The Buddha, opening with the identical question from SN 20.11
Form
The same opening reused for an entirely different closing point, ending the saṃyutta on gratitude
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
★★☆☆☆ — closing the saṃyutta with its own translated colophon
Why this discourse
This discourse opens with the exact same question as SN 20.11 — did you hear an old jackal howling at dawn? — but draws an entirely different conclusion: there might be some gratitude and thankfulness in that old jackal, the Buddha says, but there is none at all in a certain person here who claims to follow the Sakyan. The discourse closes with an instruction to be grateful and thankful, never forgetting even a small thing done for oneself — and closes the entire saṃyutta with its own translated colophon.
Reading guide
An identical opening deliberately repurposed
Rather than varying its opening image, this discourse reuses SN 20.11's exact question word for word, using repetition itself to signal that a genuinely different lesson is about to be drawn from the same starting point.
Gratitude attributed to an animal, and withheld from a person
The comparison's direction is unusual: rather than a human quality being used to illuminate something about an animal, an animal's presumed capacity for gratitude is used to shame a human's specific failure to possess even that much.
A folk assumption about animal loyalty used without further comment
The discourse doesn't argue for or explain why a jackal might be considered capable of gratitude; it simply assumes this as background common knowledge, using it as an unexamined premise for the sharper point about human ingratitude.
A specific, modest standard set for the closing instruction
The instruction that closes this discourse is notably concrete: not forgetting even a small thing done for oneself, na ca no amhesu appakampi kataṁ nassissati — a minimal, achievable standard rather than an elaborate practice.
The saṃyutta's own uddāna and translated colophon
Following this discourse, the source includes an untranslated uddāna verse listing all twelve discourse titles of Opammavagga, but the saṃyutta's own closing line — the Linked Discourses with similes are complete — is rendered in full, marking this compact, twelve-discourse collection's formal end.
Key terms
kataññutā kataveditā — “gratitude and thankfulness” — the specific quality this discourse attributes even to the diseased jackal, and finds lacking in a lax human follower.
na tveva idhekacce sakyaputtiyapaṭiññe — “but there is none in a certain person here who claims to follow the Sakyan” — the discourse's sharp, direct comparison, unfavorable to the human party.
na ca no amhesu appakampi kataṁ nassissati — “we won't forget even a small thing done for us” — the discourse's specific, modest closing standard for gratitude.
opammavaggo paṭhamo — “the first chapter on similes [is finished]” — marking this saṃyutta's single vagga as complete, since Opammasaṃyutta has only one chapter.
opammasaṁyuttaṁ samattaṁ — “the Linked Discourses with similes are complete” — the saṃyutta's own closing colophon, translated in full by the source.
The text
The discourse in full, followed by the saṃyutta's own closing colophon. The closing uddāna verse of discourse titles is not translated in the source and is not quoted here; see the reading guide above. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, did you hear an old jackal howling at the crack of dawn?” “Yes, sir.” “There might be some gratitude and thankfulness in that old jackal, but there is none in a certain person here who claims to follow the Sakyan. So you should train like this: ‘We will be grateful and thankful. We won’t forget even a small thing done for us.’ That’s how you should train.”
§2 · ColophonThe Linked Discourses with similes are complete.
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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
How does this discourse's opening compare to SN 20.11's?
Correct: A. Repetition used deliberately to signal a genuinely different lesson from the same starting point.
Question 2 of 10
What quality does this discourse attribute to the old jackal?
Correct: A. An unusual direction of comparison — an animal's presumed virtue shaming a human failing.
Question 3 of 10
What does the discourse claim about a certain person who claims to follow the Sakyan?
Correct: A. A sharp comparison unfavorable to the human party, despite the jackal's diseased condition.
Question 4 of 10
Does this discourse explain or justify its assumption that jackals are capable of gratitude?
Correct: A. A folk assumption used without further comment as a premise for the sharper point about human ingratitude.
Question 5 of 10
What specific standard does this discourse's closing instruction set?
Correct: A. A minimal, achievable standard rather than an elaborate practice.
Question 6 of 10
How is the saṃyutta's own closing colophon treated?
Correct: A. Marking this compact, twelve-discourse collection's formal end.
Question 7 of 10
How many vaggas does Opammasaṃyutta contain in total?
Correct: A. Confirmed by the closing marker "Opammavaggo paṭhamo," the first and only chapter.
Question 8 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. The setting shared throughout this saṃyutta's telling.
Question 9 of 10
Who is the sole speaker in this discourse?
Correct: A. No interlocutor appears beyond the mendicants' brief confirming reply.
Question 10 of 10
What position does this discourse hold in the saṃyutta?
Correct: A. Marked at its close by the vagga's end and the saṃyutta's own translated colophon.
