The Buddha alone, returning to the anonymous testimony pattern
Form
SN 17.11-12's comprehend-the-mind template, now applied to the closest possible family bond
Length
~1.5 minutes 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
★★★☆☆ — opening a final escalation through family bonds that closes the entire saṃyutta
Why this discourse
After six discourses examining Devadatta by name, this discourse returns to the anonymous testimony pattern first seen in SN 17.11-12: the Buddha once comprehended someone's mind and understood that they wouldn't tell a deliberate lie even for the sake of their own mother. Some time later, he saw that same person lie, because their mind had become overcome and overwhelmed by possessions, honor, and popularity. Mother, the closest bond the discourse could name, opens a final escalating list that the saṃyutta's last discourse will carry through five more family relationships before closing the entire collection.
Reading guide
A deliberate return after the Devadatta sequence
Rather than continue examining Devadatta specifically, this discourse pulls back to the collection's earlier, anonymous mode, signaling that the saṃyutta's final movement will close on a general pattern rather than a single historical case.
The closest bond the tradition could name
Of every possible threshold this saṃyutta could choose — gold, silver, a woman — a mother represents the closest, most instinctively protected relationship available, making the eventual lie this discourse describes especially difficult to imagine in advance.
The exact template reused from SN 17.11-12
Cetasā ceto paricca pajānāmi, the same claim to direct comprehension, and the same later observation of a deliberate lie caused by being overcome and overwhelmed, recur here in essentially identical wording to the gold-cup-and-silver-pot pair much earlier in this saṃyutta.
Opening rather than completing an escalation
Unlike SN 17.11-12, which formed a complete pair on their own, this discourse's mother-threshold is only the first item in a list the saṃyutta's final discourse extends through father, brother, sister, son, daughter, and spouse, one continuous escalation rather than two isolated cases.
A structural echo binding the saṃyutta's opening and closing movements
By reusing SN 17.11-12's exact template here, near the very end, the collection deliberately recalls its own earlier structure, suggesting the whole saṃyutta was composed with an awareness of how its parts would eventually need to close.
Key terms
mātu — “mother” — this discourse's title and the first, closest threshold in the escalating list of family bonds it opens.
cetasā ceto paricca pajānāmi — “I comprehend the mind” — the identical claim to direct knowledge reused from SN 17.11-12.
sampajānamusā bhāseyya — “would tell a deliberate lie” — the exact failure named, in the same wording used throughout this saṃyutta's family-threshold discourses.
abhibhūtaṁ pariyādiṇṇacittaṁ — “overcome and overwhelmed” — the standing diagnostic compound, unchanged from its use throughout this collection.
sattamaṁ — “the seventh” — this discourse's closing numbering tag.
The text
The discourse in full, including its closing training instruction. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Possessions, honor, and popularity are grim, bitter, and harsh. They’re an obstacle to reaching the supreme sanctuary from the yoke. When I’ve comprehended the mind of a certain individual, I understand: ‘This venerable would not tell a deliberate lie even for the sake of their mother.’ But some time later I see them tell a deliberate lie because their mind is overcome and overwhelmed by possessions, honor, and popularity. So grim are possessions, honor, and popularity—bitter and harsh, an obstacle to reaching the supreme sanctuary from the yoke. So you should train like this: ‘We will give up arisen possessions, honor, and popularity, and we won’t let them occupy our minds.’ That’s how you should train.”
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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 had the Buddha once understood about this individual?
Correct: A. The closest possible family bond, chosen as the threshold this discourse names.
Question 2 of 10
What does this discourse's return to an anonymous pattern signal after six discourses on Devadatta?
Correct: A. A deliberate pullback to the collection's earlier, anonymous mode.
Question 3 of 10
What template does this discourse reuse from earlier in the saṃyutta?
Correct: A. The same claim to direct comprehension, and the same eventual failure, essentially word for word.
Question 4 of 10
What does this discourse's position suggest about the escalation it belongs to?
Correct: A. The first item in a list the saṃyutta's final discourse carries much further.
Question 5 of 10
What does reusing SN 17.11-12's template this late in the saṃyutta suggest about the collection's composition?
Correct: A. A structural echo binding the saṃyutta's opening and closing movements together.
Question 6 of 10
What eventually happened to the person this discourse describes?
Correct: A. The same eventual failure described throughout this saṃyutta's family-threshold discourses.
Question 7 of 10
Why might a mother specifically be chosen as this discourse's threshold?
Correct: A. The closest bond the tradition could name, chosen to make the failure as striking as possible.
Question 8 of 10
Where does the Buddha deliver this teaching?
Correct: A. A return to the setting used throughout most of this collection, after SN 17.35-36's shift to Rājagaha.
Question 9 of 10
Who is the sole speaker in this discourse?
Correct: A. No interlocutor appears.
Question 10 of 10
What numbering tag closes this discourse?
Correct: A. The seventh discourse of Catutthavagga.
