The Great Discourse on Causation

The Mahānidāna Sutta and Its Commentaries

By:  Bhikkhu Bodhi

The Mahanidana Sutta, “The Great Discourse on Causation,” is the longest and most detailed of the Buddha’s discourses dealing with dependent arising (paticca samuppada), a doctrine generally regarded as the key to his entire teaching. The Buddha often described dependent arising as deep, subtle, and difficult to see, the special domain of noble wisdom. So when his close disciple Ananda comes to him and suggests that this doctrine might not be as deep as it seems, the stage is set for a particularly profound and illuminating exposition of the Dhamma.

This book contains a translation of the Mahanidana Sutta together with all the doctrinally important passages from its authorized commentary and subcommentary. A long introductory essay discusses the rich philosophical implications of the sutta; an appendix explains the treatment of dependent arising according to the Abhidhamma system of conditional relations.

The Translator

Bhikkhu Bodhi is the author, translator, and editor of many books on Theravada Buddhism. The most important of these are The Discourse on the All-Embracing Net of Views (1978), A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma(1993), The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (1995), The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (2000), In the Buddha's Words (2005). He was the editor of the Buddhist Publication Society for many years and has been its president since 1988. He currently resides in the USA.