Not narrated in this discourse's source text; no discourse in this vagga carries a narrative frame at all
Speakers
Not named explicitly; a four-part riddle answered point by point
Form
A four-line question, sharing three lines exactly with SN 1.55 and SN 1.56, varying only its fourth
Length
~30 seconds to read
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — direct in form
Completing a three-part sequence
The third and final variation on SN 1.55's opening three lines, closing on a person's destiny rather than their fear or their bondage
Why this discourse
This discourse completes the sequence begun at SN 1.55: craving still gives birth to a person, their mind still runs about, a sentient being still enters transmigration. Where SN 1.55 asked what a person fears most and SN 1.56 asked what they are not free from, this final discourse asks what their destiny actually is — and answers that a person's own deeds (kamma) are their final haven, the place their trajectory ultimately comes to rest.
Reading guide
From fear and bondage to destiny
The sequence's three final lines trace a clear progression: SN 1.55 named what a person dreads (suffering), SN 1.56 named what they remain bound by (the same suffering, differently framed), and this discourse names where they ultimately end up — not a place in the ordinary sense, but their own accumulated deeds.
Deeds as a 'haven', not merely a cause
Calling kamma a person's ‘final haven’ (gati, sometimes rendered ‘destiny’ or ‘destination’) is a striking image: rather than treating deeds merely as the mechanical cause of some separate later outcome, the verse identifies deeds themselves as the place a person's trajectory settles into — there is no further destination behind or beyond one's own actions.
A recurring theme across this vagga
This discourse's closing claim echoes SN 1.53's earlier point that a person's own good deeds, not any other friend, accompany them into the next life. Read together, this vagga returns repeatedly to the same underlying conviction: nothing outside a person's own conduct determines what ultimately becomes of them.
A sequence completed, not merely repeated three times
Read in order, SN 1.55 through SN 1.57 don't simply restate the same point three times with cosmetic variation; they build a small progression — fear, then bondage, then destiny — using an identical shared frame to trace three genuinely different aspects of the same underlying condition.
Key terms
taṇhā janeti purisaṁ — “craving gives birth to a person” — unchanged for a third time, completing this sequence's shared opening line.
cittamassa vidhāvati — “their mind is what runs about” — the second shared line, again unchanged.
satto saṁsāramāpādi — “a sentient being enters transmigration” — the third shared line, completing the identical three-quarters shared across all three discourses in this sequence.
kammaṁ tassa parāyanaṁ — “deeds are their final haven” — this discourse's own unique closing answer, naming deeds as where a person's trajectory settles.
gati — “destiny, destination” — the question this discourse asks, distinct from SN 1.55's fear and SN 1.56's bondage.
The text
The discourse in full: the same three causes as SN 1.55 and SN 1.56, closing this sequence on the question of destiny. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“What gives birth to a person? What do they have that runs about? What enters transmigration? What is their destiny?”
§2“Craving gives birth to a person. Their mind is what runs about. A sentient being enters transmigration. Deeds are their final haven.”
· · ·
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 question does this discourse's fourth line ask, distinct from SN 1.55 and SN 1.56?
Correct: A. Completing the progression from fear, to bondage, to destiny.
Question 2 of 10
What does this discourse name as a person's 'final haven'?
Correct: A. Kammaṁ tassa parāyanaṁ — deeds themselves as the place a trajectory settles.
Question 3 of 10
How does calling deeds a 'haven' differ from treating them merely as a cause?
Correct: A. A striking image: no further destination lies behind or beyond one's own actions.
Question 4 of 10
What earlier discourse in this vagga does this discourse's closing claim echo?
Correct: A. A recurring conviction across this vagga about deeds determining outcome.
Question 5 of 10
What progression do SN 1.55 through SN 1.57 trace together?
Correct: A. Three genuinely different aspects of the same underlying condition.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'gati' mean?
Correct: A. The specific question this discourse asks, distinct from its two companions.
Question 7 of 10
Are the sequence's first three lines the same across all three discourses?
Correct: A. The shared frame that makes this a matched sequence rather than three unrelated discourses.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'kammaṁ tassa parāyanaṁ' mean?
Correct: A. This discourse's unique closing answer.
Question 9 of 10
What is the setting of this discourse?
Correct: A. Like every discourse in this vagga, no setting is given directly.
Question 10 of 10
Is this discourse simply a third repetition of the same point as SN 1.55 and SN 1.56?
Correct: A. A deliberate build across the three-part sequence, not mere repetition.
