A peyyāla stub, identical in shape to SN 34.3 and SN 34.4
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 fifth quality paired against immersion: ārammaṇa, here rendered "supports" — the objects or conditions that sustain and reinforce a state of immersion once entered, distinct from the earlier structural or dispositional qualities.
Reading guide
Supports, a fifth distinct capacity
Ārammaṇa most literally means "object" or "support" — here likely referring to skill in selecting or maintaining the specific meditation objects that reinforce a given immersive state.
Structural, dispositional, and now supportive qualities
With entering and remaining (structural moves), emerging (a controlled exit), gladdening (an inner disposition), and now supports (sustaining conditions), this saṃyutta's own ten qualities span several genuinely different registers of meditative skill.
The same compressed shape, a third consecutive time
This discourse's own question and answer are elided in the identical pattern as SN 34.3 and SN 34.4, confirming this shape as this saṃyutta's own standing convention for its own middle stretch of qualities.
Fifth of ten qualities, five more still to come
SN 34.6–10 will apply this identical compressed shape to five further qualities, before this saṃyutta's own combinatorial phase begins at SN 34.11.
Key terms
ārammaṇa — support, or object — the fifth of ten qualities, the subject of this specific discourse
samādhi — immersion — the base capacity this quality is paired against
kallita — gladdening — the previous discourse's own quality, replaced here by ārammaṇa
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 the supports for immersion. …”
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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 fifth of ten qualities this saṃyutta pairs against immersion.
Question 2 of 5
What does ārammaṇa most literally mean?
Correct: A. Likely referring to skill in selecting or maintaining the objects that sustain an immersive state.
Question 3 of 5
What range of registers do this saṃyutta's ten qualities span, according to this reading guide?
Correct: A. Entering/remaining (structural), gladdening (dispositional), and now supports (sustaining conditions).
Question 4 of 5
How many further qualities remain to be paired against immersion after this discourse?
Correct: A. SN 34.6–10 will apply this identical compressed shape to five further qualities.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Consistent with this saṃyutta's other discourses.
