A short question-and-answer, explaining a present-tense weather phenomenon rather than a rebirth cause
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 playful, easy to follow
Why this discourse
This discourse opens Valāhakasaṃyutta's own genuinely distinct closing arc, shifting entirely away from the rebirth-cause questions that dominated SN 32.2–52: rather than asking why someone is reborn among the cool thundercloud gods, the mendicant here asks why it sometimes becomes cool at all — and the Buddha's answer attributes the weather itself to the gods' own whimsical wish to enjoy their own kind of pleasure. Weather, in this discourse, is divine leisure made visible.
Reading guide
A different question entirely
"What is the cause, what is the reason why sometimes it becomes cool?" — not why is someone reborn among the cool thundercloud gods, as in every earlier discourse of this saṃyutta, but why does the weather phenomenon itself occur.
Weather as the gods' own leisure activity
"Why don't we revel in our own kind of enjoyment?" — the cool thundercloud gods' own thought, attributed directly as the cause: cool weather happens because these gods wish, in that moment, to indulge in the specific pleasure their nature affords them.
A charming, non-karmic explanation of causation
Unlike every other discourse in this saṃyutta's own causal-explanation register (SN 32.2–52), this discourse's causal chain has nothing to do with karma, conduct, or giving — it is simply divine whim, a genuinely different kind of "cause and reason" than this saṃyutta has offered before.
First of a five-discourse closing set
This discourse opens SN 32.53–57, five short discourses that will apply the identical structure to each of this saṃyutta's five weather-types in turn, closing with SN 32.57's own saṃyutta colophon.
Key terms
sītavalāhaka — cool thundercloud gods — the subject of this specific discourse
sakāya ratiyā — "our own kind of enjoyment" — the gods' own phrase for the pleasure their nature affords them
cetopaṇidhi — wish or resolve of mind — the technical term for the gods' own intention, which the weather is said to follow
hetu — cause — the mendicant's own opening word, now asking about weather rather than rebirth
paccayo — reason or condition — paired with hetu in the standard formula this discourse shares with the rest of this saṃyutta
The text
The discourse in full. 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 sometimes it becomes cool?” “Mendicant, there are what are called gods of the cool thunderclouds. Sometimes they think: ‘Why don’t we revel in our own kind of enjoyment?’ Then, in accordance with their wish, it becomes cool. This is the cause, this is the reason why sometimes it becomes cool.”
· · ·
Self-check quiz
5 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 5
What question does the mendicant ask in this discourse?
Correct: A. A genuinely different kind of question from every earlier discourse in this saṃyutta.
Question 2 of 5
What does the Buddha say causes cool weather?
Correct: A. Weather, in this discourse, is divine leisure made visible.
Question 3 of 5
How does this discourse's causal explanation differ from SN 32.2–52's own?
Correct: A. A genuinely different kind of "cause and reason" than this saṃyutta has offered before.
Question 4 of 5
What five-discourse set does this discourse open?
Correct: A. Closing with SN 32.57's own saṃyutta colophon.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Consistent with this saṃyutta's other discourses.
