The compressed corruption formula, matching SN 27.4–7'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 in text, though worth pausing on what it means for desire toward craving itself
Why this discourse
The climax of this saṃyutta's own contact-to-craving chain: craving (taṇhā) for each of the six sense objects, and a genuinely striking claim — not merely that craving corrupts, but that desire and greed for craving itself corrupts the mind, a second-order relationship worth pausing on.
Reading guide
Six cravings, and desire for craving itself named the corruption
"Desire and greed for craving for sights, craving for sounds, craving for smells, craving for tastes, craving for touches, or craving for ideas is a corruption of the mind. …" — this saṃyutta's own consistent structure applied here to its most striking case: not craving itself, but desire and greed directed at craving, which is what this discourse actually names as corrupting.
A second-order relationship worth pausing on
Every other discourse in this saṃyutta names desire for some experiential category (a faculty, an object, a feeling) as the corruption. This discourse does the identical thing one level up: craving toward one's own craving, wanting to keep wanting, is itself corrupting — a subtler and more self-referential case than any of the nine categories before it.
Consistency of form over special emphasis
Despite this conceptual subtlety, the discourse gives craving no different formal treatment than any earlier category — same six-item list, same compression, same closing formula trusted to memory. The structure itself doesn't signal that anything unusual is happening here; only attentive reading catches it.
Two broader categories still to come
With the sense-experience chain complete across eight discourses (SN 27.1–8), this saṃyutta's final two discourses step back to the elements (SN 27.9) and the five aggregates (SN 27.10), exactly as both sibling saṃyuttas did.
Key terms
taṇhā — craving — the subject of this discourse's own six-item list
rūpataṇhā — craving for sights — the first of the six cravings named, framed by object as at SN 27.6–7
chandarāga taṇhāya — desire and greed for craving itself — this discourse's own second-order relationship, distinct from craving simply being corrupt on its own terms
peyyāla — an elision mark — continuing this saṃyutta's compression pattern from SN 27.4–7
kilesa — corruption — this saṃyutta's own name, applied here to its most self-referential case
The text
The complete discourse as bilara-data preserves it: the six cravings named a corruption of the mind. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, desire and greed for craving for sights, craving for sounds, craving for smells, craving for tastes, craving for touches, or craving for ideas 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 does this discourse actually name as the corruption of the mind?
Correct: A. This saṃyutta's own consistent structure applied one level up: desire directed at craving.
Question 2 of 10
Why is this discourse's structure described as "second-order"?
Correct: A. A subtler, more self-referential case than any of the nine categories before it.
Question 3 of 10
Does the discourse's formal treatment signal that anything unusual is happening at this category?
Correct: A. Only attentive reading catches the conceptual subtlety; the form itself doesn't signal it.
Question 4 of 10
What completes with this discourse, across SN 27.1–8?
Correct: A. Eight discourses walking one continuous chain, mirroring both sibling saṃyuttas' own structure.
Question 5 of 10
What two broader categories remain for this saṃyutta's final two discourses?
Correct: A. Closing on the broadest possible frame, exactly as both sibling saṃyuttas did.
Question 6 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Matching the setting of most discourses in this saṃyutta.
Question 7 of 10
How does this discourse's compression compare to SN 27.4–7's own?
Correct: A. The six-item list given in full, closing formula trusted to memory, unchanged since SN 27.4.
Question 8 of 10
What is the first of the six cravings named in this discourse?
Correct: A. Followed by craving for sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas.
Question 9 of 10
What technical role does craving occupy in the four noble truths, as examined elsewhere in this project?
Correct: A. Named directly at SN 26.8's own treatment of the identical category.
Question 10 of 10
What is this saṃyutta's own standing corrupting factor?
Correct: A. Unchanged throughout this saṃyutta's ten discourses, applied here to its most self-referential case.
