The compressed corruption formula, matching SN 27.4–8'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, though the six-element list itself is worth noting
Why this discourse
Steps back from the sense-experience chain completed at SN 27.8 to the six elements (dhātu) — earth, water, fire, air, space, and consciousness — given this saṃyutta's own corruption formula, and, unlike SN 26.9's own full treatment of the identical category, kept in this saṃyutta's now-standard compressed form.
Reading guide
Six elements, the same corruption formula
"Desire and greed for the earth element, the water element, the fire element, the air element, the space element, or the consciousness element is a corruption of the mind. …" — the standard six-element analysis (also found at MN 140) given this saṃyutta's own consistent treatment.
A third data point on where compression does and doesn't apply
SN 25.9's elements were compressed, SN 26.9's were given in full, and this discourse returns to compression — three saṃyuttas, three different choices at the identical category, confirming that compression decisions in these texts don't follow a single predictable rule across sister saṃyuttas even when everything else about their structure matches closely.
Not the eighteen elements again, but the physical six
As at SN 25.9 and SN 26.9, this discourse's six elements — four classical physical elements plus space and consciousness — are a coarser, more physical analysis than the eighteen sense elements examined at SN 27.1–3.
One discourse remains
SN 27.10 will close this saṃyutta with the five aggregates, in full, carrying the saṃyutta's own confirmed colophon.
Key terms
pathavīdhātu / āpodhātu / tejodhātu / vāyodhātu — the earth, water, fire, and air elements — the four classical physical elements
ākāsadhātu — the space element — the fifth of the six elements named in this discourse
viññāṇadhātu — the consciousness element — the sixth and only mental element in this discourse's list
chandarāga — desire and greed — this saṃyutta's own standing corrupting factor
peyyāla — an elision mark — continuing this saṃyutta's compression pattern, unlike SN 26.9's own full treatment of the identical category
The text
The complete discourse as bilara-data preserves it: the six elements named a corruption of the mind. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, desire and greed for the earth element, the water element, the fire element, the air element, the space element, or the consciousness element 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 standard sixfold analysis also found at MN 140.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's compression compare across all three sister saṃyuttas at this identical category?
Correct: A. Confirming compression decisions don't follow a single predictable rule even across closely matched sister saṃyuttas.
Question 3 of 10
How does this discourse's six elements differ from SN 27.1–3's own eighteen sense elements?
Correct: A. Two different standard analyses sharing the same Pāli term.
Question 4 of 10
Where else in the Nikāyas does this same six-element analysis appear?
Correct: A. The standard sixfold analysis, cited at SN 25.9 and SN 26.9's own treatments as well.
Question 5 of 10
What is the only mental element among the six named here?
Correct: A. The sixth element in this discourse's list, alongside five physical or spatial ones.
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 closes this saṃyutta, following this one?
Correct: A. This saṃyutta's own final and most familiar category.
Question 8 of 10
What four classical physical elements does this discourse name?
Correct: A. The standard technical Buddhist sense of these four terms.
Question 9 of 10
What is this saṃyutta's own standing corrupting factor?
Correct: A. Unchanged throughout this saṃyutta's ten discourses, including here.
Question 10 of 10
How does SN 27.10's treatment compare to this discourse's own?
Correct: A. Closing the saṃyutta with its fullest treatment since SN 27.1–3.
