Sarīraṭṭhadhammasutta — Akkosavagga — the fifth chapter of the Tens, closing the First Fifty
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single flat list of ten, with no elaboration
Length
under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the shortest discourse in this chapter
Why this discourse
In one of the briefest discourses in this project so far, the Buddha simply names ten things that exist because a body exists — an unusual mix spanning raw physical sensation, ethical restraint, and the will to be reborn, offered with no further comment.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Ten things exist because of the body: cold, heat, hunger, thirst, feces, urine, restraint of body, speech, and livelihood, and the will to live that leads to future lives.
Three registers in one list
Unlike most ten-item lists in this project, which stay within a single register, this one mixes three: four purely physical discomforts (cold, heat, hunger, thirst), two bodily functions (feces, urine), three forms of ethical restraint bundled as one item, and, startlingly, the will to live that drives rebirth itself — placed on the same list as needing to urinate.
No elaboration given
This discourse offers no similes, no narrative frame, and no explanation of why these ten specifically belong together; it simply states the list and stops, among the flattest, least adorned discourses met in this project.
The body as the ground of practice, bluntly stated
Read together, the list makes an implicit point without spelling it out: having a body means living with its constant, unglamorous demands — and even the aspiration to escape the cycle of rebirth is itself, in this listing, counted as one more thing the body gives rise to.
Key terms
sarīraṭṭha — “existing because of the body” — this discourse's own title, naming its whole subject in one compound.
sīta, uṇha, jighacchā, pipāsā — “cold, heat, hunger, thirst” — the first four items, purely physical discomforts.
ponobhaviko bhavasaṅkhāro — “the will to live that leads to future lives” — the tenth and final item, placing the drive toward rebirth itself on this otherwise mundane list.
uccāro, passāvo — “feces, urine” — the plainest of the ten items, naming ordinary bodily function without euphemism.
kāyasaṁvaro, vacīsaṁvaro, ājīvasaṁvaro — “restraint of body, speech, and livelihood” — three items of ethical restraint bundled together as the seventh, eighth, and ninth of the ten.
The text
The discourse in full: the ten things existing because of the body. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Ten things existing because of the body
§1“Mendicants, these ten things exist because of the body. What ten? Cold, heat, hunger, thirst, feces, urine, restraint of body, speech, and livelihood, and the will to live that leads to future lives. These ten things exist because of the body.”
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Self-check quiz
5 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 5
What is the subject of this discourse?
Correct: B. A flat, unelaborated list naming the body's consequences.
Question 2 of 5
According to the guide, how many distinct registers does this list mix?
Correct: B. Cold and hunger sit alongside ethical restraint and the drive toward rebirth.
Question 3 of 5
What is unusual about the tenth and final item, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A striking juxtaposition of the ordinary and the profound.
Question 4 of 5
How much elaboration does this discourse give for its list?
Correct: B. No similes, no narrative, no explanation of why these ten belong together.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this brief discourse.
