The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
The same brief comparison structure as SN 13.3, now with a precise count and a named seed-size for the tiny quantity
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
A rough counterpart may exist in the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama (T99), though this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — opens this saṃyutta's second matched pair, returning to the earth of SN 13.1
Why this discourse
This discourse returns to SN 13.1's great earth, but changes both the tiny quantity and how it's obtained: rather than a speck of dirt simply picked up, this discourse asks the mendicants to picture seven clay balls, each the size of a jujube seed, deliberately placed on the ground. The number seven recurs meaningfully throughout this saṃyutta's closing application, which bounds a stream-enterer's remaining rebirths at exactly seven; here it appears already built into the image itself, before the application even states it. Like SN 13.3, this discourse opens a matched pair, with SN 13.6 immediately supplying the reverse, eroded-earth half.
Reading guide
The same earth, a different way of measuring against it
SN 13.1 measured the earth against a speck of dirt already present on the Buddha's own fingernail; this discourse instead measures it against seven clay balls someone deliberately places on the ground, a small but real shift from a found quantity to a constructed one.
A number that quietly anticipates the application
Seven clay balls, matched against the closing application's "at most seven more lives," gives this discourse's image a numeric echo SN 13.1's simple speck of dirt didn't carry, though the text itself doesn't call attention to the coincidence.
A precise measure of size, not just number
The clay balls aren't just counted; they're given a specific size, "the size of jujube seeds" (kolaṭṭhimattiyo), grounding the comparison in a concrete, everyday reference point familiar to the discourse's original audience.
The first half of this saṃyutta's second matched pair
Exactly as SN 13.3 opened a pair completed by SN 13.4, this discourse opens a second pair, with SN 13.6 immediately following to supply the earth's reverse, eroded half.
A closing formula elided, matching the pace set by SN 13.3
Like SN 13.3 and SN 13.4, this discourse gives its closing application in elided, shorthand form, confirming that the fuller, fully spelled-out style of SN 13.1 and SN 13.2 was reserved for this saṃyutta's opening only.
Key terms
satta kolaṭṭhimattiyo guḷikā — “seven clay balls the size of jujube seeds” — the tiny, deliberately placed quantity, distinct from SN 13.1's simply picked-up dirt.
mahāpathavī — “the great earth” — the same comparandum as SN 13.1, now measured against a different tiny quantity.
upanikkhipeyya — “place” or “set down” — a deliberate act, distinct from SN 13.1's dirt simply picked up as already present.
etadeva, bhante, bahutaraṁ, yadidaṁ mahāpathavī — “sir, the great earth is certainly more” — the mendicants' brief confirmation, in the same form used through most of this saṃyutta.
evameva kho, bhikkhave…pe… dhammacakkhupaṭilābho — “in the same way, mendicants… the vision of the teaching” — the elided closing application, matching SN 13.3 and SN 13.4's pace.
The text
The discourse in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, suppose a person was to place seven clay balls the size of jujube seeds on the great earth. What do you think, mendicants? Which is more: the seven clay balls the size of jujube seeds, or the great earth?”
§2“Sir, the great earth is certainly more. The seven clay balls the size of jujube seeds are tiny. Compared to the great earth, it’s not nearly a hundredth, a thousandth, or a hundred thousandth part.” “In the same way, for a noble disciple, the suffering that’s over and done with is more …”
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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 does this discourse measure against the great earth, unlike SN 13.1's simply picked-up dirt?
Correct: A. A shift from a found quantity to a constructed one.
Question 2 of 10
What number appears in this discourse's image, echoing the saṃyutta's closing application?
Correct: A. A numeric echo the text doesn't explicitly call attention to.
Question 3 of 10
How is the clay balls' size specified?
Correct: A. A concrete, everyday reference point for the discourse's original audience.
Question 4 of 10
What does this discourse open, continued in SN 13.6?
Correct: A. Following the same pairing pattern established by SN 13.3 and SN 13.4.
Question 5 of 10
How is this discourse's closing formula given?
Correct: A. The shorthand style established once this saṃyutta moved past its opening two discourses.
Question 6 of 10
What comparandum does this discourse share with SN 13.1?
Correct: A. The same vast object, measured against a differently obtained tiny quantity.
Question 7 of 10
What does the mendicants' response confirm?
Correct: A. The same brief confirmation pattern used through most of this saṃyutta.
Question 8 of 10
What verb describes how the clay balls come to be on the earth?
Correct: A. Distinct from SN 13.1's dirt, which was simply already present.
Question 9 of 10
Who is the sole speaker in this discourse?
Correct: A. No interlocutor or visiting figure appears.
Question 10 of 10
Where does the Buddha deliver this teaching?
Correct: A. The consistent setting shared with every discourse in this saṃyutta.
