The compressed corruption formula, this saṃyutta's own compression pattern beginning here
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
Why this discourse
The fourth step, and the point where this saṃyutta's own compression finally begins — one discourse later than either SN 25 or SN 26's own compression point. Contact (phassa) receives the identical desire-and-greed-as-corruption treatment as the eighteen elements before it.
Reading guide
Six contacts, desire for each a corruption
"Desire and greed for eye contact, ear contact, nose contact, tongue contact, body contact, or mind contact is a corruption of the mind. …" — the six-item list given in full, with the renunciation-and-insight conclusion now trusted to memory from SN 27.1–3.
Compression arrives one discourse later than its siblings
As noted at SN 27.3, this saṃyutta's own compression begins here rather than at the consciousness discourse — a small structural offset from SN 25 and SN 26's own identical compression points, though the underlying principle (trust the reader after enough repetition) is the same.
Desire for contact itself, not merely its downstream effects
As with every category in this saṃyutta, the corruption is located in desire and greed for contact itself, not in whatever contact might lead to afterward — consistent with this saṃyutta's own framing since SN 27.1.
Six categories still to come
SN 27.5 through SN 27.9 will continue through feeling, perception, intention, craving, and the elements in the same compressed form, before SN 27.10 closes this saṃyutta in full.
Key terms
phassa — contact — the meeting of faculty, object, and consciousness, the subject of this discourse
chandarāga — desire and greed — this saṃyutta's own standing corrupting factor
peyyāla — an elision mark — marking this saṃyutta's own compression, beginning here rather than at consciousness
nekkhamma — renunciation — where the mind inclines once this corruption is given up, implied though not restated here
cakkhusamphassa — eye contact — the first of the six contacts named in this discourse
The text
The complete discourse as bilara-data preserves it: the six kinds of contact named a corruption of the mind. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, desire and greed for eye contact, ear contact, nose contact, tongue contact, body contact, or mind contact is a corruption of the mind. …”
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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 examine?
Correct: A. The meeting-point of faculty, object, and consciousness.
Question 2 of 10
At what discourse does this saṃyutta's own compression begin?
Correct: A. A small structural offset noted already at SN 27.3.
Question 3 of 10
Where is the corruption located, according to this saṃyutta's own consistent framing?
Correct: A. Consistent with this saṃyutta's framing since SN 27.1.
Question 4 of 10
What does this discourse trust the reader to supply, given its own compression?
Correct: A. The identical closing formula, no longer spelled out in full.
Question 5 of 10
What six categories remain after this discourse?
Correct: A. Completing this saṃyutta's own ten-part sequence.
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 earlier discourse in this project examined this same category with a different formula?
Correct: A. The identical category, examined a third time under this saṃyutta's own formula.
Question 8 of 10
What is the first of the six contacts named in this discourse?
Correct: A. Followed by ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact.
Question 9 of 10
What discourse comes next in this saṃyutta's sequence?
Correct: A. Continuing one link at a time through the standard chain.
Question 10 of 10
What is this saṃyutta's own standing corrupting factor?
Correct: A. Unchanged from SN 27.1 through SN 27.3.
