A peyyāla stub, identical in shape to SN 34.3–9, closing this saṃyutta's own opening set of ten
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 34.1
Why this discourse
This discourse closes this saṃyutta's own opening set of ten qualities, pairing sappāyakārī ("doing what's conducive") against immersion — the tenth and final quality this saṃyutta will pair directly against samādhi itself. With this discourse, every one of this saṃyutta's ten qualities has now been named; SN 34.11 will begin pairing these same ten qualities against each other, working systematically through every remaining combination.
Reading guide
Conducive, the third of the -kārī cluster
Sappāyakārī ("doing what's conducive") closes the three-part -kārī cluster begun at sakkaccakārī (SN 34.8) and continued at sātaccakārī (SN 34.9) — naming whatever specific actions or conditions genuinely suit and support a given meditator's own practice.
The full ten-quality list, now complete
With this discourse, this saṃyutta's own complete quality list stands finished: immersion itself, entering, remaining, emerging, gladdening, supports, territory, projecting, carefulness, persistence, and now conducive — the ten qualities this project's reading guides have tracked since SN 34.1's own opening.
A structural pivot to combinatorial pairing
Every discourse from SN 34.1–10 has paired one quality against samādhi itself; starting at SN 34.11, this saṃyutta shifts to pairing its own ten qualities against each other, working through all forty-five possible combinations across the saṃyutta's remaining discourses.
Ten plus forty-five equals this saṃyutta's own fifty-five total
This opening block of ten discourses (SN 34.1–10) plus the combinatorial block of forty-five still to come (SN 34.11–55) together account for this saṃyutta's own full fifty-five-discourse structure.
Key terms
sappāyakārī — doing what's conducive — the tenth and final quality paired directly against immersion, closing the -kārī cluster
samādhi — immersion — the base capacity every one of this saṃyutta's ten qualities has now been paired against
sātaccakārī — practicing persistently — the previous discourse's own quality, replaced here by sappāyakārī
samāpatti — entering — the first quality, whose own combinatorial pairing with the remaining nine qualities begins at SN 34.11
peyyāla — an elision mark — here compressing both the fourfold structure and the closing simile to a single surviving line
The text
The discourse as the source itself preserves it, compressed to its opening line, closing this saṃyutta's own ten-quality opening set. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, there are these four meditators. What four? One meditator is skilled in immersion but not in doing what’s conducive to it. …”
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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
Which quality does this discourse pair against immersion?
Correct: A. The tenth and final quality paired directly against immersion.
Question 2 of 5
What does this discourse complete?
Correct: A. Every one of this saṃyutta's ten qualities has now been named.
Question 3 of 5
What structural shift happens starting at SN 34.11?
Correct: A. Working through all forty-five possible combinations across the remaining discourses.
Question 4 of 5
How do the ten discourses at SN 34.1–10 and the forty-five still to come combine?
Correct: A. 10 plus 45 equals 55, this saṃyutta's own total.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Consistent with this saṃyutta's other discourses.
