SN 18.1's template reapplied to a new subject, heavily elided
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
★☆☆☆☆ — the first of nine discourses reusing SN 18.1's structure exactly
Why this discourse
As promised by SN 18.1's own closing note, this discourse reapplies the identical three-question template to a new subject: the six sense objects — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas — rather than the six internal faculties. Bilara-data preserves the bulk of this discourse in heavily elided form, trusting the reader to supply SN 18.1's full sentence structure around each bare-named object.
Reading guide
Moving from the internal faculties to their objects
Where SN 18.1 examined the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind themselves, this discourse turns to what those faculties perceive — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas — completing the internal-external pairing basic to this analytical framework.
Heavy elision as the norm for this series
Unlike SN 18.1's fuller treatment, this discourse gives only enough of each step to signal the pattern, collapsing the elaborate impermanent-suffering-not-self sequence into single elided lines for five of its six subjects.
Dhamma as the sixth and final term
The list of six objects closes with dhammā, “ideas” or mental objects — the object corresponding to the mind, completing the six-fold pairing of faculty and object begun in the discourse before this one.
A template proven portable across categories
That the identical three-question structure can be applied without modification to something as different from a sense faculty as a sense object demonstrates the analytical framework's generality — it examines how something is known to be impermanent and unsatisfactory, not what kind of thing is being examined.
The second of ten, following the source's own count
Positioned as the second discourse in a series the source itself numbers, this discourse confirms the editorial promise made at the end of SN 18.1 is being carried out exactly as stated.
Key terms
rūpā … saddā … gandhā … rasā … phoṭṭhabbā … dhammā — “sights … sounds … smells … tastes … touches … ideas” — the six sense objects, corresponding respectively to the six faculties examined in SN 18.1.
…pe… — the peyyāla elision mark — signaling that the reader should supply SN 18.1's fuller sentence structure around each bare-named object in this discourse.
aniccā — “impermanent” — the first term of the template, applied here to each of the six sense objects in turn.
nibbindati — “grows disillusioned” — the same closing term from SN 18.1, reused unchanged for this new subject.
dutiyaṁ — “the second” — this discourse's closing numbering tag.
The text
The discourse as preserved in the source, heavily elided around SN 18.1's fuller sentence structure. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “What do you think, Rāhula? Are sights permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent, sir.” … “… sounds … smells … tastes … touches … Are ideas permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent, sir.” … “Seeing this, a learned noble disciple grows disillusioned with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas. Being disillusioned, desire fades away. …”
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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 new subject does this discourse apply SN 18.1's template to?
Correct: A. Completing the internal-external pairing of faculty and object.
Question 2 of 10
How does the source preserve most of this discourse?
Correct: A. Collapsing the elaborate sequence into single elided lines for most of its six subjects.
Question 3 of 10
What is the sixth and final item in this discourse's list of sense objects?
Correct: A. Completing the six-fold pairing of faculty and object begun in SN 18.1.
Question 4 of 10
What does this discourse demonstrate about the three-question template from SN 18.1?
Correct: A. The template examines how something is known to be impermanent, not what kind of thing is examined.
Question 5 of 10
What position does this discourse hold in the source's own numbered series?
Correct: A. Confirming the source's own stated plan is being carried out exactly.
Question 6 of 10
What analytical steps does this discourse apply to each of the six sense objects?
Correct: A. The same three-question chain established in SN 18.1, unchanged in substance.
Question 7 of 10
What outcome does this discourse describe for a learned noble disciple who sees this clearly?
Correct: A. The same closing sequence reused from SN 18.1.
Question 8 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. The setting shared throughout most of this saṃyutta, given only briefly here compared to SN 18.1's fuller framing.
Question 9 of 10
Who are the two participants in this discourse?
Correct: A. The same father-and-son pair established in SN 18.1, continuing throughout this saṃyutta.
