipakkhiyo dhammo, taṁ bodhāya saṁvattati;energy,
vīriyindriyaṁ bodhipakkhiyo dhammo, taṁ bodhāya saṁvattati;mindfulness,
satindriyaṁ bodhipakkhiyo dhammo, taṁ bodhāya saṁvattati;immersion,
samādhindriyaṁ bodhipakkhiyo dhammo, taṁ bodhāya saṁvattati;and wisdom are qualities that lead to awakening, in that they lead to becoming awakened.
paññindriyaṁ bodhipakkhiyo dhammo, taṁ bodhāya saṁvattati.
Not only is the list not called by that name, it actually only occurs twice in DN, at DN16 and DN28, twice in MN, at MN103 and MN104, and once in AN, at AN8.19
Even stranger, IMO, is that SN never actually gives the standard list, that is the sentence; cattāro satipaṭṭhānā, cattāro sammappadhānā, cattāro iddhipādā, pañcindriyāni, pañca balāni, satta bojjhaṅgā, ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo. doesn’t occur in SN! Of course, the whole of the Mahavaggasamyutta is precisely a collection based around these very groupings, with:
SN47 on cattāro satipaṭṭhānā
SN49 on cattāro sammappadhānā
SN51 on cattāro iddhipādā
SN48 on pañcindriyāni
SN50 on pañca balāni
SN46 on satta bojjhaṅgā
SN45 on ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo
…
plus the following:
SN52 Anuruddha
SN53 Jhana
SN54 anapansati
SN55 sotopana
SN56 the truths
So; the list of subjects that make up the mahavaggasamyutta is clearly, at least in its first 7 samyuttas what later tradition called bodhipakkhiyā dhammā however that name never appears in the other Nikayas and when it appears in SN it refers to the pañcindriyāni.
What are we to make of this?
Well, stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but one explanation would be that SN doesn’t mention the list because where it is mentioned in the other 4N (twice in DN, twice in MN and once in AN) it is a late addition referring to the SN collection itself.
This is made more plausible by the fact that of the suttas that do give the list, DN16 is widely regarded to have been open late, DN28 appears to be a composite, spoken by Sariputta, listing many different teachings from many other places in the canon, and both of MN103 and 104 give the list as a shorthand for the teachings of the buddha when dealing with dispute about what is an isn’t the teaching and avoiding schism.
AN8.19 gives;
The ocean is full of many kinds of treasures, such as pearls, gems, beryl, conch, quartz, coral, silver, gold, rubies, and emeralds.
Seyyathāpi, pahārāda, mahāsamuddo bahuratano anekaratano; tatrimāni ratanāni, seyyathidaṁ—muttā maṇi veḷuriyo saṅkho silā pavāḷaṁ rajataṁ jātarūpaṁ lohitako masāragallaṁ;In the same way, this teaching and training is full of many kinds of treasures, such as the four kinds of mindfulness meditation, the four right efforts, the four bases of psychic power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven awakening factors, and the noble eightfold path.
evamevaṁ kho, pahārāda, ayaṁ dhammavinayo bahuratano anekaratano. Tatrimāni ratanāni, seyyathidaṁ—cattāro satipaṭṭhānā, cattāro sammappadhānā, cattāro iddhipādā, pañcindriyāni, pañca balāni, satta bojjhaṅgā, ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo.
Yampi, pahārāda, ayaṁ dhammavinayo bahuratano anekaratano; tatrimāni ratanāni, seyyathidaṁ—cattāro satipaṭṭhānā, cattāro sammappadhānā, cattāro iddhipādā, pañcindriyāni, pañca balāni, satta bojjhaṅgā, ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo;
which is lovely but doesn’t really sway things one way or the other.
So to summarise, the phrase bodhipakkhiyā dhammā only appears in SN and always means the five faculties, the list that we know today as bodhipakkhiyā dhammā, the “37 aides to awakening” does not appear as a seperate list in SN, and only appears in the other 3 principle Nikayas a handful of times.
My explanation is that those occurrences are late additions and refer to the contents list of the mahavaggasamyutta of SN, which in turn is a later anthologizing of the teachings organised thematically in a way that is intermediate between the less thematically arranged but earlier material that forms the basis of DN and MN and the later and more rigorously organised material that forms the basis of the Abhidhamma.
would love to hear what others think,
Metta.
