The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A three-step forward causal chain, extending SN 14.2's two-step version by one further link
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, but assumes SN 14.1–2 as background
Why this discourse
The chain now runs three links deep: diversity of elements gives rise to diversity of contacts, and diversity of contacts gives rise to diversity of feelings. Each sense door produces not only its own contact but its own feeling — the feeling born of eye contact is a different event from the feeling born of ear contact, rooted all the way back in a different element. This discourse doesn't yet ask whether the reverse direction holds, following SN 14.2's earlier pattern of stating the forward claim plainly first and leaving explicit denial for the discourse that follows.
Reading guide
A third link, same forward-only pattern
As SN 14.2 first stated the elements-to-contacts link without addressing reverse causation, this discourse adds feeling to the chain the same way, forward only, leaving denial for later.
Six feelings, not six sensations
The feeling born of eye contact, ear contact, and so on through all six doors are each named as vedanā, feeling in the specific technical sense of pleasant, painful, or neutral affective tone, not raw sensory data.
A chain growing by exact repetition
Every element already established in SN 14.1–2 reappears unchanged here; the only genuinely new content across three discourses so far is the single clause adding feeling.
The pattern about to repeat once more
Just as SN 14.3 followed SN 14.2 with explicit reverse denial, this discourse's three-step forward chain will receive the same treatment in the very next discourse.
Feeling as the chain's visible growing edge
Of the three links so far — elements, contacts, feelings — feeling is the one a meditator can most directly notice arising, making this discourse a natural point where the abstract chain meets lived experience.
Key terms
phassanānattaṁ paṭicca uppajjati vedanānānattaṁ — “diversity of contacts gives rise to diversity of feelings” — this discourse's new clause, the chain's third link.
vedanānānattaṁ — “diversity of feelings” — feeling in the specific technical sense of pleasant, painful, or neutral affective tone.
cakkhusamphassajā vedanā — “the feeling born of eye contact” — the first of six feelings named, each rooted in its own sense door.
manosamphassajā vedanā — “the feeling born of mind contact” — the sixth and final feeling in the list.
catutthaṁ — “the fourth” — the closing numbering tag marking this discourse's place in the vagga.
The text
The discourse in full, including the source's own elision of the four middle sense doors between eye and mind. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, diversity of elements gives rise to diversity of contacts, and diversity of contacts gives rise to diversity of feelings. And what is the diversity of elements? The eye element, ear element, nose element, tongue element, body element, and mind element. This is called the diversity of elements.
§2And how does diversity of elements give rise to diversity of contacts, and diversity of contacts gives rise to diversity of feelings? The eye element gives rise to eye contact. Eye contact gives rise to the feeling born of eye contact. … The mind element gives rise to mind contact. Mind contact gives rise to the feeling born of mind contact. That’s how diversity of elements gives rise to diversity of contacts, and diversity of contacts gives rise to diversity of feelings.”
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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 third link does this discourse add to the chain?
Correct: A. Elements to contacts to feelings, the chain's third step.
Question 2 of 10
In what technical sense is "feeling" used here?
Correct: A. Vedanā names affective tone specifically, in the technical sense used throughout the canon.
Question 3 of 10
Does this discourse address whether feeling gives rise back to contact?
Correct: A. The explicit reverse denial is left for the discourse immediately following.
Question 4 of 10
How many feelings does this discourse name, matching the six sense doors?
Correct: A. Eye through mind, each producing its own distinct feeling.
Question 5 of 10
What happens to the content already established in SN 14.1–2 within this discourse?
Correct: A. Exact repetition of the established base, extended by one clause.
Question 6 of 10
What pattern does this discourse set up for the very next discourse in this vagga?
Correct: A. SN 14.5 repeats the forward-then-denial pairing pattern at this new length.
Question 7 of 10
Which feeling arises from eye contact, according to this discourse?
Correct: A. The first of six feelings, rooted in the eye door.
Question 8 of 10
Who is the sole speaker in this discourse?
Correct: A. No interlocutor or visitor appears.
Question 9 of 10
Where does the Buddha deliver this teaching?
Correct: A. The setting shared with most discourses in this collection.
