The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
SN 35.111's own four-term formula repeated exactly, for the six external sense fields
Length
under 1 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
★★☆☆☆ — SN 35.111's own twin, one target substitution
Why this discourse
This discourse is SN 35.111's own immediate companion, applying the identical four-term formula — directly knowing, completely understanding, growing dispassionate toward, and giving up — to the six external sense fields (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and mental phenomena) rather than the internal faculties that receive them. Together the pair completes what this book's own opening vagga, Aniccavagga, already established as a basic structural pairing: internal (ajjhattika) and external (bāhira) sense fields treated as a matched set, run through the identical formula in turn. This vagga's own uddāna names the two discourses together as a single unit, “the two on full understanding.”
Reading guide
SN 35.111's own formula, unchanged
Every term carries over exactly: directly knowing, completely understanding, growing dispassionate toward, and giving up, stated first negatively then positively — with the six external sense fields substituted for the six internal ones.
Six objects, not six faculties
Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and mental phenomena (dhammā) — the objects a sense faculty meets, not the faculty itself — are what this discourse's own formula is run across, completing the ajjhattika/bāhira distinction with the object side.
A pairing this book opened with
Aniccavagga, this book's own first vagga, already built its entire structure on the internal/external distinction for the six sense fields. This discourse and SN 35.111 return to that same basic pairing, applying it now to the parijānana formula specifically.
Named as one unit by the vagga's own uddāna
Rather than naming SN 35.111 and this discourse separately, the closing summary verse groups them as “dve parijānaṁ,” the two on full understanding — confirming, from the text's own colophon, that the pairing is deliberate rather than incidental.
Key terms
bāhirāyatana — the external sense fields — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and mental phenomena, this discourse's own target
rūpā… dhammā — sights… mental phenomena — the six external objects run through the formula, from the first sense field to the sixth
ajjhattika/bāhira — internal/external — the basic pairing this book's own opening vagga, Aniccavagga, already built its structure on
dve parijānaṁ — “the two on full understanding” — this vagga's own uddāna naming SN 35.111 and this discourse as a single unit
abhijānaṁ parijānaṁ virājayaṁ pajahaṁ — directly knowing, completely understanding, growing dispassionate toward, giving up — the same four-term sequence carried over unchanged from SN 35.111
The text
The complete discourse: the four-term formula stated first negatively, then positively, across all six external sense fields. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, without directly knowing and completely understanding sights … sounds … smells … tastes … touches … ideas, without dispassion for them and giving them up, you can’t end suffering.
§2By directly knowing and completely understanding sights … sounds … smells … tastes … touches … ideas, having dispassion for them and giving them up, you can end suffering.”
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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
What does this discourse apply SN 35.111's own four-term formula to?
Correct: A. Bāhirāyatana — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dhammā.
Question 2 of 5
What basic pairing, already established at this book's own opening vagga, do SN 35.111 and this discourse complete?
Correct: A. Aniccavagga's own opening structure, revisited here for the parijānana formula.
Question 3 of 5
How does this vagga's own uddāna refer to SN 35.111 and this discourse together?
Correct: A. External confirmation, from the closing colophon, that the pairing is deliberate.
Question 4 of 5
What are the six external sense fields named in this discourse?
Correct: A. The objects a sense faculty meets, not the faculties themselves.
Question 5 of 5
Does this discourse introduce any new term beyond SN 35.111's own four-term formula?
Correct: A. Only the target (external rather than internal fields) changes.
