The Buddha alone, the second of three closely related analytical discourses
Form
SN 17.25's criterion repeated with two additional terms, otherwise heavily elided
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
★★☆☆☆ — a widened but heavily compressed restatement of SN 17.25
Why this discourse
This discourse takes SN 17.25's threefold criterion and widens it to five terms: origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape, when it comes to possessions, honor, and popularity. Bilara-data preserves the bulk of this discourse in heavily elided form, trusting the reader to supply the parallel structure already stated in full in the discourse just before it — the same editorial compression seen throughout this collection wherever a template is repeated with only its terms changed.
Reading guide
Two terms added to an established framework
Samudaya and atthaṅgama, origin and disappearance, are added here to SN 17.25's gratification, drawback, and escape, producing a fivefold analysis rather than a threefold one, applied to the identical subject.
Elision trusting the reader to supply what came before
Rather than restate the full sentence structure a second time, the source gives only enough of each half — the negative case, then the positive — to signal that SN 17.25's complete phrasing should be understood around the two new terms.
A widened framework, not a different concern
Despite the added terms, the discourse's underlying claim is unchanged from SN 17.25: genuine ascetic or brahmanical status depends on true understanding of possessions, honor, and popularity, now assessed against a fuller analytical grid.
The middle term in a deliberate set of three
Positioned between SN 17.25's threefold version and SN 17.27's four-part version built around explicit cessation and path language, this discourse shows the same underlying concern being tested against successively different, related analytical vocabularies.
Compression as evidence of a settled doctrine
That the source feels free to elide this discourse so heavily suggests the fivefold origin-disappearance-gratification-drawback-escape framework was familiar enough to its original audience not to require full restatement each time it was applied to a new phenomenon.
Key terms
samudayañca atthaṅgamañca — “origin and disappearance” — the two terms this discourse adds to SN 17.25's threefold criterion.
assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca — “gratification, drawback, and escape” — the three terms carried over unchanged from SN 17.25.
yathābhūtaṁ — “truly, as it really is” — the same qualifying standard used in SN 17.25, ruling out partial understanding.
…pe… — the peyyāla elision mark — signaling that the reader should supply SN 17.25's full sentence structure around this discourse's five named terms.
chaṭṭhaṁ — “the sixth” — this discourse's closing numbering tag.
The text
The discourse as preserved in the source, heavily elided around SN 17.25's fuller sentence structure. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “There are ascetics and brahmins who don’t truly understand the origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape when it comes to possessions, honor, and popularity … There are ascetics and brahmins who do truly understand …”
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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 two terms does this discourse add to SN 17.25's threefold criterion?
Correct: A. Widening the threefold framework to five terms applied to the same subject.
Question 2 of 10
How does the source preserve most of this discourse?
Correct: A. The same editorial compression seen throughout this collection when a template repeats.
Question 3 of 10
Does this discourse's underlying claim differ from SN 17.25's?
Correct: A. Genuine ascetic or brahmanical status still depends on truly understanding possessions, honor, and popularity.
Question 4 of 10
What position does this discourse occupy among the three related analytical discourses?
Correct: A. Testing the same concern against a successively different analytical vocabulary.
Question 5 of 10
What does the heavy elision in this discourse suggest about its framework's familiarity to the original audience?
Correct: A. A settled doctrine trusted to be supplied by the reader rather than spelled out again.
Question 6 of 10
What three terms are carried over unchanged from SN 17.25?
Correct: A. The original threefold criterion, now supplemented rather than replaced.
Question 7 of 10
What subject does this fivefold framework get applied to?
Correct: A. The single recurring concern of this entire saṃyutta.
Question 8 of 10
Where does the Buddha deliver this teaching?
Correct: A. The setting shared with most discourses in this collection.
