The same elided template, introducing a self-inflicted rather than externally caused torment
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 first of a run of four discourses built on the same weapon-as-body-hair image
Why this discourse
This discourse introduces a new kind of affliction, distinct from external birds tearing at a body: a man whose own body hairs are swords, rising up and falling back onto his own flesh. The torment here comes from the body itself rather than an outside attacker. The cause named is pig butchery (sūkarika), continuing the saṃyutta's catalog of animal-killing trades.
Reading guide
A shift from external attacker to self-inflicted harm
Every apparition so far involved birds attacking from outside the body; this discourse instead describes harm generated by the body itself, its own hairs transformed into weapons that wound their own owner without any external agent.
Weapons growing from within, not wielded from without
The image doesn't describe someone attacking this man with swords; the swords are described as his own body hairs, making the harm inseparable from his own physical form rather than something done to him by another.
The first of a deliberate four-discourse sequence
This discourse opens a run of four consecutive discourses (SN 19.5-8) built on the identical structure — body hairs transformed into a different weapon each time — before the sequence breaks with SN 19.9's more elaborate variant.
A continued but shifting animal-killing catalog
Pig butchery joins cattle butchery, bird hunting, and sheep butchery as the fourth distinct animal-killing occupation named across five discourses, confirming this remains the saṃyutta's dominant category of cause in its opening run.
Rising and falling as a description of repetition, not a single event
Uppatitvā uppatitvā, “rising up again and again,” specifies that this isn't a single piercing but a repeated, cyclical torment, the swords striking and returning rather than striking once.
Key terms
asilomaṁ purisaṁ vehāsaṁ gacchantaṁ — “a man whose body hairs were swords, flying through the air” — this discourse's title image, the first of a four-discourse sequence.
uppatitvā uppatitvā tasseva kāye nipatanti — “kept rising up and falling on his own body” — specifying repeated, cyclical self-inflicted harm rather than a single wound.
sūkariko — “a pig butcher” — the fourth distinct animal-killing occupation named in this series.
…pe… — the peyyāla elision mark — the same compression convention continuing from the discourses before this one.
pañcamaṁ — “the fifth” — this discourse's closing numbering tag.
The text
The discourse as preserved in the source, elided around SN 19.1's fuller frame narrative. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Just now, reverend, as I was descending from Vulture’s Peak Mountain I saw a man whose body hairs were swords flying through the air. And those swords kept rising up and falling on his body as he screamed in pain. …” … “That being used to be a pig butcher right here in Rājagaha. …”
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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's apparition consist of?
Correct: A. A new kind of image, distinct from the external bird-attacks in earlier discourses.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's torment differ from the four discourses before it?
Correct: A. Harm inseparable from the man's own physical form, not done to him by another.
Question 3 of 10
What occupation does this discourse name as the cause?
Correct: A. The fourth distinct animal-killing occupation named in this series.
Question 4 of 10
What does "rising up and falling" specify about this torment?
Correct: A. Uppatitvā uppatitvā, describing ongoing repetition rather than a single wound.
Question 5 of 10
What position does this discourse hold in a larger structural pattern within this vagga?
Correct: A. A structure continuing through SN 19.6-8 before breaking with SN 19.9's more elaborate variant.
Question 6 of 10
How many distinct animal-killing occupations have now been named across this saṃyutta's opening five discourses?
Correct: A. Confirming this remains the saṃyutta's dominant category of cause in its opening run.
Question 7 of 10
Does an external attacker appear in this discourse's apparition?
Correct: A. A shift from external attacker to self-generated affliction.
Question 8 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. The setting shared throughout this saṃyutta.
Question 9 of 10
Who are the two speakers in this discourse?
Correct: A. The same pair continuing throughout this saṃyutta.
