[146] And what, bhikkhus, is the noble truth (ariyasacca) of suffering (dukkha)? Birth (jāti) is suffering; aging (jarā) is suffering; death (maraṇa) is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants — that too is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging (pañcupādānakkhandhā) are suffering.
And what, bhikkhus, is birth? Whatever, for these or those beings in this or that order of beings, is birth, being born, descent [into the womb], production, coming forth, the manifestation of the aggregates, the obtaining of the sense bases (āyatana) — this, bhikkhus, is called birth.
And what, bhikkhus, is aging? Whatever, for these or those beings in this or that order of beings, is aging, the state of decay, brokenness of teeth, greyness of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of the life span, ripening of the faculties — this, bhikkhus, is called aging.
And what, bhikkhus, is death? Whatever, for these or those beings from this or that order of beings, is passing away, the state of passing away, breaking up, disappearance, mortality, death, the completion of one's time, the breaking up of the aggregates, the laying down of the carcass, the cutting off of the life faculty (jīvitindriya) — this, bhikkhus, is called death.
And what, bhikkhus, is sorrow (soka)? Whatever, bhikkhus, for one beset by some misfortune or other, touched by some painful state or other, is sorrow, sorrowing, the state of sorrowfulness, inward sorrow, inward deep sorrow — this, bhikkhus, is called sorrow.
And what, bhikkhus, is lamentation (parideva)? Whatever, bhikkhus, for one beset by some misfortune or other, touched by some painful state or other, is wailing, lamenting, the act of wailing, the act of lamenting, the state of one who wails, the state of one who laments — this, bhikkhus, is called lamentation.
And what, bhikkhus, is pain (dukkha)? Whatever, bhikkhus, is bodily pain, bodily discomfort, painful, uncomfortable feeling born of body-contact — this, bhikkhus, is called pain.
And what, bhikkhus, is grief (domanassa)? Whatever, bhikkhus, is mental pain, mental discomfort, painful, uncomfortable feeling born of mind-contact (cetosamphassa) — this, bhikkhus, is called grief.
And what, bhikkhus, is despair (upāyāsa)? Whatever, bhikkhus, for one beset by some misfortune or other, touched by some painful state or other, is distress, despair, the state of being distressed, the state of being in despair — this, bhikkhus, is called despair.
And what, bhikkhus, is union with what is displeasing as suffering? Here, bhikkhus, for whomever there are unwished-for, undesirable, disagreeable forms, sounds, odours, tastes, and tangibles; or for whomever there are those who wish him harm, wish him hurt, wish him discomfort, wish him no security from bondage — whatever contact, meeting, coming together, mingling there is with these — this, bhikkhus, is called union with what is displeasing as suffering.
And what, bhikkhus, is separation from what is pleasing as suffering? Here, bhikkhus, for whomever there are wished-for, desirable, agreeable forms, sounds, odours, tastes, and tangibles; or for whomever there are those who wish him good, wish him welfare, wish him comfort, wish him security from bondage — mother, or father, or brother, or sister, or friends, or colleagues, or kinsmen and blood-relations — whatever non-contact, non-meeting, not coming together, not mingling there is with these — this, bhikkhus, is called separation from what is pleasing as suffering.
And what, bhikkhus, is not getting what one wants, that too being suffering? In beings subject to birth, bhikkhus, a wish like this arises: 'Oh, that we were not subject to birth, that birth would not come to us!' But this is not to be obtained by wishing; and this too is: not getting what one wants, that too is suffering. In beings subject to aging, bhikkhus, … In beings subject to sickness (byādhi), bhikkhus, … In beings subject to death, bhikkhus, … In beings subject to sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair, bhikkhus, a wish like this arises: 'Oh, that we were not subject to sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair, that sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair would not come to us!' But this is not to be obtained by wishing; and this too is: not getting what one wants, that too is suffering.
And what, bhikkhus, are, in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging that are suffering? Namely: the form aggregate subject to clinging, the feeling (vedanā) aggregate subject to clinging, the perception aggregate subject to clinging, the volitional formations aggregate subject to clinging, the consciousness aggregate subject to clinging. These, bhikkhus, are called, in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging that are suffering.
This, bhikkhus, is called the noble truth of suffering.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.