Reading guide
Six elements, spelled out completely
"The arising, continuation, and manifestation and regeneration of the earth element, the water element, the fire element, the air element, the space element, and the consciousness element is the arising of suffering, the continuation of diseases, and the manifestation of old age and death" — the full formula, given without a single elision, all six elements named in sequence rather than compressed to first-and-last.
A departure from this saṃyutta's own compression pattern
This is worth flagging precisely because SN 25.9's own treatment of the same six-element category was itself compressed — the two sister saṃyuttas, despite sharing an otherwise near-identical structure, diverge at this exact point in how much detail their sources preserve for the elements specifically.
Not the eighteen elements again, but the physical six
As at SN 25.9, this discourse's six elements — the four classical physical elements plus space and consciousness — are a coarser, more physical analysis than SN 26.1–3's own eighteen sense elements, the standard sixfold breakdown also found at MN 140 (the Dhātuvibhaṅga Sutta).
One discourse remains
SN 26.10 will close this saṃyutta with the five aggregates, in full, carrying the saṃyutta's own confirmed colophon.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, the arising, continuation, and manifestation and regeneration of the earth element, the water element, the fire element, the air element, the space element, and the consciousness element is the arising of suffering, the continuation of diseases, and the manifestation of old age and death.
§2The cessation of the earth element, the water element, the fire element, the air element, the space element, and the consciousness element is the cessation of suffering, the settling of diseases, and the disappearance of old age and death.”
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