A peyyāla stub — only the opening question is given, with the source itself instructing readers to fill in the rest from SN 29.7
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
★☆☆☆☆ — understood only alongside SN 29.7
Why this discourse
The second of SN 29.7–10's four-part set, compressed identically to SN 29.4 and SN 29.5's own earlier pattern: only the opening question is given — why is someone reborn among womb-born dragons — with the same "tell all in full" instruction pointing back to SN 29.7's own hearsay-driven reasoning, this time with womb-born substituted for egg-born.
Reading guide
One word swapped, the rest pointed back
The question is identical in structure to SN 29.7's own, with only "womb-born" (jalābuja) replacing "egg-born" (aṇḍaja) — the source again simply instructs: tell all in full.
The same compression pattern as SN 29.4
This is the second birth mode this saṃyutta has now compressed within a four-part set — confirming the identical full-compressed-compressed-full shape already seen at SN 29.3–6 recurs here at SN 29.7–10.
The implied hearsay, unspecified but assumed
By cross-reference to SN 29.7, this discourse implies someone has heard that womb-born dragons, too, are long-lived, beautiful, and happy, though the specific wording is never restated here.
A genuine feature of transmission, not an omission
As with SN 29.4 and SN 29.5, this compression is quoted here exactly as the source gives it rather than expanded into invented prose.
Key terms
jalābuja — womb-born — the birth mode this stub substitutes for SN 29.7's egg-born dragons
vitthāretabbaṁ — "should be told in full" — this discourse's own closing editorial instruction
sutaṁ — "heard" — the trigger named in SN 29.7's own title, carried over here by cross-reference
peyyāla — the formal term for a passage the source itself elides, directing the reader elsewhere for its full wording
dvayakārī — one who does both kinds of deeds — the ordinary mixed conduct implied here, though not restated, from SN 29.7
The text
The discourse in full — genuinely this short in the source, including its closing editorial instruction. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. Seated to one side, that mendicant said to the Buddha: “Sir, what is the cause, what is the reason why someone, when their body breaks up, after death, is reborn in the company of the womb-born dragons?” (Tell all in full.)
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Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 6
Which birth mode of dragon does this discourse's opening question concern?
Correct: A. The one substantive change from SN 29.7's own opening question.
Question 2 of 6
How does the source handle the rest of this discourse's content?
Correct: A. Pointing back to SN 29.7's own hearsay-driven reasoning.
Question 3 of 6
Where does this discourse fall in the SN 29.7–10 four-part set?
Correct: A. The same compression position as SN 29.4 held within SN 29.3–6.
Question 4 of 6
What compression pattern does this discourse confirm recurs from SN 29.3–6?
Correct: A. The identical shape now confirmed across two separate four-part sets.
Question 5 of 6
Which discourse's own reasoning does this stub point back to?
Correct: A. SN 29.7's hearsay-driven reasoning, cross-referenced rather than restated.
Question 6 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Consistent with this saṃyutta's other discourses.
