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Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 13.9

A Mountain

Pabbatasutta

Setting
Sāvatthī
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
The same comparison structure as SN 13.5, now moving from earth to mountain and from clay to stone
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 fourth and final matched pair

Why this discourse

This discourse moves this saṃyutta's earth-based comparison from SN 13.5's clay balls on the great earth to seven pebbles, each the size of a mustard seed — proverbially one of the smallest measures in Pali similes — placed on the Himalayas, named here as "the king of mountains." The mustard seed is a stock image for smallness across the early Buddhist and broader Indian literary tradition, giving this discourse's tiny quantity a cultural resonance beyond just its literal size. Like SN 13.3, SN 13.5, and SN 13.7 before it, this discourse opens a pair, with SN 13.10 supplying the mountain's reverse, eroded half.

Reading guide

From earth to mountain, from clay to stone

SN 13.5 and SN 13.6 measured clay balls against the great earth in general; this discourse and its companion instead measure stone pebbles against a specific named mountain range, a step up in both the vastness of the comparandum and the specificity of the geography.

The Himalayas as "the king of mountains"

"Himavā pabbatarājā" — the Himalayas, king of mountains — is a standing epithet in the early texts, giving this discourse's vast comparandum a title as well as a name, distinct from SN 13.1's simple "great earth."

A proverbially small measure

"Sāsapamattiyo," the size of mustard seeds, is a stock measure of smallness recurring across Pali literature well beyond this discourse, giving the tiny quantity here a cultural weight the earlier discourses' jujube seeds and blades of grass didn't carry to quite the same degree.

The fourth and final matched pair

Following the confluence, the earth, and the ocean, this discourse opens the last of this saṃyutta's four matched pairs, with SN 13.10 completing it before this saṃyutta's closing discourse, SN 13.11, departs from the pattern entirely.

A closing formula still elided, for now

This discourse keeps the shorthand closing application established since SN 13.3, though its immediate successor, SN 13.10, will return this saṃyutta to the fully spelled-out form last used in SN 13.1 and SN 13.2.

Key terms

satta sāsapamattiyo pāsāṇasakkharā — “seven pebbles the size of mustard seeds” — a proverbially small measure recurring across Pali literature.
himavato pabbatarājassa — “the Himalayas, the king of mountains” — a standing epithet, giving this discourse's comparandum both a name and a title.
upanikkhipeyya — “place” — the same deliberate act as SN 13.5's clay balls, now placed on stone rather than earth.
etadeva, bhante, bahutaraṁ yadidaṁ himavā pabbatarājā — “sir, the Himalayas, the king of mountains, is certainly more” — the mendicants' brief confirmation, unchanged in form.
evameva kho…pe… dhammacakkhupaṭilābho — “in the same way… the vision of the teaching” — the elided closing application, matching this saṃyutta's established middle pace.

The text

The discourse in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, suppose a person was to place seven pebbles the size of mustard seeds on the Himalayas, the king of mountains. What do you think, mendicants? Which is more: the seven pebbles the size of mustard seeds, or the Himalayas, the king of mountains?”

§2“Sir, the Himalayas, the king of mountains, is certainly more. The seven pebbles the size of mustard seeds are tiny. Compared to the Himalayas, 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 mountain does this discourse name, and what title does it give it?
Correct: A. A standing epithet distinct from SN 13.1's simple "great earth."
Question 2 of 10
What size are the pebbles placed on the mountain?
Correct: A. A proverbially small measure distinct from SN 13.5's jujube-seed clay balls.
Question 3 of 10
Why does the mustard seed carry extra weight beyond its literal size?
Correct: A. A cultural resonance beyond the earlier discourses' comparable images.
Question 4 of 10
What pair does this discourse open?
Correct: A. Completed immediately by SN 13.10, the last such pair in this saṃyutta.
Question 5 of 10
What happens in the discourse immediately following this pair's completion?
Correct: A. This saṃyutta's true closing discourse breaks from the established structure.
Question 6 of 10
How does this discourse's earth-based comparison differ from SN 13.5's?
Correct: A. A step up in both vastness and geographic specificity.
Question 7 of 10
How is this discourse's closing formula given?
Correct: A. The shorthand style established since SN 13.3, about to shift in SN 13.10.
Question 8 of 10
What does the mendicants' response confirm?
Correct: A. The same brief confirmation pattern used through most of this saṃyutta.
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.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

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