The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A single brief declaration, defining the things that fuel grasping and the grasping itself, run across all six kinds of sense object, closing this vagga
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
★☆☆☆☆ — brief in itself, but closing a vagga whose own colophon settles an open question
Why this discourse
This discourse closes Lokakāmaguṇavagga exactly as its own immediately preceding companion (SN 35.122) closed the matched pair with SN 35.109: this discourse shares its title and opening formula word for word with SN 35.110, already published on this site, with the same shift from sense faculty to sense object as anchor. But this discourse's own closing colophon carries more weight than its own content: where the previous vagga's own closing discourse (SN 35.113) named Yogakkhemivagga “paṭhamo” — first — with only an inference, not a direct statement, that a third paṇṇāsaka had begun, this discourse's own colophon names Lokakāmaguṇavagga “dutiyo” — second. Read together, paṭhamo followed directly by dutiyo is exactly the sequential vagga-within-paṇṇāsaka numbering this project has already confirmed twice before (at Avijjāvagga's own second-paṇṇāsaka opening, and now here), not a coincidental repetition of “first” and “second” in some other sense. This is the strongest confirmation yet, short of an explicit paṇṇāsaka-level label such as SN 35.52's or SN 35.103's own, that Yogakkhemivagga and Lokakāmaguṇavagga together open this book's own third paṇṇāsaka. This vagga's own closing uddāna, left untranslated in the Pali root as consistently as every uddāna in this book, is described rather than quoted below, and confirms every title this reading guide has already given: two through Māra's snare, the world and its kinds of sensual stimulation, Sakka and Pañcasikha, Sāriputta and Rāhula, the fetter and the grasping.
Reading guide
SN 35.110's own counterpart, sense objects for faculties
As with SN 35.122 and SN 35.109, this discourse shares its exact title and formula with SN 35.110, already on this site, substituting the six kinds of sense object for the six sense faculties SN 35.110 anchors on.
A colophon that settles an open question
This discourse's own closing colophon reads “Lokakāmaguṇavaggo dutiyo” — second. Following directly on Yogakkhemivagga's own “paṭhamo,” the sequence paṭhamo, dutiyo is exactly what a vagga-within-paṇṇāsaka count would produce, confirming rather than merely suggesting that a third paṇṇāsaka opened with Yogakkhemivagga.
Still no explicit paṇṇāsaka-level label
Unlike SN 35.52 and SN 35.103, whose own colophons explicitly name a paṇṇāsaka's completion, this discourse's colophon gives only the vagga-level ordinal. The third-paṇṇāsaka reading rests on this numbering pattern, now confirmed twice, rather than on an explicit label of its own.
The vagga's own uddāna, confirming every title
The closing mnemonic verse, left untranslated as this book's own consistent practice, names every discourse of this vagga in sequence — Māra's snare (twice), the world and its sensual stimulation, Sakka, Pañcasikha, Sāriputta, Rāhula, the fetter, and the grasping — matching this reading guide's own count of ten discourses exactly.
Key terms
upādāniyā dhammā — things that fuel grasping — this discourse's own title term, shared word for word with SN 35.110
upādānaṃ — the grasping itself — defined identically in both discourses as the desire and greed brought to whatever fuels it
dasamaṃ — tenth — this discourse's own place-count within Lokakāmaguṇavagga, confirming the vagga holds exactly ten discourses
lokakāmaguṇavaggo dutiyo — Lokakāmaguṇavagga, the second — this vagga's own closing colophon, read here as confirming, alongside Yogakkhemivagga's own “paṭhamo,” that a third paṇṇāsaka opened with these two vaggas together
tassuddānaṃ — its own mnemonic verse — the closing uddāna naming every discourse of this vagga, left untranslated in the Pali root and described, not quoted, above
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 announcement, then the definition of things that fuel grasping and the grasping itself. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, I will teach you the things that fuel grasping, and the grasping. Listen … What are the things that fuel grasping? And what is the grasping?
§2There are sights known by the eye, which are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. These are called the things that fuel grasping. The desire and greed for them is the grasping. There are sounds … smells … tastes … touches … ideas known by the mind, which are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. These are called the things that fuel grasping. The desire and greed for them is the grasping.”
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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 shares this discourse's own exact title and formula, anchored on the sense faculties rather than their objects?
Correct: A. Both titled “Things That Fuel Grasping,” with the identical opening declaration.
Question 2 of 5
What does this discourse's own closing colophon name Lokakāmaguṇavagga as?
Correct: A. Lokakāmaguṇavaggo dutiyo, left untranslated in the Pali root.
Question 3 of 5
What does that “dutiyo,” following directly on Yogakkhemivagga's own “paṭhamo,” do for the paṇṇāsaka question raised at SN 35.113?
Correct: A. Paṭhamo followed by dutiyo is exactly the vagga-within-paṇṇāsaka sequence this project has confirmed before, though still without an explicit paṇṇāsaka-level label.
Question 4 of 5
Does this discourse's own colophon carry an explicit paṇṇāsaka-level landmark, the way SN 35.52 and SN 35.103 did?
Correct: A. The third-paṇṇāsaka reading rests on the numbering pattern alone, not an explicit label.
Question 5 of 5
What does this vagga's own closing uddāna confirm, when compared against this reading guide's own count?
Correct: A. Māra's snare (twice), the world and its sensual stimulation, Sakka, Pañcasikha, Sāriputta, Rāhula, the fetter, and the grasping — ten in sequence.
