The template extended to craving, closing this vagga's object-based-experience sweep
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 eighth subject, reaching the traditional engine of continued rebirth
Why this discourse
This discourse turns to taṇhā, craving, examined as craving for each of the six sense objects — craving for sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas. Craving occupies a well-known central position in this tradition's account of what drives continued rebirth; subjecting it to the same impermanent-suffering-not-self analysis used throughout this saṃyutta closes the arc that began with bare sense contact and now arrives at the specific force the tradition names as suffering's proximate cause.
Reading guide
Arriving at a term with special doctrinal weight
Where intention in the discourse before this one names a general karmic response, craving names something more specific and consequential: the particular force the second noble truth identifies as suffering's origin, making this discourse's analysis carry unusually direct significance.
A natural sequel to intention's karmic emphasis
If sañcetanā describes the mind's willed response, taṇhā describes the specific craving quality that response can take — not every intention is craving, but craving is a paradigm case of the karmic activity intention names.
The same object-based naming, completing its final appearance
Craving for sights through craving for ideas repeats the exact six-object structure used in SN 18.2, 18.6, and now this discourse, marking the final appearance of this particular naming pattern before the vagga turns to its two remaining, differently structured categories.
A demonstration that even the cause of suffering isn't exempt
If craving itself is impermanent, suffering, and not fit to be regarded as self, then even the force the tradition names as suffering's cause is subject to the same disillusionment-to-liberation sequence applied to everything examined before it — nothing in the chain, including its own driving force, is placed beyond the reach of this analysis.
Two categories remaining before the vagga's close
Only elements and the aggregates remain after this discourse, both of which shift to a different analytical shape than the six-sense-door and six-sense-object pattern used across the seven discourses so far.
Key terms
rūpataṇhā … saddataṇhā … gandhataṇhā … rasataṇhā … phoṭṭhabbataṇhā … dhammataṇhā — “craving for sights … sounds … smells … tastes … touches … ideas” — the six kinds this discourse examines.
taṇhā — “craving” — identified elsewhere in the canon, most notably the second noble truth, as suffering's proximate cause.
…pe… — the peyyāla elision mark — the same compression convention continuing from the discourses before this one.
aniccā — “impermanent” — the template's first term, applied here even to craving itself.
aṭṭhamaṁ — “the eighth” — this discourse's closing numbering tag.
The text
The discourse as preserved in the source, elided around SN 18.1's fuller sentence structure. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “What do you think, Rāhula? Is craving for sights permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent, sir.” … “… craving for sounds … craving for smells … craving for tastes … craving for touches … Is craving for ideas permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent, sir.” … “Seeing this, a learned noble disciple grows disillusioned with craving for sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas. …”
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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 examine?
Correct: A. The specific force the tradition names as suffering's proximate cause.
Question 2 of 10
What special doctrinal significance does craving carry, according to this reading guide?
Correct: A. Making this discourse's analysis carry unusually direct significance.
Question 3 of 10
How does craving relate to intention, examined in the discourse before this one?
Correct: A. A natural sequel to intention's more general karmic emphasis.
Question 4 of 10
What naming pattern does this discourse complete its final appearance of?
Correct: A. Before the vagga turns to its two remaining, differently structured categories.
Question 5 of 10
What does subjecting craving to the same impermanence analysis demonstrate?
Correct: A. Nothing in the chain, including its own driving force, is placed beyond this analysis's reach.
Question 6 of 10
How many categories remain in this vagga's series after this discourse?
Correct: A. Both shifting to a different analytical shape than the pattern used across the seven discourses so far.
Question 7 of 10
What analytical steps does this discourse apply to each kind of craving?
Correct: A. The same unchanged template from SN 18.1.
Question 8 of 10
What outcome does this discourse describe for one who sees this clearly?
Correct: A. The same closing sequence reused throughout this saṃyutta.
Question 9 of 10
Who are the two participants in this discourse?
Correct: A. The same father-and-son pair continuing throughout this saṃyutta.
