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Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 30.3

Both Kinds of Deeds

Dvayakārīsutta — Supaṇṇavagga

Setting
Sāvatthī
Speakers
A mendicant questions the Buddha, who answers by describing an unnamed aspirant's own reasoning
Form
A question-and-answer dialogue tracing hearsay to aspiration to rebirth
Length
~2 minutes 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
★★☆☆☆ — a plain causal chain, easy to follow

Why this discourse

This discourse opens Supaṇṇasaṃyutta's second motivational register and immediately reveals a structural difference from Nāgasaṃyutta: where SN 29.3–10 gave dragons two full four-part sets — sabbath-observance, then hearsay-driven aspiration — this saṃyutta skips sabbath-observance for phoenixes entirely and moves directly from the taxonomy (SN 30.1–2) to hearsay-driven aspiration alone, using wording that otherwise matches SN 29.7's own formula almost exactly.

Reading guide

The same hearsay-and-wish formula as SN 29.7

"They've heard: 'the egg-born phoenixes are long-lived, beautiful, and very happy'" — identical in structure to SN 29.7's own aspirant, reasoning forward from something merely heard about a rebirth destination not yet experienced.

A theme genuinely missing from this saṃyutta

Unlike Nāgasaṃyutta, no discourse in Supaṇṇasaṃyutta gives phoenixes SN 29.3–6's own sabbath-observance theme — phoenixes reflecting on their own past mixed conduct is simply absent here, confirming this saṃyutta's own leaner three-part shape: taxonomy, hearsay-driven aspiration, and giving.

This discourse's own title, naming the aspirant's conduct

Dvayakārī ("one who does both kinds of deeds") names the aspirant's own ordinary mixed conduct directly in its title, rather than the hearsay itself as at SN 29.7's Suta ("heard") — the same underlying formula, given a different title-word.

Opening a compressed four-part treatment

This discourse alone treats egg-born phoenixes in full; SN 30.4–6 will compress the remaining three birth modes (womb-, moisture-, and spontaneously-born) into a single further merged file, unlike SN 29.7–10's own four separate discourses.

Key terms

dvayakārī — one who does both kinds of deeds — this discourse's own title, naming the aspirant's ordinary mixed conduct
sutaṁ — "heard" — the specific trigger for the aspirant's wish, matching SN 29.7's own formula
dīghāyukā vaṇṇavanto sukhabahulā — "long-lived, beautiful, and very happy" — the specific reputation the aspirant has heard about egg-born phoenixes
aho vata — "if only" — the aspirant's own wishful exclamation, quoted directly
aṇḍaja — egg-born — the specific rebirth destination this aspirant's hearsay-driven wish targets

The text

The complete discourse: the mendicant's question and the aspirant's own reported hearsay-driven reasoning in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At Sāvatthī. Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: “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 egg-born phoenixes?” “Mendicant, it’s when someone does both kinds of deeds by body, speech, and mind. And they’ve heard: ‘The egg-born phoenixes are long-lived, beautiful, and very happy.’ They think: ‘If only, when my body breaks up, after death, I would be reborn in the company of the egg-born phoenixes!’ When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the egg-born phoenixes. This is the cause, this is the reason why someone, when their body breaks up, after death, is reborn in the company of the egg-born phoenixes.”

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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
What specifically triggers the aspirant's wish to be reborn as an egg-born phoenix?
Correct: A. Identical to SN 29.7's own hearsay-driven trigger.
Question 2 of 6
What theme, present in Nāgasaṃyutta, is genuinely missing from Supaṇṇasaṃyutta?
Correct: A. Confirming this saṃyutta's own leaner three-part shape compared to Nāgasaṃyutta's four parts.
Question 3 of 6
What does this discourse's own title, Dvayakārī, mean?
Correct: A. Naming the aspirant's ordinary mixed conduct directly, unlike SN 29.7's Suta ("heard").
Question 4 of 6
How do SN 30.4–6 treat the remaining three phoenix birth modes, compared to SN 29.7–10's own treatment?
Correct: A. A more compressed structure than Nāgasaṃyutta's own equivalent set.
Question 5 of 6
What kind of conduct does this discourse attribute to the aspirant?
Correct: A. The same mixed-conduct baseline already seen at SN 29.7.
Question 6 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Consistent with this saṃyutta's other discourses.
Answered 0 of 6 · Correct 0

Further reading

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