Reading guide
The same fold seen at SN 12.54, applied here
Exactly as SN 12.54 embedded the oil lamp simile directly into a single statement rather than restating it separately, this discourse embeds the great tree simile the same way, collapsing SN 12.55's four movements into two.
A second, independent layer of compression
Beyond the structural fold shared with SN 12.54, this discourse also elides the felling sequence's own internal detail with a peyyāla ellipsis, jumping directly from cutting down the roots to floating the ashes downstream, where SN 12.55 spelled out every intervening step.
Two compressions that don't have to travel together
SN 12.54 compressed its overall structure without eliding any of the oil lamp simile's own detail, since the lamp simile was already brief; this discourse shows that when the underlying simile is itself elaborate, both kinds of compression can be applied at once, independently of each other.
What survives the double compression intact
Despite both layers of elision, the discourse still preserves the tree's feeding mechanism in full and the closing formula of finality — cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated — suggesting these two elements were judged too load-bearing to abbreviate even under heavy compression.
A confirmed pattern across two pairs of "2nd" discourses
Between SN 12.53/12.54 and SN 12.55/12.56, this chapter now shows two separate confirmed cases of a "(2nd)" discourse folding its predecessor's simile into a tighter statement, with this second case adding an extra layer of internal elision the first case didn't need.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, suppose there was a great tree. And its roots going downwards and across all draw the sap upwards. Fed and fuelled by that, the great tree would stand for a long time. In the same way, there are things that fuel grasping. When you concentrate on the gratification provided by these things, your craving grows. Craving is a requirement for grasping. … That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.
§2Suppose there was a great tree. Then a person comes along with a spade and basket. They’d cut the tree down at the roots, dig them up, and pull them out, down to the fibers and stems. They’d cut the tree apart, cut up the parts, and chop it into splinters. They’d dry the splinters in the wind and sun, burn them with fire, and reduce them to ashes. Then they’d winnow the ashes in a strong wind, or glide them down a swift stream. In this way the great tree is cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated, and unable to arise in the future. In the same way, there are things that fuel grasping. When you concentrate on the drawbacks of these things, your craving ceases. When craving ceases, grasping ceases. … That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.”
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