The identical bare question-and-answer structure as this vagga's entire closing set
Length
Very short — the closing formula elided
Northern parallel
Nirodhadhamma completes the samudaya/nirodha pairing recalling SN 22.126
Difficulty
Approachable — best appreciated as the close of this vagga's own twelve-discourse catalog
Why this discourse
Closes Dutiyamāravagga: the final term in this vagga's own catalog, completing the samudaya/nirodha (originate/cease) pair and, with it, twelve discourses systematically applying Rādha's characterizing questions to Māra, the three marks, and four related process-terms.
Reading guide
The closing term, the same bare treatment
"They speak of a 'liability to cease'. What has a liability to cease?" — nirodhadhamma, completing the originate/cease pairing begun at SN 23.21, and echoing this book's own most fundamental technical vocabulary for how phenomena arise and pass away.
The identical bare answer, one final time
"Form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness have a liability to cease" — this vagga's own established directness, given for the twelfth and final time.
Twelve discourses, one consistent method, reviewed
Looking back across the whole vagga: SN 23.11-12 (Māra), 23.13-14 (impermanence), 23.15-16 (suffering), 23.17-18 (not-self), and this closing set of four individual process-terms (23.19-22) — all built from the identical template of a bare question met with a bare identification of the aggregates, closed by the standard formula given in full only once, at the very start.
Closing without a colophon, into Upasaggavagga
As with many vaggas in this book, no explicit closing formula marks the end of Dutiyamāravagga in the source text — the vagga simply concludes on this final term, before Rādhasaṃyutta's third vagga, Upasaggavagga ("Appeals"), begins at SN 23.23 — the first vagga in this saṃyutta to include a peyyāla-merged range of discourses.
Key terms
nirodha — cessation — the term this discourse examines, closing the originate/cease pair
samudaya — origination — SN 23.21's own term, this discourse's direct counterpart
nirodhadhamma — liable to cease — the full technical term, echoing this book's own foundational vocabulary
dhammakkhandha — the collected teachings — not itself named in this discourse, but the sense in which this vagga's twelve discourses form one coherent unit
Upasaggavagga — "Appeals" — the vagga following this one, this saṃyutta's third, beginning at SN 23.23
The text
The complete discourse as given in the source, closing Dutiyamāravagga's own catalog of characterizing 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 cease’. What has a liability to cease?”
§2“Rādha, form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness have a liability to cease.
§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 term does this discourse examine, closing Dutiyamāravagga?
Correct: A. Completing the originate/cease pair begun at SN 23.21.
Question 2 of 10
How does the Buddha answer this discourse's question?
Correct: A. This vagga's own established directness, given one final time.
Question 3 of 10
How many total discourses make up Dutiyamāravagga, closed by this one?
Correct: A. Māra, the three marks, and four closing process-terms.
Question 4 of 10
What single template underlies all twelve discourses in this vagga?
Correct: A. Given in full only once, at SN 23.11, and elided throughout the rest of the vagga.
Question 5 of 10
How does this vagga close, according to the source text?
Correct: A. As with many vaggas earlier in this book, no closing formula appears.
Question 6 of 10
What vagga follows Dutiyamāravagga in Rādhasaṃyutta?
Correct: A. This saṃyutta's third vagga, beginning at SN 23.23.
Question 7 of 10
What distinguishes the vagga following this one, structurally?
Correct: A. Confirmed by the earlier bilara-data structural scan of SN23.
Question 8 of 10
How many aggregates does this discourse's identification apply to?
Correct: A. Form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness.
Question 9 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Matching SN 23.11-21's own setting.
Question 10 of 10
Who asks the question in this discourse?
Correct: A. Continuing this saṃyutta's own central questioner throughout this entire vagga.
