Near Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove — the same recurring circumstances as the discourses before it
Speakers
An unnamed deity and the Buddha, in a single exchange of verses
Form
A four-line verse from the deity, answered by the Buddha's four-line verse — both sharing their closing two lines with SN 1.3
Length
~1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the shortest kind of reading here, since half the verse repeats a discourse just read
Companion discourse
SN 1.3, immediately before this one, closes with the exact same two-line refrain in both the deity's and the Buddha's verse
Why this discourse
This discourse is best read directly alongside SN 1.3, the one immediately before it. Its opening image changes — time flying, nights passing, the stages of life leaving one by one — but its closing two lines, in both the deity's verse and the Buddha's, are identical, word for word, to SN 1.3's. The vagga is showing the same conclusion is reachable from more than one starting image of impermanence.
Reading guide
A new opening image
Where SN 1.3 pictured life as continuously ‘led onward,’ this discourse pictures time itself in motion: ‘time flies, nights pass by, the stages of life leave us one by one’ (vayoguṇā anupubbaṁ jahanti). The image has shifted from being carried to being left behind, piece by piece, as time moves past.
The identical closing couplet
From ‘seeing this peril in death’ onward, this verse and SN 1.3's match exactly: the deity again counsels ‘do good deeds that bring you joy,’ and the Buddha again answers that ‘a seeker of peace would drop the world's bait.’ Nothing here is a fresh answer — it is the same answer, reached from a different starting point.
Why the vagga repeats itself
Reciting several distinct images of impermenance — being led onward, time flying, the stages of life falling away — that all resolve to the same closing counsel is itself a rhetorical shape, not a redundancy to smooth over. It is closer to variations on a theme than to a single verse told twice.
Vayoguṇā, the stages of life
Vayoguṇā names the successive phases a life passes through — commentarial tradition reads this as childhood, youth, and old age — each one dropped in turn (anupubbaṁ jahanti, ‘left behind in order’) as time moves the person through them.
Key terms
accenti — “flies, passes swiftly” — the verb this discourse's title comes from, describing time's motion rather than the person's.
vayoguṇā — “the stages of life” — traditionally read as childhood, youth, and old age, each one left behind in turn as time passes.
anupubbaṁ jahanti — “leave us one by one, in order” — describing how the stages of life fall away successively, not all at once.
lokāmisa — “the world's bait” — the same image from SN 1.3, worldly pleasure as bait set to hook a creature, repeated here word for word.
santipekkho — “one who seeks peace” — the same description, again shared verbatim with SN 1.3's closing line.
The text
The discourse in full: a new opening image of impermanence, closed with the same answer already given at SN 1.3. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. Standing to one side, that deity spoke this verse in the Buddha’s presence:
§2“Time flies, nights pass by, the stages of life leave us one by one. Seeing this peril in death, do good deeds that bring you joy.”
§3“Time flies, nights pass by, the stages of life leave us one by one. Seeing this peril in death, a seeker of peace would drop the world’s bait.”
· · ·
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What new image does this discourse's opening verse use for impermanence?
Correct: A. 'Accenti kālā tarayanti rattiyo' — a new opening, distinct from SN 1.3's.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's closing couplet compare to SN 1.3's?
Correct: A. Both verses' closing two lines match SN 1.3's exactly.
Question 3 of 10
What does 'vayoguṇā' name?
Correct: A. Left behind in order as time passes, per commentarial reading.
Question 4 of 10
What does 'anupubbaṁ jahanti' describe?
Correct: A. Successive, not simultaneous, loss.
Question 5 of 10
What is the Buddha's closing line in this discourse?
Correct: A. Identical to the closing line already given at SN 1.3.
Question 6 of 10
What does reading SN 1.3 and SN 1.4 together suggest about this vagga's approach?
Correct: A. Variations on a theme, not redundant repetition.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'accenti' mean?
Correct: A. The verb this discourse's title is drawn from.
Question 8 of 10
Does this discourse's prescription differ from the deity's own conclusion?
Correct: A. Same structure as SN 1.3: shared diagnosis, different prescription.
Question 9 of 10
What is the setting of this discourse?
Correct: A. The Devatāsaṃyutta's recurring frame continues.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'lokāmisa' mean, repeated here from SN 1.3?
Correct: A. Loka ('world') + āmisa ('flesh, bait'), unchanged from SN 1.3.
