The identical bare question-and-answer structure as this vagga's earlier discourses
Length
Very short — the closing formula elided
Northern parallel
Khayadhamma, "liable to end," recurs in similar contexts describing the aggregates' own instability
Difficulty
Approachable — best read as part of this vagga's own catalog
Why this discourse
Moves this vagga's catalog beyond the three marks to a new set of four related terms: liability to end, to fall, to originate, and to cease — unlike the earlier three-mark pairs, these four are not paired variants of a single underlying term but four distinct characterizations, each given its own discourse.
Reading guide
A new kind of question
"They speak of a 'liability to end'. What has a liability to end?" — khaya, "ending" or "destruction," describes not a static quality like impermanence but a directional process: something moving toward its own termination.
The identical bare answer
"Form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness have a liability to end" — matching this vagga's own established directness, with no elaboration beyond the bare statement.
Not a paired variant, but a new distinct term
Unlike SN 23.11-18's pattern (bare identity, then inherent nature, for the same underlying concept), this discourse and its three following companions each name a genuinely different process word — end, fall, originate, cease — rather than two grammatical framings of one idea.
A closing set for this vagga
SN 23.20, SN 23.21, and SN 23.22 will complete this final set of four terms, closing Dutiyamāravagga with vocabulary that partially echoes SN 22.126's own originate/vanish criterion from much earlier in this book, though applied here with this vagga's own characteristic brevity.
Key terms
khaya — ending, destruction — the term this discourse examines, describing a directional process rather than a static quality
khayadhamma — liable to end — the full technical term, naming this discourse's own title
anattā — not-self — the term examined in SN 23.17-18, the previous pair closing the three-mark sequence
vaya/samudaya/nirodha — fall / origination / cessation — the three further terms SN 23.20-22 will examine, completing this vagga's closing set
peyyāla — an elision mark, compressing the standard closing formula throughout this vagga
The text
The complete discourse as given in the source, opening this vagga's closing set of four process-terms. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. Seated to one side, Venerable Rādha said to the Buddha: “Sir, they speak of a ‘liability to end’. What has a liability to end?”
§2“Rādha, form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness have a liability to end.
§3Seeing this … They understand: ‘… there is nothing further for this place.’”
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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 ask about, moving beyond the three marks?
Correct: A. A new kind of term, describing a directional process rather than a static quality.
Question 2 of 10
How does the Buddha answer?
Correct: A. Matching this vagga's own established bare directness.
Question 3 of 10
How does this discourse's relationship to its companions differ from SN 23.11-18's own pairing?
Correct: A. End, fall, originate, cease — four distinct terms rather than paired grammatical variants.
Question 4 of 10
What three further terms will SN 23.20-22 examine?
Correct: A. Completing this vagga's closing set of four process-terms.
Question 5 of 10
What earlier discourse in this book uses similar vocabulary?
Correct: A. Though applied here with this vagga's own characteristic brevity.
Question 6 of 10
How many aggregates does this discourse's identification apply to?
Correct: A. Form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness.
Question 7 of 10
How is the closing formula presented in this discourse?
Correct: A. Compressed throughout this vagga after SN 23.11's own full statement.
Question 8 of 10
What does khaya specifically describe?
Correct: A. Distinguished from the more static three-mark qualities examined earlier in this vagga.
Question 9 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Matching SN 23.11-18's own setting.
Question 10 of 10
Who asks the question in this discourse?
Correct: A. Continuing this saṃyutta's own central questioner.
