Sāvatthī (by cross-reference to this vagga's established pattern)
Speakers
The Buddha addressing the mendicants
Form
The bare opening claim alone, this vagga's second new dimension
Length
Under a 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
★☆☆☆☆ — brief here, opening a new dimension worth reading alongside SN 24.37's own opening role
Why this discourse
Opens this vagga's second new four-corner set: whether the self is perfectly, exclusively happy (ekantasukhī) and healthy after death — running the same catuṣkoṭi logic already used for existence (SN 24.15–18) and bodily form (SN 24.37–40) through a third dimension, the self's hedonic quality.
Reading guide
A claim about pleasure, not form or existence
"The self is perfectly happy, and is free of disease after death" (ekantasukhī attā hoti arogo paraṁ maraṇā) — a claim about the self's felt quality after death, distinct from both the existence question (SN 24.15–18) and the bodily-form question (SN 24.37–40) already examined.
A compressed opening, unlike SN 24.37's own
Where SN 24.37 still opened with the full "At Sāvatthī... Mendicants, when what exists..." formula, bilara-data preserves this discourse's opening even more tersely: just the claim itself in quotation marks, trusting the reader to supply the entire surrounding frame from the immediately preceding set.
The third demonstration of the same logical shape
This saṃyutta has now applied identical four-corner reasoning to three unrelated questions in succession: does a realized one exist after death, does the self retain bodily form after death, and now, is the self's post-death experience purely pleasant — the content changes completely each time, the underlying structure never does.
Setting up this vagga's own final three corners
SN 24.42–44 will complete this set with exclusive suffering, both together, and neither — the last of which, SN 24.44, will also close this entire vagga with its own confirmed colophon.
Key terms
ekantasukhī attā — the self is perfectly (exclusively) happy — this discourse's claim, opening this vagga's second new four-corner set
arogo paraṁ maraṇā — free of disease after death — the shared qualifier continuing from this vagga's first new set
catuṣkoṭi — "four corners" — now demonstrated a third time within this saṃyutta, on hedonic quality rather than existence or bodily form
peyyāla — an elision mark — compressing this discourse's opening even further than SN 24.37's own
upādāya... abhinivissa — grasping... and insisting on — the formula this discourse's compression trusts the reader to supply
The text
The complete discourse as bilara-data preserves it: the opening claim alone. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“‘The self is perfectly happy, and is free of disease after death’?” …
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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 claim does this discourse examine?
Correct: A. A claim about the self's hedonic quality, opening this vagga's second new four-corner set.
Question 2 of 10
What third dimension does this discourse's four-corner set explore, alongside existence and bodily form?
Correct: A. Happy, suffering, both, or neither — this saṃyutta's third demonstration of catuṣkoṭi logic.
Question 3 of 10
How does this discourse's opening compare to SN 24.37's own?
Correct: A. Trusting the reader to supply the entire surrounding frame from the preceding set.
Question 4 of 10
What does this discourse demonstrate about this saṃyutta's use of four-corner logic?
Correct: A. Existence, bodily form, and now hedonic quality — the content changes, the structure doesn't.
Question 5 of 10
What comes next in this set?
Correct: A. SN 24.42–44 will complete this set's remaining three corners.
Question 6 of 10
Where is this discourse nominally set?
Correct: A. Matching the setting of most of this book's discourses, inherited by context.
Question 7 of 10
What shared qualifier continues into this new set?
Correct: A. The same qualifier running through all eight of this vagga's new views.
Question 8 of 10
What discourse in this vagga will also close the entire vagga with its own colophon?
Correct: A. This set's own closing discourse doubles as the vagga's true final page.
Question 9 of 10
How many four-corner sets has this saṃyutta demonstrated by the time this discourse concludes its own set?
Correct: A. SN 24.15–18, SN 24.37–40, and now SN 24.41–44.
Question 10 of 10
What earlier discourse's opening role does this discourse parallel?
Correct: A. Both open their respective new four-corner sets.
