The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
An eight-step forward causal chain, the longest given anywhere in this vagga
Length
~2 minutes 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
★★★☆☆ — the vagga's longest chain, worth reading slowly and comparing to SN 14.7
Why this discourse
This discourse extends SN 14.7's five-step chain three links further: after elements, perceptions, and thoughts, it inserts contact and feeling — borrowed from the internal set of SN 14.2–5 but now applied to the external base — before continuing on to desire, passion, search, and finally gain, the furthest point reached anywhere in this vagga. Worth noticing: this discourse's Pali title, Bāhiraphassanānattasutta, names contact, a link buried in the middle of the chain, while Sujato's English title, “Diversity of Gains,” names the chain's final destination instead — two titles pointing at different ends of the same eight-link structure.
Reading guide
Eight links, the vagga's longest chain
Elements, perceptions, thoughts, contacts, feelings, desires, passions, searches, and gain — nine terms, eight links, folding together everything built separately across the internal and external sets so far.
Contact and feeling return, transplanted
The contact and feeling links first established for the internal, eighteen-element base in SN 14.2 and SN 14.4 reappear here, now inserted partway through the external chain rather than standing alone.
Two titles, two different links
The Pali title names phassa, contact, a middle link; the English title Sujato gives instead highlights lābha, gain, the chain's endpoint — both accurate descriptions of the same discourse, pointing at different places in it.
Gain as the chain's furthest reach
Lābha, gain, is a new term not seen in any earlier discourse of this vagga, marking the point where searching succeeds and something is actually obtained.
A single step from being complete
This discourse states the chain's forward direction only; the reverse denial for this same eight-step chain, and the vagga's formal close, both arrive in the very next discourse.
Key terms
lābhanānattaṁ — “diversity of gains” — the new, final term in this discourse's chain, marking successful acquisition after searching.
phassanānattaṁ, vedanānānattaṁ — “diversity of contacts, diversity of feelings” — the two links borrowed from the internal set and inserted into this external chain.
bāhiraphassanānatta — this discourse's Pali title, “external diversity of contact” — naming a middle link, not the chain's endpoint the English title highlights instead.
saṅkappanānattaṁ paṭicca uppajjati phassanānattaṁ — “diversity of thoughts gives rise to diversity of contacts” — the specific joint where the internal and external chains are spliced together.
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 elision of the four middle sense doors between sight and idea. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, diversity of elements gives rise to diversity of perceptions. Diversity of perceptions gives rise to diversity of thoughts. Diversity of thoughts gives rise to diversity of contacts. Diversity of contacts gives rise to diversity of feelings. Diversity of feelings gives rise to diversity of desires. Diversity of desires gives rise to diversity of passions. Diversity of passions gives rise to diversity of searches. Diversity of searches gives rise to diversity of gains. 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.
§2And how does diversity of elements give rise to diversity of perceptions … diversity of searches give rise to diversity of gains?
§3The sight element gives rise to the perception of sights. The perception of sights gives rise to thoughts about sights. Thoughts about sights give rise to sight contact. Sight contact gives rise to feeling born of sight contact. Feeling born of sight contact gives rise to the desire for sights. The desire for sights gives rise to the passion for sights. The passion for sights gives rise to searching for sights. Searching for sights gives rise to gaining sights … The idea element gives rise to the perception of ideas. The perception of ideas gives rise to thoughts about ideas. Thoughts about ideas give rise to idea contact. Idea contact gives rise to feeling born of idea contact. Feeling born of idea contact gives rise to the desire for ideas. The desire for ideas gives rise to the passion for ideas. The passion for ideas gives rise to searching for ideas. Searching for ideas gives rise to gaining ideas.
§4That’s how diversity of elements gives rise to diversity of perceptions … diversity of searches gives rise to diversity of gains.”
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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
How many links does this discourse's chain contain, the longest given in this vagga?
Correct: A. Elements to perceptions to thoughts to contacts to feelings to desires to passions to searches to gain.
Question 2 of 10
What two links does this discourse insert that SN 14.7's chain did not include?
Correct: A. Phassa and vedanā, first established in SN 14.2 and SN 14.4, now transplanted here.
Question 3 of 10
What does this discourse's Pali title name, compared to Sujato's English title?
Correct: A. Bāhiraphassanānattasutta versus "Diversity of Gains" — two accurate but different-angled titles.
Question 4 of 10
What new term appears in this discourse that hasn't been seen earlier in this vagga?
Correct: A. Contact and feeling reappear from earlier discourses; gain is genuinely new.
Question 5 of 10
Does this discourse state the chain's reverse direction?
Correct: A. The forward-then-denial pairing pattern continues, denial arriving in SN 14.10.
Question 6 of 10
Where in the chain are contact and feeling inserted?
Correct: A. The specific splice point joining the internal and external chains together.
Question 7 of 10
How many sense doors receive this discourse's full chain, without elision?
Correct: A. The same economy used consistently since SN 14.3.
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 ninth discourse of this vagga, one before its close.
