Reading guide
A new city, a new kind of scene
"At one time Venerable Sāriputta was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove... After wandering indiscriminately for almsfood in Rājagaha, he ate his almsfood by a wall" — a genuine narrative shift from the Sāvatthī-based Ānanda scenes of SN 28.1–9, introducing this saṃyutta's only outside challenger.
Four questions, each a coded accusation
"Ascetic, do you eat facing downwards?... facing upwards?... facing the cardinal directions?... facing the intermediate directions?" — Sāriputta answers "no, sister" four times running, without yet knowing (or at least without yet explaining) what any of these odd questions actually mean.
The riddle decoded, each direction a specific wrong livelihood
Pressed to explain, Sāriputta names what each direction secretly refers to: "facing downwards" means earning a living by geomancy (reading the earth), "facing upwards" means astrology (reading the sky), "facing the cardinal directions" means running errands and messages, "facing the intermediate directions" means limb-reading — four specific disreputable trades in Sucimukhī's own world, each condemned as "a low lore, a wrong livelihood."
A simple answer, and a public proclamation
"I don't earn a living by any of these means. I seek alms in a principled manner, and I eat it in a principled manner" — Sucimukhī doesn't merely accept this, she goes street to street through Rājagaha proclaiming it publicly: "the ascetics who follow the Sakyan eat food in a principled manner! Give almsfood to the ascetics who follow the Sakyan!" A hostile riddle becomes, by discourse's end, free publicity from a convert.
Key terms
The text
§1At one time Venerable Sāriputta was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. Then he robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, entered Rājagaha for alms. After wandering indiscriminately for almsfood in Rājagaha, he ate his almsfood by a wall. Then the wanderer Sucimukhī went up to Venerable Sāriputta and said to him:
§2“Ascetic, do you eat facing downwards?” “No, sister.” “Well then, do you eat facing upwards?” “No, sister.” “Well then, do you eat facing the cardinal directions?” “No, sister.” “Well then, do you eat facing the intermediate directions?” “No, sister.”
§3“When asked if you eat facing all these directions, you answer ‘no, sister’.
§4How then do you eat, ascetic?” “Sister, those ascetics and brahmins who earn a living by geomancy—a low lore, a wrong livelihood—are said to eat facing downwards. Those ascetics and brahmins who earn a living by astrology—a low lore, a wrong livelihood—are said to eat facing upwards. Those ascetics and brahmins who earn a living by running errands and messages—a wrong livelihood—are said to eat facing the cardinal directions. Those ascetics and brahmins who earn a living by limb-reading—a low lore, a wrong livelihood—are said to eat facing the intermediate directions.
§5I don’t earn a living by any of these means. I seek alms in a principled manner, and I eat it in a principled manner.”
§6Then Sucimukhī the wanderer went around Rājagaha from street to street and from square to square, and announced: “The ascetics who follow the Sakyan eat food in a principled manner! The ascetics who follow the Sakyan eat food blamelessly! Give almsfood to the ascetics who follow the Sakyan!”
§7The Linked Discourses on Sāriputta are complete.
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.