Bahudhātuka Sutta


Bahudhātuka Sutta is a discourse attributed to the Buddha in the Majjhima Nikāya of the Pāli Canon. The sutta presents a teaching on how a mendicant becomes wise by investigating the various dhātu and related matrices such as the sense-fields and dependent origination; it also contains passages that have been the subject of scholarly discussion for their treatment of gender and spiritual capacity.

Background

The Bahudhātuka Sutta appears in the Majjhima Nikāya, a collection of middle-length discourses. In the Pāli tradition this sutta functions as an instructional piece describing the qualities of a wise inquirer who discerns conditioned phenomena by analyzing elements, sense-fields, and the links of dependent arising. The sutta is extant in Pāli and has parallels and variant readings in other early Buddhist āgama collections.

Summary

The discourse opens with praise for a wise person and then lists several sets of elements and fields for contemplative investigation. It explains that by investigating these domains accurately and insightfully a mendicant becomes “astute” and thereby develops liberating wisdom. The sutta also contains a passage that, in some translations and manuscript traditions, asserts impossibilities about what can be attained by women, a passage that has generated considerable interpretative and scholarly attention.

Textual history and parallels

Comparative work has shown that MN 115 preserves an early nucleus describing the elements and dependent arising, while other recensions and translations display variant expansions or omissions. Scholarly comparison suggests the Pāli version retains an older stratum of the material in some respects, whereas later materials or redactions may account for contentious passages found in certain versions.

Scholarship and controversy

A notable area of scholarly interest concerns passages in several manuscripts and translations that appear to limit certain high attainments to men. Analytic and comparative studies have shown that these gendered statements differ among recensions; some parallels lack the restrictive wording, leading many scholars to argue that the more controversial lines may be later interpolations or redactions rather than part of the earliest stratum. Modern scholars have debated the implications of these variants for understanding early Buddhist views on gender and spiritual capacity.

Translations

Several widely consulted translations and editions are available online:
  • Bhikkhu Sujato — SuttaCentral.
  • Nyanamoli Thera — SuttaCentral edition.
  • Public-domain translations are available in various online repositories and reprints.