The same instruction structure as SN 23.34, without any request from Rādha
Length
Medium — the fullest treatment of "liable to cease" in this saṃyutta's fourth vagga
Northern parallel
Completes the giving-up-desire instruction applied to nirodha, closing Rādhasaṃyutta as SN 23.34 closed Upasaggavagga
Difficulty
Approachable — best appreciated as the close of the entire saṃyutta
Why this discourse
Closes both Upanisinnavagga and Rādhasaṃyutta itself: the twelfth and final term of this vagga's own catalog, "liable to cease," given complete treatment one last time — closing with the saṃyutta's own confirmed colophon, "The Linked Discourses with Rādha are complete."
Reading guide
The Buddha speaking unprompted, one final time
"When Venerable Rādha was seated to one side, the Buddha said to him: 'Rādha, you should give up any desire, any greed, any desire and greed for whatever is liable to cease'" — matching this vagga's own unprompted mode of address, without the "teach me in brief" request that opened SN 23.34's own parallel treatment of this same term.
The instruction given in full, completing the catalog one final time
"And what is liable to cease? Form is liable to cease. You should give up any desire, any greed, any desire and greed for it" — the identical three-part instruction, given completely for each aggregate, closing this saṃyutta's own twelve-term catalog for the fourth and final time across its two closing vaggas.
The saṃyutta's own confirmed colophon
"The Linked Discourses with Rādha are complete" — given in the source text itself at sn23.46:2.7, confirming both this saṃyutta's official name (Rādhasaṃyutta) and its complete forty-six discourses, spanning four vaggas from SN 23.1's own opening question about Māra through this closing repetition of the same theme.
A saṃyutta built almost entirely on recombination, reviewed
Looking back across the whole of Rādhasaṃyutta: Māravagga introduced genuinely new material (SN 23.1-3) alongside personalized restatements of Antavagga (SN 23.4-10); Dutiyamāravagga catalogued twelve characterizing terms through bare definitional questions; and Upasaggavagga and Upanisinnavagga each applied the giving-up-desire instruction to that same catalog, differing only in whether Rādha's own request opens the sequence — this saṃyutta's forty-six discourses ultimately rest on a remarkably small set of underlying elements, recombined across four vaggas in service of one disciple's own sustained practice.
Key terms
nirodha — cessation — the term this discourse examines, closing this vagga's twelve-term catalog for the final time
nirodhadhamma — liable to cease, of a nature to cease — completing the parallel with SN 23.34's own identical closing term
Rādhasaṃyuttaṁ samattaṁ — "the Linked Discourses with Rādha are complete" — the confirmed colophon closing this saṃyutta
chanda/rāga/chandarāga — desire / greed / desire and greed — the three-part instruction given in full one final time in this saṃyutta
Māra — the term this saṃyutta opened with at SN 23.1, now closing on its own final catalog-completing pair
The text
The complete discourse: the Buddha's unprompted instruction applied to nirodha for each aggregate, closing with the saṃyutta's own confirmed colophon. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. When Venerable Rādha was seated to one side, the Buddha said to him:
§2“Rādha, you should give up any desire, any greed, any desire and greed for whatever is liable to cease. And what is liable to cease? Form is liable to cease. You should give up any desire, any greed, any desire and greed for it. Feeling … Perception … Choices … Consciousness is liable to cease. You should give up any desire, any greed, any desire and greed for it. You should give up any desire, any greed, any desire and greed for whatever is liable to cease.”
§3The Linked Discourses with Rādha 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
What term does this discourse examine, closing Rādhasaṃyutta's own final catalog?
Correct: A. The twelfth and final term, given complete treatment for the fourth time across this saṃyutta's closing vaggas.
Question 2 of 10
How is this discourse's opening different from SN 23.34's own treatment of the same term?
Correct: A. Matching this vagga's own unprompted mode of address throughout.
Question 3 of 10
What colophon confirms this saṃyutta's own completion?
Correct: A. Given in the source text itself, confirming both the saṃyutta's name and its full completion.
Question 4 of 10
How many total discourses does Rādhasaṃyutta comprise, confirmed by this closing?
Correct: A. Spanning four vaggas from SN 23.1 through this closing discourse.
Question 5 of 10
What four vaggas make up Rādhasaṃyutta, reviewed at its close?
Correct: A. New material and personalized restatement, a definitional catalog, then two applications of the giving-up-desire instruction.
Question 6 of 10
What does reviewing the whole saṃyutta reveal about its underlying structure?
Correct: A. Recombination in service of one disciple's own sustained practice.
Question 7 of 10
How many aggregates does the instruction apply to?
Correct: A. Form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness, each given the instruction.
Question 8 of 10
What discourse opened this saṃyutta, corresponding to this discourse's close?
Correct: A. Rādha's own opening question about Māra, echoed one final time by this closing catalog's own first term.
Question 9 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Matching the setting of the discourses throughout this saṃyutta.
Question 10 of 10
What three-part instruction closes this saṃyutta one final time?
Correct: A. The same three-part formula used throughout this saṃyutta's closing vaggas.
