A compact statement: desire and greed for the six sense faculties corrupts the mind; giving it up readies the mind for insight work
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 direct, its three-step logic worth reading slowly even so
Why this discourse
Opens Kilesasaṃyutta ("Linked Discourses on Corruptions") — the third of this book's trio of sister saṃyuttas built on the identical ten-category sequence already walked twice, at SN 25 (who is progressing toward stream-entry) and SN 26 (what suffering itself consists of). This saṃyutta asks a third question of the same material: what corrupts the mind, and what readies it for the work of insight.
Reading guide
Not the faculties themselves, but desire for them
"Desire and greed for the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind is a corruption of the mind" — a crucial distinction from SN 26's own framing: that saṃyutta identified the faculties' own arising with suffering's arising; this one locates the corruption specifically in desire and greed (chandarāga) for them, not in the faculties as such.
Renunciation as the mind's own natural inclination once corruption lifts
"When a mendicant has given up mental corruption in these six cases, their mind inclines to renunciation" — nekkhamma (renunciation) presented not as an effortful achievement imposed on the mind, but as where the mind naturally tends once the specific corruption (desire and greed for the six faculties) is removed.
A mind fit for insight work
"A mind imbued with renunciation is said to be fit for work regarding anything that can be realized by insight" — abhiññā (insight, direct knowledge) requiring a particular quality of mind as its precondition, this discourse's own closing claim about what kind of instrument the mind must become before it can do this particular work.
A third lens on the same ten categories
SN 25 asked who has stepped onto the sure path; SN 26 asked what suffering directly consists of; this saṃyutta asks what corrupts the mind and what prepares it for insight — three distinct questions, the identical ten-category sequence (sense faculties through the aggregates) serving as the shared material for all three.
Key terms
kilesa — corruption — the term giving this saṃyutta its own name, the mental defilement this discourse locates specifically in desire and greed
chandarāga — desire and greed — the specific corrupting factor this discourse identifies, not the six faculties themselves
nekkhamma — renunciation — where the mind naturally inclines once this specific corruption is given up
abhiññā — insight, direct knowledge — the work this discourse says a renunciation-imbued mind becomes fit for
upakkilesa — corruption, defilement — the fuller technical term behind this discourse's opening claim, occasionally rendered "defilement" elsewhere in this same saṃyutta
The text
The complete discourse: desire and greed for the six sense faculties named a corruption of the mind, and the path from giving it up to fitness for insight work. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, desire and greed for the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind is a corruption of the mind. When a mendicant has given up mental corruption in these six cases, their mind inclines to renunciation. A mind imbued with renunciation is said to be fit for work regarding anything that can be realized by insight.”
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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 does this discourse identify as a corruption of the mind?
Correct: A. A crucial distinction from SN 26's own framing of the same category.
Question 2 of 10
What does the mind naturally incline to once this corruption is given up?
Correct: A. Presented as where the mind naturally tends, not an effortful achievement imposed on it.
Question 3 of 10
What is a mind imbued with renunciation said to be fit for?
Correct: A. Abhiññā (insight, direct knowledge) requiring this particular quality of mind as its precondition.
Question 4 of 10
How does this saṃyutta's question differ from SN 25 and SN 26's own, applied to the identical ten categories?
Correct: A. A third distinct lens on the same shared material.
Question 5 of 10
What six items does this discourse examine?
Correct: A. Opening a saṃyutta that will apply the same formula to nine further categories.
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 term gives this saṃyutta its own name?
Correct: A. This book's seventh saṃyutta, third of a trio sharing the identical ten-category sequence.
Question 8 of 10
What two sister saṃyuttas share this saṃyutta's identical ten-category sequence?
Correct: A. Three complementary readings of the same underlying material.
Question 9 of 10
What nine further categories will this saṃyutta's remaining discourses examine?
Correct: A. The identical sequence already established at SN 25 and SN 26.
Question 10 of 10
What does this discourse's own three-step structure describe?
Correct: A. A compact logical progression in a single short paragraph.
