Reading guide
A complete, deliberate mirror, not a footnote
This discourse isn't a brief addendum to SN 17.23; it restates the full appeal at equal length, with female exemplars named for both possible paths, treating the daughter's situation as warranting the identical thoroughness as the son's.
Four more named exemplars, doubling the total
Between this discourse and SN 17.23, the saṃyutta now names eight specific historical individuals as living standards — two lay men, two monks, two laywomen, two nuns — covering the range of possible practitioners the tradition recognizes.
The same danger, named identically for a woman
The warning about possessions, honor, and popularity obstructing a trainee is repeated for the daughter in exactly the same terms used for the son, without modification, treating the danger as equally applicable regardless of the practitioner's gender.
A pair completing what the previous discourse began
Read together, SN 17.23 and this discourse form a matched pair covering both a son's and a daughter's possible paths, similar in function to the earlier gold-cup-and-silver-pot and mātugāma-and-kalyāṇī pairs elsewhere in this vagga.
Historical specificity as its own kind of teaching
By naming real individuals from the early community rather than idealized or invented figures, both this discourse and SN 17.23 root their standard in recognizable people the audience would have already known by reputation.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. “Possessions, honor, and popularity are grim … A faithful laywoman with a dear and beloved only daughter would rightly appeal to her, ‘My darling, please be like the laywomen Khujjuttarā and Veḷukaṇṭakī, Nanda’s mother.’ These are a standard and a measure for my female lay disciples, that is, the laywomen Khujjuttarā and Veḷukaṇṭakī, Nanda’s mother. ‘But my darling, if you go forth from the lay life to homelessness, please be like the nuns Khemā and Uppalavaṇṇā.’ These are a standard and a measure for my nun disciples, that is, the nuns Khemā and Uppalavaṇṇā. ‘And my darling, may you not come into possessions, honor, and popularity while you’re still a trainee and haven’t achieved your heart’s desire.’ If a trainee who hasn’t achieved their heart’s desire comes into possessions, honor, and popularity it’s an obstacle for them. So grim are possessions, honor, and popularity. …”
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