The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
SN 14.37's true-ascetic-or-brahmin criterion, expanded to five categories and heavily compressed
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
★★★☆☆ — brief on the page, but assumes SN 14.37's criterion as necessary background
Why this discourse
This discourse takes SN 14.37's criterion and adds two further categories: samudaya and atthaṅgama, origin and disappearance, joining gratification, drawback, and escape to make five things a genuine ascetic or brahmin must understand about each of the four elements. Rather than spelling out this five-part list in full the way SN 14.37 spelled out three, the source compresses almost the entire discourse, inserting an explicit editorial note — “tell all in full” — exactly where the complete elaboration has been omitted, trusting the reader to reconstruct it from the pattern SN 14.37 already established.
Reading guide
Three categories become five
Samudaya (origin) and atthaṅgama (disappearance) join assāda, ādīnava, and nissaraṇa (gratification, drawback, escape), expanding SN 14.37's three-part criterion into a five-part one.
Heavy compression, unlike SN 14.37's full spelling-out
Where SN 14.37 gave its negative and positive halves in complete detail, this discourse compresses almost everything, relying on elision markers and a single explicit instruction rather than repeating the full formula.
An editorial note standing in for the missing text
"(Vitthāretabbaṁ)", "tell all in full," appears directly in the source at the exact point the complete five-category elaboration has been left out — a plain instruction rather than a bare …pe… marker.
Origin and disappearance, distinct from arising and cessation
Samudaya and atthaṅgama are worth distinguishing from SN 14.36's uppāda and nirodha (arising and cessation); though related in meaning, this discourse pairs them specifically with the gratification-drawback-escape framework rather than introducing a wholly separate analysis.
The criterion's second, expanding stage
Read across SN 14.37, this discourse, and SN 14.39, the true-ascetic-or-brahmin test grows at each step: three categories, then five, then a fourth and final reformulation entirely.
Key terms
samudaya — “origin” — the first of two new categories this discourse adds to SN 14.37's three-part criterion.
atthaṅgama — “disappearance” — the second new category, paired with samudaya to complete the five-part list.
vitthāretabbaṁ — “it should be told in full” — the explicit editorial instruction embedded in the source, marking exactly where the complete elaboration is omitted.
assāda, ādīnava, nissaraṇa — “gratification, drawback, escape” — the three categories carried forward unchanged from SN 14.37, now joined by two more.
navamaṁ — “the ninth” — the closing numbering tag, marking this discourse's place in the vagga.
The text
The discourse in full, including the source's own heavy elision and its explicit reciter's instruction. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, there are these four elements. What four? The elements of earth, water, fire, and air. There are ascetics and brahmins who don’t truly understand these four elements’ origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape … (Tell all in full.) There are ascetics and brahmins who do truly understand these four elements’ origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape …”
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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 two categories does this discourse add to SN 14.37's criterion?
Correct: A. Expanding the criterion from three categories to five.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's presentation compare to SN 14.37's?
Correct: A. Trusting the reader to reconstruct the full formula from SN 14.37's pattern.
Question 3 of 10
What explicit instruction appears directly in this discourse's source text?
Correct: A. A plain instruction marking exactly where the full elaboration is omitted.
Question 4 of 10
How does this reading guide distinguish samudaya/atthaṅgama from SN 14.36's uppāda/nirodha?
Correct: A. A careful, honest distinction rather than treating the terms as interchangeable.
Question 5 of 10
What stage does this discourse represent in the true-ascetic-or-brahmin criterion's development?
Correct: A. SN 14.39 will reformulate the criterion once more.
Question 6 of 10
How many total categories must a genuine ascetic or brahmin understand about each element, according to this discourse?
Correct: A. Origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape.
Question 7 of 10
Are gratification, drawback, and escape dropped in this discourse's expanded criterion?
Correct: A. All three original categories remain, now alongside origin and disappearance.
Question 8 of 10
Who is the sole speaker in this discourse?
Correct: A. No interlocutor or visitor appears; the Buddha teaches directly.
Question 9 of 10
Where does the Buddha deliver this teaching?
Correct: A. The setting shared with most discourses in this collection.
