The bare six-item list plus the compressed formula reference, matching SN 25.3's own treatment
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 and familiar by this point in the sequence
Why this discourse
The fourth step in this saṃyutta's sequence, and the first to move beyond the eighteen elements themselves into what arises from them: contact (phassa), the coming-together of faculty, object, and consciousness that the standard analysis treats as the next link after the eighteen elements, and the direct condition for feeling.
Reading guide
Six contacts, one for each sense door
"Eye contact is impermanent, decaying, and perishing. Ear contact, nose contact, tongue contact, body contact, and mind contact are impermanent, decaying, and perishing" — contact named as the meeting-point of the three elements already examined (faculty, object, consciousness), one contact for each of the six sense doors.
Where the standard analytical chain is heading
This saṃyutta's remaining sequence follows the classic order that builds from the eighteen elements: contact gives rise to feeling (SN 25.5), which conditions perception (SN 25.6) and intention (SN 25.7), which in turn can give rise to craving (SN 25.8) — the same chain examined more fully elsewhere in the Nikāyas (e.g. the Chachakka Sutta, MN 148), here applied one link at a time to the identical three-tier stream-entry formula.
The same compressed treatment as SN 25.3
As with the previous discourse, the source text gives only the six-item list plus the formula's opening words, trusting SN 25.1 and 25.2's own full versions to supply the rest.
A saṃyutta quietly teaching dependent origination's own vocabulary
Though never named as such, the sequence faculty → object → consciousness → contact → feeling → craving mirrors several links of paṭiccasamuppāda (dependent origination) — this saṃyutta's real achievement may be teaching that vocabulary implicitly, through ten discourses of impermanence rather than one discourse of formal chain analysis.
Key terms
phassa — contact — the meeting of faculty, object, and consciousness, the subject of this discourse
chachakka — "the six sixes" — the traditional name (from MN 148) for the fuller analysis this saṃyutta's sequence echoes one link at a time
paṭiccasamuppāda — dependent origination — the chain whose vocabulary this saṃyutta's sequence quietly follows without naming it directly
peyyāla — an elision mark — continuing this saṃyutta's compression pattern from SN 25.3
sotāpanno avinipātadhammo niyato sambodhiparāyano — a stream-enterer, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, assured, destined for awakening — this saṃyutta's standing conclusion
The text
The complete discourse as bilara-data preserves it: the six kinds of contact named impermanent, then the formula's opening words alone. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, eye contact is impermanent, decaying, and perishing. Ear contact, nose contact, tongue contact, body contact, and mind contact are impermanent, decaying, and perishing. Someone who has faith and confidence in these teachings is called a follower by faith. …”
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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 six items does this discourse declare impermanent?
Correct: A. The meeting-point of faculty, object, and consciousness, one contact per sense door.
Question 2 of 10
What does contact represent in the standard analytical chain?
Correct: A. The next link after the eighteen elements already examined at SN 25.1–3.
Question 3 of 10
What chain does this saṃyutta's remaining sequence follow?
Correct: A. The same chain examined more fully at MN 148 (the Chachakka Sutta).
Question 4 of 10
What vocabulary does this saṃyutta's sequence quietly echo, without naming it directly?
Correct: A. Faculty, object, consciousness, contact, feeling, craving — several of its own links.
Question 5 of 10
How does this discourse's treatment compare to SN 25.3's own?
Correct: A. Trusting SN 25.1 and 25.2's own full versions to supply the rest.
Question 6 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Matching the setting of most discourses in this saṃyutta.
Question 7 of 10
What discourse comes next, examining the link that arises directly from contact?
Correct: A. Continuing the standard chain one link at a time.
Question 8 of 10
What earlier discourse in the wider Nikāyas gives a fuller version of this same analytical chain?
Correct: A. This saṃyutta applies the same chain one link at a time to the stream-entry formula.
Question 9 of 10
How many sense doors does this discourse name a contact for?
Correct: A. One contact for each of the six sense faculties already examined.
Question 10 of 10
What is this saṃyutta's own real teaching achievement, according to this reading guide?
Correct: A. Rather than one discourse of formal chain analysis.
