The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A bare definition mirroring SN 14.1's structure exactly, but with a shorter, six-item list
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 marks a structural turn worth noticing after SN 14.1–5
Why this discourse
Five discourses into this vagga, the chain built from SN 14.1's eighteen-element list has run its course. This discourse opens a second five-discourse set with a new base definition, mirroring SN 14.1's form exactly — the same rhetorical self-question, the same bare answering list — but built from only six elements this time: the sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and idea elements alone, without their paired organs or consciousnesses. This external list becomes the base for a longer chain — through perception, thought, desire, passion, search, and even further — over the five discourses that follow.
Reading guide
A second definition, same form as the first
This discourse repeats SN 14.1's exact structure — a self-posed question answered by a bare list — making the two openings a matched pair, one for each half of this vagga.
Six elements, not eighteen
Where SN 14.1 named eighteen elements in six triads, this discourse names only the six object-elements themselves — sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and idea — dropping the organ and consciousness terms entirely.
What “external” picks out
The title's bāhira, external, distinguishes these six object-elements from the sense organs and the consciousness that meets them, which belong to the person rather than to what is met.
A shorter list, a longer chain ahead
Though this base list is shorter than SN 14.1's, the chain it supports over the next four discourses grows considerably longer, eventually reaching gain, the furthest link in this entire vagga.
The vagga's structure now fully visible
With this discourse, the pattern named in this vagga's own closing verse becomes clear: five discourses on an internal base, five more on an external one, matching halves built the same way.
Key terms
bāhiradhātunānattaṁ — “external diversity of elements” — this discourse's title term, naming the six object-elements as distinct from the organs and consciousnesses of SN 14.1's list.
rūpadhātu — “the sight element” — the first of six external elements named, without its paired eye or eye consciousness.
dhammadhātu — “the idea element” — the sixth and final external element, corresponding to mental objects rather than sense-door consciousness.
bāhira — “external” — distinguishing what is met by the senses from the senses and their consciousness, which belong to the perceiving person.
chaṭṭhaṁ — “the sixth” — the closing numbering tag, marking this discourse as opening the vagga's second half.
The text
The discourse in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, I will teach you the diversity of elements. And what is the diversity of elements? The sight element, the sound element, the smell element, the taste element, the touch element, and the idea element. This is called the diversity of elements.”
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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 structural role does this discourse play in the vagga?
Correct: A. A matched second opening, built the same way as SN 14.1.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's list differ from SN 14.1's eighteen-element list?
Correct: A. Six external elements only, dropping the organ and consciousness terms.
Question 3 of 10
What does bāhira, "external," distinguish in this discourse's title?
Correct: A. External marks what is met by the senses, not the senses themselves.
Question 4 of 10
What element opens this discourse's list?
Correct: A. Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, idea — in that order.
Question 5 of 10
What kind of chain does this new base list support over the next four discourses?
Correct: A. The external base supports a longer chain than the internal one did.
Question 6 of 10
What structural pattern does this vagga's own closing verse eventually name?
Correct: A. Ajjhattapañcaka and bāhirapañcaka, confirmed in SN 14.10's closing verse.
Question 7 of 10
How many items does this discourse's element list contain?
Correct: A. One per sense door, without the organ or consciousness terms this time.
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.
Question 10 of 10
What numbering tag closes this discourse?
Correct: A. The sixth discourse, opening the vagga's second half.
