Not narrated in this discourse's source text; no discourse in this vagga carries a narrative frame at all
Speakers
Not named explicitly; a three-part riddle answered point by point
Form
A four-line question, identical to SN 1.62's, answered by a different four-line reply
Length
~20 seconds to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — direct in form
Completing a pair
The second half of this vagga's mind-and-craving pair, naming the force rather than the agent
Why this discourse
This discourse asks exactly what SN 1.62 asked — what leads the world on, what drags it around, what single thing holds everything under its sway — but answers with craving (taṇhā) rather than mind. Where the previous discourse named the mind as the active agent dragging the world along, this one names craving as what actually drives that agent to act.
Reading guide
The same question, a complementary answer
Nothing in this discourse's question differs from SN 1.62's, word for word. What changes is only the answer — and rather than treating the two answers as competing, they read most naturally as complementary: the mind moves the world, and craving is what moves the mind to do so.
Craving as motive force behind an active mind
If SN 1.62 pictured the mind as an agent dragging the world along, this discourse supplies the reason that agent acts at all: craving is what gives the mind its direction and its restless energy in the first place — not a separate, unrelated cause, but the engine behind the engine.
A term already central to this collection
Craving's role here echoes its appearance across many earlier discourses in this collection, from SN 1.55 through SN 1.57's account of craving giving birth to a person, to SN 1.34's tracing of suffering back to desire. This discourse restates the same basic conviction in this vagga's own recurring ‘what governs the world’ frame.
Key terms
taṇhāya nīyati loko — “craving leads the world on” — this discourse's answer, replacing SN 1.62's 'the mind' in an otherwise identical verse.
nibbahati — “drags around” — the same forceful verb used at SN 1.62, now applied to craving instead of the mind.
taṇhāya vasamanvagū — “has everything under craving's sway” — mirroring SN 1.62's identical closing structure.
citta — “mind” — the answer given to this identical question at SN 1.62, immediately before this discourse.
eko dhammo — “the one thing” — the question's own framing, shared exactly between this discourse and SN 1.62.
The text
The discourse in full: the same question as SN 1.62, closing on craving rather than the mind. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“What leads the world on? What drags it around? What is the one thing that has everything under its sway?”
§2“Craving leads the world on. Craving drags it around. Craving is the one thing that has everything under its sway.”
· · ·
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
How does this discourse's question compare to SN 1.62's?
Correct: A. The exact same question, only the answer differs.
Question 2 of 10
What does this discourse name as the answer?
Correct: A. Replacing SN 1.62's 'mind' in an otherwise identical verse.
Question 3 of 10
How do this discourse's answer and SN 1.62's answer relate to each other?
Correct: A. Craving as the engine behind the mind's active dragging of the world.
Question 4 of 10
What earlier discourses in this collection already established craving's central role?
Correct: A. A recurring conviction restated here in this vagga's own frame.
Question 5 of 10
What verb does this discourse share exactly with SN 1.62?
Correct: A. The same forceful verb, now applied to craving instead of the mind.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'taṇhāya nīyati loko' mean?
Correct: A. This discourse's central claim, replacing SN 1.62's answer.
Question 7 of 10
Does this discourse present craving and mind as mutually exclusive answers?
Correct: A. Complementary rather than competing claims.
Question 8 of 10
What is the setting of this discourse?
Correct: A. Like every discourse in this vagga, no setting is given directly.
Question 9 of 10
What does this discourse's position in this vagga's sequence suggest?
Correct: A. The second half of a matched pair within this vagga's larger investigation.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'eko dhammo' mean?
Correct: A. The shared question's own framing, common to both this discourse and SN 1.62.
