Reading guide
The identical matching-substance logic, nine more times
As at SN 31.3, each of these nine discourses gives the exact fragrant substance sought — heartwood given to be reborn among heartwood-dwelling gods, softwood given for softwood-dwelling gods, and so on through scents — the same matched pairing applied systematically.
Only the first and last items given in full
The file's own opening question and closing gift-item (fragrant scents) are given in full, with the middle seven dwelling-places elided as bare named nouns — a structure genuinely different from SN 29.11–20's own ten-item list, since here every single item is itself a full sub-discourse, not one component of a shared list.
Closing this saṃyutta's first giving register
With this file, all ten dwelling-places have now been paired with their own matching gift across SN 31.3–12, closing this saṃyutta's own first giving register before SN 31.13–22 opens a second, entirely different one: the standard ten-item formula already familiar from SN 29 and SN 30.
The same unified-prefix encoding, again
As with SN 12.72–81, SN 24.20–35, and SN 29's own merged files, this file uses a single unified key prefix (sn31.4-12:) for its entire content rather than nine individually prefixed sub-discourses.
Key terms
The text
§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 gods who live in fragrant heartwood … softwood … bark … sprouts … leaves … flowers … fruit … sap … fragrant scents?” “Mendicant, it’s when someone does good things by way of body, speech, and mind. And they’ve heard: ‘The gods who live in fragrant heartwood … fragrant scents 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 gods who live in fragrant heartwood …
§2fragrant scents!’ They give gifts of fragrant heartwood …
§3fragrant scents. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the gods who live in fragrant scents. This is the cause, this is the reason why someone, when their body breaks up, after death, is reborn in the company of the gods who live on fragrant scents.”
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