The bare opening claim in English, closing with an untranslated Pāli colophon and an unusually long two-part summary verse
Length
Under a minute of English text; the untranslated closing material is substantially longer
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 in translated content, though its closing colophon rewards close attention
Why this discourse
Closes both this vagga's hedonic-quality set and Dutiyagamanavagga itself: the fourth corner ("neither happy nor suffering"), followed — unlike SN 24.18's own closing role — not by a translated aggregate catechism but by an untranslated Pāli colophon and an unusually long, two-part summary verse recapping this vagga's own full twenty-six discourses: eighteen reused topics compressed into four lines, followed by the eight genuinely new views given in full.
Reading guide
The fourth and final corner
"The self is neither happy nor suffering, and is healthy after death" (adukkhamasukhī attā hoti arogo paraṁ maraṇā) — denying both SN 24.41's happiness and SN 24.42's suffering together, completing this vagga's second new four-corner set.
Minimal in English, unlike SN 24.18's own close
Sujato's translation preserves only this discourse's opening claim; the full aggregate catechism, this discourse's own numeric label, and its closing colophon all exist in the Pāli source but are left untranslated — a genuine structural difference from SN 24.18, whose own closing catechism was fully rendered into English.
A colophon confirming this vagga's own count and name
The untranslated Pāli closes: "Chabbīsatimaṁ. Dutiyapeyyālo" — "the twenty-sixth. The second elision-set" — confirming this vagga's full count of twenty-six sutta-numbers and its own informal name as a peyyāla-heavy "second round" through the saṃyutta's opening catalog.
An unusually long, two-part summary verse
The closing uddāna runs longer than SN 24.18's own: its first half (this reading guide's own reading of the untranslated Pāli, not Sujato's translation) compresses all eighteen reused topics into four terse lines, naming each only once rather than twice; its second half gives all eight new topics in full — formed, formless, both, neither; exclusively happy, exclusively suffering, both, neither — closing with an explicit tally: "these twenty-six suttas were taught by way of the second round" (ime chabbīsati suttā, dutiyavārena desitā), independently confirming both this vagga's count and its status as a deliberate second pass, exactly matching this reading guide's own structural analysis.
Key terms
adukkhamasukhī attā — the self is neither happy nor suffering — this discourse's claim, the fourth and final corner of this set
chabbīsatimaṁ — "the twenty-sixth" — this discourse's own untranslated position-marker, confirming Dutiyagamanavagga's full count
dutiyapeyyālo — "the second elision-set" — this vagga's own informal untranslated name
tassuddānaṁ — "its summary verse" — introducing the closing two-part uddāna, read directly from the untranslated Pāli, not quoted from Sujato's translation
ime chabbīsati suttā, dutiyavārena desitā — "these twenty-six suttas were taught by way of the second round" — the uddāna's own closing tally line
The text
The complete discourse as Sujato's translation preserves it: the opening claim alone. (The catechism, colophon, and closing uddāna present in the untranslated Pāli source are described, not quoted, in the reading guide above.) Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“‘The self is neither happy nor suffering, and is healthy 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. The fourth and final corner, denying both happiness and suffering together.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's English translation compare to SN 24.18's own closing treatment?
Correct: A. A genuine structural difference between the two vaggas' closing discourses.
Question 3 of 10
What does this discourse's untranslated colophon confirm?
Correct: A. "Chabbīsatimaṁ. Dutiyapeyyālo" — the twenty-sixth, the second elision-set.
Question 4 of 10
How does this discourse's closing uddāna compare to SN 24.18's own?
Correct: A. This reading guide's own reading of the untranslated Pāli, not Sujato's official translation.
Question 5 of 10
What explicit tally does the uddāna's closing line give?
Correct: A. Independently confirming both this vagga's count and its status as a deliberate second pass.
Question 6 of 10
How does the uddāna's first half treat the eighteen reused topics, compared to how they were introduced?
Correct: A. A further compression beyond even SN 24.20–35's own single-line cross-reference.
Question 7 of 10
Where is this discourse nominally set?
Correct: A. Matching the setting inherited from this vagga's established pattern.
Question 8 of 10
What is this reading guide's policy toward the untranslated Pāli colophon and uddāna?
Correct: A. Consistent with this project's established practice for untranslated segments.
Question 9 of 10
What eight new topics does the uddāna's second half list in full?
Correct: A. Exactly the eight new views this vagga itself introduced at SN 24.37–44.
Question 10 of 10
What does this discourse close, taken together?
Correct: A. This vagga's own true final discourse, twenty-six sutta-numbers now complete.
