A peyyāla stub — only the opening line is given, with the rest elided to SN 34.1's own full wording
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
The third quality paired against immersion: vuṭṭhāna ("emerging"), the skill of coming out of an immersive state cleanly, as distinct from entering it or sustaining it. Unlike SN 34.1 and SN 34.2's own full treatments, this discourse compresses to a single surviving line, the source itself trusting readers to reconstruct the full fourfold structure and simile from SN 34.1.
Reading guide
A genuinely different skill from entering or remaining
Vuṭṭhāna names a third distinct meditative capacity: not reaching an immersive state, nor sustaining it, but leaving it in a controlled, deliberate way — a meditator could conceivably enter and remain skillfully yet emerge abruptly or gracelessly.
The first genuinely compressed discourse in this saṃyutta
Where SN 34.1 and SN 34.2 both restated the full fourfold typology and simile, this discourse reduces to "one meditator is skilled in immersion but not in emerging from it …" with everything else elided.
The same underlying claim, unstated but implied
Despite the compression, the underlying structure is unchanged: four meditator types, the fourth (skilled in both) praised as best, illustrated by the same cream-of-ghee simile — all carried over by cross-reference rather than restated.
Third of ten qualities, seven more still to come
SN 34.4–10 will apply this identical compressed shape to seven further qualities paired against immersion, before SN 34.11 onward begins pairing these ten qualities against each other.
Key terms
vuṭṭhāna — emerging — the third of ten qualities, the subject of this specific discourse
samādhi — immersion — the base capacity this quality is paired against
ṭhiti — remaining — the previous discourse's own quality, replaced here by vuṭṭhāna
peyyāla — an elision mark — here compressing both the fourfold structure and the closing simile to a single surviving line
jhāyī — meditator — the general term for the four types this discourse classifies, by cross-reference to SN 34.1
The text
The discourse as the source itself preserves it, compressed to its opening line. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, there are these four meditators. What four? One meditator is skilled in immersion but not in emerging from 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 third of ten qualities this saṃyutta pairs against immersion.
Question 2 of 5
How does vuṭṭhāna differ from entering or remaining?
Correct: A. A meditator could enter and remain skillfully yet emerge abruptly.
Question 3 of 5
How does this discourse compare to SN 34.1 and SN 34.2's own full treatments?
Correct: A. The first genuinely compressed discourse in this saṃyutta.
Question 4 of 5
Is the underlying fourfold structure still implied in this compressed discourse?
Correct: A. Everything but the opening line is elided, not abandoned.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Consistent with this saṃyutta's other discourses.
