The Buddha addressing the mendicants (by cross-reference)
Form
A peyyāla stub, matching SN 35.10's own minimal two-line shape
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 35.4 and SN 35.7
Why this discourse
The second-to-last discourse in this vagga: the six exterior sense objects declared suffering across all three tenses, compressed to the identical minimal shape as SN 35.10. Only not-self (SN 35.12) remains to close this vagga's own twelve-discourse structure.
Reading guide
The same minimal shape as SN 35.10
"Sights of the past and future are suffering, let alone the present …" — the identical two-line compression as this vagga's own previous discourse, confirming this shape as the standing convention for its own closing stretch.
A genuine feature of transmission, not an omission
As with other short peyyāla stubs elsewhere in this project's coverage of the Saṃyutta Nikāya, this discourse's brevity is quoted here exactly as the source gives it rather than expanded into invented prose.
Second-to-last discourse in this vagga
With this discourse, eleven of Aniccavagga's own twelve discourses are complete, leaving only not-self (SN 35.12) to close this vagga's own full structure.
Setting up this vagga's own closing colophon
SN 35.12 will carry this vagga's own untranslated colophon ("Aniccavaggo paṭhamo") and uddāna, closing the first of Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta's own nineteen vaggas before Yamakavagga opens at SN 35.13.
Key terms
dukkha — suffering — this discourse's own claim, the second term in the exterior's own three-times cycle
atītānāgata — past and future — the temporal scope carried over from SN 35.10
anicca — impermanent — SN 35.10's own claim, not restated here
bāhira — exterior — the six sense objects this discourse concerns
peyyāla — an elision mark — here compressing everything past the opening line
The text
The discourse as the source itself preserves it, compressed to its opening line. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, sights of the past and future are suffering, let alone the present. …”
· · ·
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 claim does this discourse make about the exterior sense objects?
Correct: A. The second term in the exterior's own three-times cycle.
Question 2 of 5
How does this discourse's compression compare to SN 35.10's own?
Correct: A. Confirming this shape as the standing convention for this vagga's own closing stretch.
Question 3 of 5
How many of this vagga's own twelve discourses are complete after this one?
Correct: A. Only not-self (SN 35.12) remains to close this vagga.
Question 4 of 5
What will SN 35.12 carry that this discourse does not?
Correct: A. Closing the first of Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta's own nineteen vaggas.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Consistent with this saṃyutta's other discourses, though given here only by cross-reference.
