The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A return to the full, unelided refrain and closing exhortation, closing this six-part set
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
★☆☆☆☆ — closes a six-discourse set, worth noticing how it returns to fuller form
Why this discourse
This discourse closes the family-relationship set with daughter: it's not easy to find a being who hasn't previously been your daughter, across this long time. Unlike SN 15.16–18's heavily compressed middle discourses, this one restores the full refrain and the complete “swelling the cemeteries” closing exhortation last given in full at SN 15.14 — the same kind of bracketing fullness this saṃyutta has used before, spelling a set's opening and closing discourses out in full while compressing the ones between them.
Reading guide
A return to the set's fuller opening form
Where SN 15.16-18 elided nearly everything, this discourse restores the complete refrain and closing exhortation, matching SN 15.14's mother discourse almost segment for segment.
Bracketing fullness around a compressed middle
Mother (full) opens the set, brother through son (compressed) occupy its middle, and daughter (full again) closes it — a shape this reading guide has noted elsewhere in this collection, where a set's first and last items receive fuller treatment than those between.
The sixth and final family relationship named
With daughter, this set has now addressed all six ordinary family relationships — two generations above (mother, father), two lateral (brother, sister), and two below (son, daughter) — a complete picture of family position relative to the listener.
The same claim, closing a set built entirely from it
No new argument appears here; the discourse's content is identical in substance to all five before it, only restored to fuller form as the set's closing note.
A final, brief discourse before the saṃyutta's grand close
With this six-part relationship set complete, SN 15.20 closes both this vagga and the entire saṃyutta with by far its longest and most narratively developed discourse.
Key terms
na … sulabharūpo — “not easy to find” — the same framing phrase used throughout this six-discourse set.
na dhītābhūtapubbo — “has not previously been your daughter” — this discourse's specific claim, closing the set.
dhītā — “daughter” — this discourse's title relationship, the sixth and final one addressed.
kaṭasī vaḍḍhitā — “swelling the cemeteries” — the full closing exhortation's vivid phrase, restored here after being elided throughout SN 15.16-18.
navamaṁ — “the ninth” — the closing numbering tag, marking this discourse's place in the vagga.
The text
The discourse in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, this transmigration has no known beginning. No first point is found of sentient beings roaming and transmigrating, shrouded by ignorance and fettered by craving. It’s not easy to find a sentient being who in all this long time has not previously been your daughter. Why is that? This transmigration has no known beginning. No first point is found of sentient beings roaming and transmigrating, shrouded by ignorance and fettered by craving. For such a long time you have undergone suffering, agony, and disaster, swelling the cemeteries. 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 daughters?
Correct: A. The same universal claim closing this six-part set.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's form compare to SN 15.16-18?
Correct: A. A return to the fuller form last seen at SN 15.14.
Question 3 of 10
What shape does this reading guide identify across the whole six-discourse set?
Correct: A. A pattern noted elsewhere in this collection as well.
Question 4 of 10
What does daughter complete, together with the five relationships before it?
Correct: A. Mother, father, brother, sister, son, and daughter — every ordinary family position covered.
Question 5 of 10
What phrase is restored in this discourse, absent from SN 15.16-18?
Correct: A. Part of the complete exhortation last given in full at SN 15.14.
Question 6 of 10
What discourse immediately follows this one?
Correct: A. By far the vagga's longest and most narratively developed discourse.
Question 7 of 10
Does this discourse introduce any new argument beyond what SN 15.14-18 already established?
Correct: A. A closing restatement, not a fresh claim.
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.
Question 10 of 10
What numbering tag closes this discourse?
Correct: A. The ninth discourse of this vagga, one before its close.
