Not named explicitly; a long, multi-part riddle answered in sequence
Form
Two stacked questions totaling ten parts, answered by three successive replies
Length
~1.5 minutes to read
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — the densest single riddle in this collection, gathering material from several earlier discourses
A shared English title
This discourse's English title, ‘Getting Old,’ is identical to SN 1.52's, though their Pali titles and content are entirely different
Why this discourse
This discourse packs ten distinct questions into two stacked verses: what ages and what doesn't, what's a deviation, what blocks skillful qualities, what's constantly ending, what stains celibacy, what's the waterless bath, and how many holes leak away a person's wealth. The answers span three replies, the second of which repeats SN 1.58's entire ‘Deviation’ verse word for word, before a third reply adds six specific holes where wealth is lost.
Reading guide
A physical form that ages, a name that doesn't
The first answer draws a distinction not made explicitly elsewhere in this collection: the physical body of mortals ages, but their name and clan (nāmagottaṁ) do not — a reputation or lineage persisting, in a sense, beyond the body's own decline.
SN 1.58's verse, repeated word for word
The second reply — lust as deviation, greed as a roadblock, youth ending day and night, women named as the stain of chastity ‘to which this generation clings,’ and fervor with chastity as the waterless bath — is identical to SN 1.58's answer, with one addition (greed as a roadblock for skillful qualities). This reading guide treats the repeated line about women exactly as it treated it at SN 1.58: named plainly for the specific celibate male monastic standpoint it speaks from, not softened or erased.
Six holes where wealth leaks away
The third reply answers a genuinely new question with a concrete list: laziness, negligence, lack of initiative, lack of restraint, sleepiness, and sloth — six specific behavioral failures named as the ‘holes’ through which a person's wealth is lost, closing with a direct imperative to eliminate them entirely.
A compilation discourse, late in this vagga
Coming this late in SN 1's overall sequence, this discourse reads less as introducing new material than as gathering and extending themes already established — SN 1.58's verse reprised whole, SN 1.16's concern with sleepiness and negligence echoed in different vocabulary, and this collection's recurring interest in what actually erodes a person's resources given its most concrete treatment yet.
A title collision worth noting
This discourse's English title, ‘Getting Old,’ is identical to SN 1.52's, though the two share no Pali title, no content, and no structural similarity — a reminder, alongside this collection's two ‘Stingy’-titled and three ‘Gives Birth’-titled discourses, that Sujato's English titles sometimes converge even where the underlying Pali does not.
Key terms
najīrati — “doesn't age” — this discourse's title, drawn from its first answer's claim that name and clan don't age as the body does.
nāmagottaṁ — “name and clan” — what persists, according to the first answer, even as the physical body grows old.
mala brahmacariyassa itthiyo — “women are the stain of chastity” — repeated word for word from SN 1.58, spoken from the same celibate male monastic standpoint named there.
lobho ca kusalānaṁ antarāyo — “greed is a roadblock for skillful qualities” — the one genuinely new line within the otherwise repeated deviation verse.
chidrāni loke — “holes in the world” — the third answer's central image, naming six specific behavioral failures through which wealth is lost.
The text
The discourse in full: two stacked questions, three replies, and one verse reprised verbatim from SN 1.58. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
A six-part question
§1“What ages, what does not age? What’s called a deviation? What’s a roadblock for skillful qualities? What is ending day and night? What’s the stain of celibacy? What’s the waterless bath?
A further question: wealth's leaking holes
§2How many holes are there in the world, where one’s wealth leaks out? We’ve come to ask you, worthy sir: how are we to understand this?”
What ages, what doesn't
§3“The physical form of mortals gets old, but their name and clan don’t.
SN 1.58's verse, repeated word for word
§4Lust is called a deviation, and greed is a roadblock for skillful qualities. Youth is ending day and night. Women are the stain of chastity, to which this generation clings. Fervor and chastity are the waterless bath.
Six holes where wealth leaks out
§5There are six holes in the world, where one’s wealth leaks out: laziness and negligence, lack of initiative and lack of restraint, sleepiness and sloth. You should completely get rid of these holes!”
· · ·
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 many distinct questions does this discourse's two stacked verses ask in total?
Correct: A. The densest single riddle in this collection.
Question 2 of 10
What does the first answer say about the physical body versus name and clan?
Correct: A. A distinction between physical decline and a persisting reputation or lineage.
Question 3 of 10
What earlier discourse's entire verse does this discourse's second reply repeat word for word?
Correct: A. An exact verbatim repetition, with one line added.
Question 4 of 10
How does this reading guide treat the repeated line about women?
Correct: A. Consistent treatment across both appearances of the same line.
Question 5 of 10
What six things does the third reply name as 'holes' where wealth leaks away?
Correct: A. Six specific behavioral failures, closing with a direct imperative to eliminate them.
Question 6 of 10
What English title does this discourse share, despite having no Pali or content overlap?
Correct: A. A reminder that Sujato's English titles sometimes converge where the Pali does not.
Question 7 of 10
What one line is genuinely new within the otherwise repeated deviation verse?
Correct: A. The single addition distinguishing this discourse's reply from SN 1.58's original.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'nāmagottaṁ' mean?
Correct: A. What the first answer says persists even as the body ages.
Question 9 of 10
What does this discourse's position late in SN 1 suggest about its function?
Correct: A. A compilation discourse, drawing together SN 1.58 and SN 1.16's earlier concerns.
