The Buddha alone, returning to visceral imagery after three analytical discourses
Form
A single unbroken image of penetrating harm, without simile or comparison
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
★★☆☆☆ — the vagga's most physically graphic image so far
Why this discourse
After three discourses of pure analysis, this discourse returns to the body with the vagga's most graphic image yet: possessions, honor, and popularity cut through the outer skin, then the inner skin, then the flesh, then the sinews, then the bone, until they reach the marrow itself and keep pressing. Unlike most of this saṃyutta's images, this one is stated as a direct claim rather than introduced through a simile — the danger itself is described as doing the cutting, not merely compared to something that cuts.
Reading guide
A direct claim, not a simile this time
Most images in this saṃyutta compare possessions, honor, and popularity to something else — a hook, a jackal, gale-force winds; this discourse instead states directly that they themselves cut through skin and flesh, collapsing the distance between image and claim that a simile would normally preserve.
A sequence that only deepens, never widens
The list of what gets cut moves in one direction only — outer skin, inner skin, flesh, sinew, bone, marrow — each layer named in order, giving the image a controlled, escalating structure rather than a loose list of injuries.
Reaching the marrow and continuing to press
The discourse doesn't stop once the deepest layer is reached; āhacca tiṭṭhati, “keeps pressing,” specifies that even having penetrated to the marrow, the harm doesn't relent or withdraw.
The shortest form of an image the next discourse expands
This discourse states the cutting image with no narrative frame at all; the discourse immediately following it supplies an explicit simile — a rope tightened around the shin — that gives this same sequence a concrete scenario to unfold within.
Physical language for a non-physical danger
Possessions, honor, and popularity are not literally capable of cutting flesh; the discourse's choice to describe them exactly as if they were signals how seriously this saṃyutta wants the danger's effects to be felt, not merely acknowledged.
Key terms
chaviṁ chindati — “cuts through the outer skin” — the first and shallowest layer named in this discourse's sequence.
cammaṁ … maṁsaṁ … nhāruṁ … aṭṭhiṁ — “the inner skin … the flesh … the sinews … the bone” — the successive layers the image penetrates, named in strict order.
aṭṭhimiñjaṁ āhacca tiṭṭhati — “reaches the marrow and keeps pressing” — the image's endpoint, specifying that the harm continues even once it has penetrated fully.
dāruṇo — “grim” — the discourse's opening characterization, before the cutting image is stated.
aṭṭhamaṁ — “the eighth” — this discourse's closing numbering tag.
The text
The discourse in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Possessions, honor, and popularity are grim … They cut through the outer skin, the inner skin, the flesh, sinews, and bones, until they reach the marrow and keep pressing. So grim are possessions, honor, and popularity. …”
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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 does this discourse claim possessions, honor, and popularity do?
Correct: A. The vagga's most physically graphic image, stated as direct claim.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's image differ from most others in this saṃyutta?
Correct: A. Collapsing the distance between image and claim that a simile would normally preserve.
Question 3 of 10
In what order does the cutting proceed?
Correct: A. A controlled, escalating structure naming each layer in order.
Question 4 of 10
What happens once the cutting reaches the marrow, according to this discourse?
Correct: A. Āhacca tiṭṭhati, specifying continued harm even after full penetration.
Question 5 of 10
How does the discourse immediately following this one relate to it?
Correct: A. Expanding the bare claim into a concrete scenario.
Question 6 of 10
Why might this discourse describe a non-physical danger in such physical terms?
Correct: A. Signaling how seriously this saṃyutta wants the danger to register.
Question 7 of 10
What discourse form immediately precedes this one in the vagga?
Correct: A. A shift back to visceral imagery after SN 17.25-27's analytical discourses.
Question 8 of 10
Where does the Buddha deliver this teaching?
Correct: A. The setting shared with most discourses in this collection.
