Vinaya Piṭaka · Mahāvagga · Vol. 4 · Item 13
☸ Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion · The First Sermon
The Buddha's first discourse, delivered to the five ascetics at Deer Park (Isipatana), Sarnath — the founding statement of the entire Buddhist teaching, introducing the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Middle Way (Majjhimā Paṭipadā)
Before teaching the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha rejected both extremes:
❌ Indulgence in sensual pleasure
Low, vulgar, the way of the worldling — it does not lead to disenchantment.
❌ Self-mortification (asceticism)
Painful, ignoble, and unbeneficial — the extreme the five ascetics had practiced.
The Middle Way gives rise to vision, knowledge, and leads to calm, direct knowledge, enlightenment, and Nibbāna — it is the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Four Noble Truths (Cattāri Ariyasaccāni)
Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering. Association with the disliked is suffering, separation from the liked is suffering, not getting what one wants is suffering. In brief, the five aggregates of clinging are suffering.
It is this craving (taṇhā) which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there — craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.
It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, non-reliance on it. This is Nibbāna.
It is the Noble Eightfold Path — right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
The Three Turnings of the Wheel
The Buddha declared that for each of the Four Noble Truths, he applied three aspects of understanding — giving 12 insights in total:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta?
The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta ('Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion') is the Buddha's First Sermon, delivered to the five ascetics at Deer Park, Isipatana (modern Sarnath) shortly after his Enlightenment. It introduces the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path.
What are the Four Noble Truths?
The Four Noble Truths are: (1) Dukkha — suffering/unsatisfactoriness exists; (2) Samudaya — craving is the origin of suffering; (3) Nirodha — suffering can cease (Nibbāna); (4) Magga — the Noble Eightfold Path is the way to cessation.
Where is the First Sermon in the Pali Canon?
Found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, Mahāvagga, Vol. 4, item 13 (MCU edition). A parallel version appears in the Saṃyutta Nikāya, Sacca-saṃyutta, Vol. 19.