In short: The Fire Sermon (Ādittapariyāya Sutta, "All Burning") was taught at Gayā Head to a thousand monks who had once been fire-worshipping ascetics. The Buddha spoke their language: everything is burning, not with sacred fire, but with the fires of greed, hate and delusion.
Full text below, line by line: Pāli and English translation by Bhikkhu Sujato, from SuttaCentral (SN35.28). Ellipses (…) are abbreviations in the original.
What it means
Every sense, its objects, its contact and the feelings that arise are "burning". Seeing this clearly, a person grows disillusioned, desire fades, and the fire goes out, which is the meaning of the word nirvana, "extinguishing". The sermon is famous in the West too: T. S. Eliot named a section of The Waste Land after it.
Read the full guide
The full text in Pāli and English
| Pāli | English |
|---|---|
| Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā gayāyaṁ viharati gayāsīse saddhiṁ bhikkhusahassena. | At one time the Buddha was staying near Gayā on Gayā Head together with a thousand mendicants. |
| Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: | There the Buddha addressed the mendicants: |
| “sabbaṁ, bhikkhave, ādittaṁ. | “Mendicants, all is burning. |
| Kiñca, bhikkhave, sabbaṁ ādittaṁ? | And what is the all that is burning? |
| Cakkhu, bhikkhave, ādittaṁ, rūpā ādittā, cakkhuviññāṇaṁ ādittaṁ, cakkhusamphasso āditto. Yampidaṁ cakkhusamphassapaccayā uppajjati vedayitaṁ sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā tampi ādittaṁ. | The eye is burning. Sights are burning. Eye consciousness is burning. Eye contact is burning. The painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact is also burning. |
| Kena ādittaṁ? | Burning with what? |
| ‘Rāgagginā, dosagginā, mohagginā ādittaṁ, jātiyā jarāya maraṇena sokehi paridevehi dukkhehi domanassehi upāyāsehi ādittan’ti vadāmi …pe… | Burning with the fires of greed, hate, and delusion. Burning with rebirth, old age, and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. |
| jivhā ādittā, rasā ādittā, jivhāviññāṇaṁ ādittaṁ, jivhāsamphasso āditto. Yampidaṁ jivhāsamphassapaccayā uppajjati vedayitaṁ sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā tampi ādittaṁ. | The ear … nose … tongue … body … |
| Kena ādittaṁ? | |
| ‘Rāgagginā, dosagginā, mohagginā ādittaṁ, jātiyā jarāya maraṇena sokehi paridevehi dukkhehi domanassehi upāyāsehi ādittan’ti vadāmi …pe… | |
| mano āditto, dhammā ādittā, manoviññāṇaṁ ādittaṁ, manosamphasso āditto. Yampidaṁ manosamphassapaccayā uppajjati vedayitaṁ sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā tampi ādittaṁ. | The mind is burning. Ideas are burning. Mind consciousness is burning. Mind contact is burning. The painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact is also burning. |
| Kena ādittaṁ? | Burning with what? |
| ‘Rāgagginā, dosagginā, mohagginā ādittaṁ, jātiyā jarāya maraṇena sokehi paridevehi dukkhehi domanassehi upāyāsehi ādittan’ti vadāmi. | Burning with the fires of greed, hate, and delusion. Burning with rebirth, old age, and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress, I say. |
| Evaṁ passaṁ, bhikkhave, sutavā ariyasāvako cakkhusmimpi nibbindati, rūpesupi nibbindati, cakkhuviññāṇepi nibbindati, cakkhusamphassepi nibbindati, yampidaṁ cakkhusamphassapaccayā uppajjati vedayitaṁ sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā tasmimpi nibbindati …pe… | Seeing this, a learned noble disciple grows disillusioned with the eye, sights, eye consciousness, and eye contact. And they grow disillusioned with the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact. |
| yampidaṁ manosamphassapaccayā uppajjati vedayitaṁ sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā tasmimpi nibbindati. | They grow disillusioned with the ear … nose … tongue … body … mind … painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact. |
| Nibbindaṁ virajjati; virāgā vimuccati; vimuttasmiṁ vimuttamiti ñāṇaṁ hoti. | Being disillusioned, desire fades away. When desire fades away they’re freed. When they’re freed, they know they’re freed. |
| ‘Khīṇā jāti, vusitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, kataṁ karaṇīyaṁ, nāparaṁ itthattāyā’ti pajānātī”ti. | They understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.’” |
| Idamavoca bhagavā. | That is what the Buddha said. |
| Attamanā te bhikkhū bhagavato bhāsitaṁ abhinanduṁ. | Satisfied, the mendicants approved what the Buddha said. |
| Imasmiñca pana veyyākaraṇasmiṁ bhaññamāne tassa bhikkhusahassassa anupādāya āsavehi cittāni vimucciṁsūti. | And while this discourse was being spoken, the minds of the thousand mendicants were freed from defilements by not grasping. |
| Chaṭṭhaṁ. |
Try it
Read one section slowly each evening, or begin with Buddhist chanting for beginners.
Questions people ask
What is the Fire Sermon?
A discourse of the Buddha (SN 35.28) teaching that all the senses and their experiences are 'burning' with greed, hate and delusion, and that seeing this leads to disillusionment and freedom.
Where was the Fire Sermon given?
At Gayā Head (Gayāsīsa), near Gayā, to a thousand monks who had formerly been fire-worshipping ascetics.
How does the Fire Sermon relate to nirvana?
Nirvana means 'extinguishing'. The sermon describes the fires of greed, hate and delusion; their going out is nirvana.