Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.113

Listening In

Upassutisutta — Yogakkhemivagga

Setting
At Ñātika, in the brick house — not Sāvatthī, this vagga's own default
Speakers
The Buddha, speaking alone during private retreat, and an unnamed mendicant who overhears him
Form
A solitary exposition of dependent origination through all six sense doors, followed by a brief exchange once the Buddha notices he has been overheard
Length
~3 minutes 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
★★★☆☆ — familiar content, in a frame this project has already met once, from a different book

Why this discourse

This discourse closes Yogakkhemivagga with a narrative frame this project has already met, almost word for word, in Book II: SN 12.45, already published on this site as “At Ñātika,” gives the identical scene — the Buddha alone in private retreat at Ñātika's brick house, speaking a dependent-origination exposition aloud to no one, overheard only by chance by a mendicant standing within earshot, who is then instructed, once discovered, to learn it, memorize it, and remember it as beneficial and relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. There, the content overheard was the general six-sense-door formula shared with SN 12.43 and SN 12.44. Here, the same narrative device frames the identical six-sense-door dependent origination this vagga's own SN 35.106 and SN 35.107 already ran through the origin of suffering and of the world — this discourse gives no separate name to what it teaches, simply the full arising and ceasing of “this entire mass of suffering” at each sense door, origin and cessation both spelled out in full, without the shortcuts either 106 or 107 individually used. This vagga's own closing colophon, left untranslated in the Pali root as consistently as every colophon in this book, names Yogakkhemivagga itself as “paṭhamo” — first — breaking the numbering pattern already seen once before, when Avijjāvagga's own “paṭhamo” (SN 35.53) followed directly on Sabbaaniccavagga's closing “pañcamo” (fifth, SN 35.52) to open this book's second paṇṇāsaka. The identical reset here, directly following Saḷavagga's own “pañcamo” close, indicates this vagga opens a third paṇṇāsaka — though, unlike SN 35.52 and SN 35.103 themselves, this discourse's own colophon carries no explicit paṇṇāsaka-level landmark of its own naming that fifty outright; the inference rests on the vagga-count pattern alone, consistent with this project's now twice-confirmed observation that only a paṇṇāsaka's closing vagga, not its opening one, carries that explicit label.

Reading guide

A frame this project has already met, from a different book

SN 12.45, already on this site, gives the identical scene: the Buddha alone in retreat at Ñātika's brick house, speaking an exposition to himself, overheard by a mendicant standing within earshot, then instructed to learn, memorize, and remember it. Every element of that frame recurs here unchanged.

A locale that breaks this vagga's own default

Every other discourse in Yogakkhemivagga either restates or silently assumes Sāvatthī. This discourse alone moves to Ñātika's brick house — the same locale this canon elsewhere associates with the Buddha's private reflections and reports on named disciples (SN 55.8–10) and with his final tour before the parinibbāna (DN 16).

The fullest telling of this vagga's own dependent-origination formula

Where SN 35.106 stopped its arising chain at craving and SN 35.107 spelled out only the arising chain in full, this discourse gives both origin and cessation in their complete twelve-fold and reverse forms, at every one of the six sense doors, without either shortcut.

Caught, not scolded

When the Buddha notices the mendicant standing there, he asks a simple confirming question rather than treating the moment as an intrusion, then issues three direct imperatives in sequence — learn it, memorize it, remember it — the identical triple instruction SN 12.45's own closing exchange already used.

A vagga's own close, with a numbering pattern already seen once

The untranslated closing colophon numbers this vagga “paṭhamo,” first — the identical reset already seen when Avijjāvagga opened this book's second paṇṇāsaka directly after Sabbaaniccavagga's own closing “pañcamo.” The same pattern here, following Saḷavagga's own “pañcamo” close, points to a third paṇṇāsaka opening with this vagga, though no explicit paṇṇāsaka-level label appears in this discourse's own colophon to confirm it outright.

Key terms

upassuti — listening in, eavesdropping — this discourse's own title-word, naming the mendicant's chance position outside the Buddha's awareness
ñātike… giñjakāvasathe — at Ñātika… in the brick house — the setting shared word for word with SN 12.45, and with SN 55.8–10 and DN 16 elsewhere in this canon
rahogato paṭisallīno — gone into private retreat, in seclusion — the Buddha's own state when he speaks the exposition, addressed to no one
uggaṇhāhi… pariyāpuṇāhi… dhārehi — learn… memorize… remember — the triple imperative closing this discourse, identical to SN 12.45's own closing instruction
Yogakkhemivaggo paṭhamo — “Yogakkhemivagga, the first” — this discourse's own untranslated closing colophon, its numbering read here as marking a new paṇṇāsaka's opening

The text

The complete discourse, apart from its own closing colophon and uddāna (both left untranslated in the Pali root and described above rather than quoted): the Buddha's solitary exposition, and the exchange once he notices he has been overheard. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At one time the Buddha was staying at Ñātika in the brick house. Then while the Buddha was in private retreat he spoke this exposition of the teaching:

§2“Eye consciousness arises dependent on the eye and sights. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Feeling is a requirement for craving. Craving is a requirement for grasping. Grasping is a requirement for continued existence. Continued existence is a requirement for rebirth. Rebirth is a requirement for old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress to come to be. That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.

§3Ear … nose … tongue … body … Mind consciousness arises dependent on the mind and ideas. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Feeling is a requirement for craving. Craving is a requirement for grasping. Grasping is a requirement for continued existence. Continued existence is a requirement for rebirth. Rebirth is a requirement for old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress to come to be. That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.

§4Eye consciousness arises dependent on the eye and sights. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Feeling is a requirement for craving. When that craving fades away and ceases with nothing left over, grasping ceases. When grasping ceases, continued existence ceases. When continued existence ceases, rebirth ceases. When rebirth ceases, old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress cease. That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.

§5Ear … nose … tongue … body … Mind consciousness arises dependent on the mind and ideas. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a requirement for feeling. Feeling is a requirement for craving. When that craving fades away and ceases with nothing left over, grasping ceases. When grasping ceases … That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.”

§6Now at that time a certain monk was standing listening in on the Buddha. The Buddha saw him and said, “Monk, did you hear that exposition of the teaching?” “Yes, sir.” “Learn that exposition of the teaching, memorize it, and remember it. That exposition of the teaching is beneficial and relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life.”

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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 already-published discourse in this project's Book II gives an almost identical scene of the Buddha overheard in private retreat at Ñātika?
Correct: A. “At Ñātika,” already on this site, with the identical eavesdropping frame.
Question 2 of 5
Where is this discourse set, breaking this vagga's own otherwise-default setting?
Correct: A. The only discourse in Yogakkhemivagga not set, explicitly or by default, at Sāvatthī.
Question 3 of 5
What three imperatives does the Buddha give the mendicant once he confirms he was overheard?
Correct: A. Uggaṇhāhi, pariyāpuṇāhi, dhārehi — the identical triple instruction SN 12.45 already used.
Question 4 of 5
What does this discourse's own closing colophon name Yogakkhemivagga as?
Correct: A. Yogakkhemivaggo paṭhamo, left untranslated in the Pali root.
Question 5 of 5
What does that numbering, following directly on Saḷavagga's own closing “pañcamo,” suggest about this vagga's place in this book's larger structure?
Correct: A. The same paṭhamo-after-pañcamo reset already seen once, at Avijjāvagga's own opening.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

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