The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
The same compressed universal claim as SN 15.16-17, with the relational direction reversed
Length
under 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 in form, but marks a genuine shift in relational direction worth noticing
Why this discourse
Having addressed two relationships where the other person stood above you (mother, father) and two where they stood beside you (brother, sister), this discourse reverses direction entirely: it's not easy to find a being who hasn't previously been your son, someone who stood below you, dependent on you, in a role you yourself occupied. The claim's form is identical to every discourse since SN 15.14, but its direction has genuinely changed — this set has now covered every possible position in a family structure relative to the listener.
Reading guide
A reversal in relational direction
Mother, father, brother, and sister all named relationships where the other being occupied a position above or beside you; son is the first relationship in this set where the other being occupied a position below you, as your own dependent.
The identical claim, in its now-familiar compressed form
As with SN 15.16-17, this discourse elides nearly everything except the single changed term, trusting the pattern established since SN 15.14 to carry the full meaning.
Completing the set's coverage of family structure
With son added to mother, father, brother, and sister, this set has now addressed every generational and lateral position within an ordinary family, missing only daughter to complete the full picture.
A claim that implicates the listener differently
Where being told you've had countless mothers positions you as the one who received care, being told you've had countless sons positions you as the one who once gave it — the same beginningless history, seen from the other side of the relationship.
One relationship remaining before this vagga's finale
Only daughter remains to complete this six-part set before SN 15.20 closes both this vagga and the entire saṃyutta with its most elaborate discourse.
Key terms
na … sulabharūpo — “not easy to find” — the same framing phrase carried through from every discourse in this set.
naputtabhūtapubbo — “has not previously been your son” — this discourse's specific claim, reversing the direction of every relationship named before it.
putta — “son” — this discourse's title relationship, the first in this set naming someone who stood as your own dependent.
iminā dīghena addhunā — “in all this long time” — the same beginningless temporal frame used throughout this saṃyutta.
aṭṭhamaṁ — “the eighth” — 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 of the standard refrain. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “It’s not easy to find a sentient being who in all this long time has not previously been your son. … This is quite enough for you to become disillusioned, dispassionate, and freed regarding all conditions.”
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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 claim does this discourse make about sons?
Correct: A. The same universal claim used throughout this set, now applied to son.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's direction differ from mother, father, brother, and sister?
Correct: A. The first relationship in this set naming someone positioned below, not above or beside, the listener.
Question 3 of 10
What does this reading guide say about how this claim implicates the listener differently?
Correct: A. The same beginningless history, now seen from the caregiving side of the relationship.
Question 4 of 10
What does this discourse complete, together with the four discourses before it?
Correct: A. Mother, father, brother, sister, and now son — only daughter remains to finish the set.
Question 5 of 10
How compressed is this discourse's presentation, compared to SN 15.14?
Correct: A. Continuing the pattern of increasing brevity established by SN 15.16-17.
Question 6 of 10
What relationship remains after this discourse, before the set is complete?
Correct: A. SN 15.19 closes the six-part set before SN 15.20's grand finale.
Question 7 of 10
What single word changes between this discourse and its immediate predecessor's structure?
Correct: A. A direct substitution within the same established formula.
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.
