Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.129

With Ghosita

Ghositasutta — Gahapativagga

Setting
Kosambī, at Ghosita's Monastery — the same monastery as the previous discourse's own setting, though centuries of narrative distance apart
Speakers
Venerable Ānanda and the householder Ghosita — the Buddha does not appear
Form
A direct Q&A defining “diversity of elements” as a three-way correlation — agreeable, disagreeable, or equanimity-based — between object, consciousness, and feeling, across the six sense doors
Length
~1–2 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
★★☆☆☆ — a new technical term, defined plainly

Why this discourse

This discourse introduces this vagga's second recurring question, distinct from the full-extinguishment catechism running through SN 35.124–128: what does the Buddha mean by “diversity of elements” (dhātunānattaṃ)? The householder Ghosita puts the question not to the Buddha but to Venerable Ānanda, at the very monastery bearing Ghosita's own name in Kosambī — the same monastery, incidentally, where the previous discourse's Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja was staying when King Udena questioned him. Ānanda's answer gives the basic form of this concept; the next discourse (SN 35.130) will extend it into an explicit causal chain.

Reading guide

A new question, a new respondent

Unlike the vagga's opening five discourses, this one does not ask about extinguishment at all. Ghosita asks what the Buddha means by “the diversity of elements,” and it is Ānanda, not the Buddha, who answers — the third discourse in this vagga where someone other than the Buddha does the teaching.

Three feelings, six doors, one correlation

The eye element, an agreeable sight, and eye consciousness together give rise to pleasant feeling; the same eye element with a disagreeable sight gives rise to painful feeling; with a sight that is merely a basis for equanimity, neutral feeling. This three-way pattern (agreeable/disagreeable/equanimity-based, mapping to pleasant/painful/neutral feeling) repeats across all six sense doors, with the four senses in between compressed into a blank ellipsis and only the eye and mind spelled out.

A monastery shared across two discourses

Ghosita's Monastery, named for the same householder who asks this question, was also the setting of the previous discourse's King Udena narrative — the same physical location doing double duty within this vagga's own run of otherwise unconnected episodes.

The basic form of a concept this vagga will extend

This discourse states the diversity of elements as a flat correlation: a given element, paired with a given kind of object, simply comes with a given kind of feeling. The next discourse restates the same concept as an explicit two-step causal chain, worth reading immediately alongside this one.

Key terms

dhātunānattaṃ — “diversity of elements” — the technical term this discourse and the next one both define, this vagga's own second recurring question
cakkhudhātu — the eye element — a term distinct from cakkhundriya (the eye faculty) used more often elsewhere in this book, naming the eye as one of the eighteen elements (dhātu) rather than as a bare sense faculty
iṭṭhā...upekkhāṭṭhāniyā — agreeable...a basis for equanimity — the three-way classification of sense objects introduced here, distinct from this book's more common six-part “likable, desirable, agreeable…” description
sukhā...adukkhamasukhā vedanā — pleasant...neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling — the standard three-way feeling classification this discourse correlates directly with the three-way object classification
āyasmā ānando — Venerable Ānanda — this discourse's respondent, teaching in the Buddha's absence at the monastery named for his own questioner

The text

The complete discourse: Ghosita's question, and Ānanda's answer run across the eye, the four senses folded into a single ellipsis, and the mind. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At one time Venerable Ānanda was staying near Kosambī, in Ghosita’s Monastery. Then the householder Ghosita went up to Venerable Ānanda, and said to him: “Honorable Ānanda, they speak of ‘the diversity of elements’. In what way did the Buddha speak of the diversity of elements?”

§2“Householder, the eye element is found, as are agreeable sights, and eye consciousness. Pleasant feeling arises dependent on a contact to be experienced as pleasant. The eye element is found, as are disagreeable sights, and eye consciousness. Painful feeling arises dependent on a contact to be experienced as painful. The eye element is found, as are sights that are a basis for equanimity, and eye consciousness. Neutral feeling arises dependent on a contact to be experienced as neutral. The ear … nose … tongue … body … mind element is found, as are agreeable ideas, and mind consciousness. Pleasant feeling arises dependent on a contact to be experienced as pleasant. The mind element is found, as are disagreeable ideas, and mind consciousness. Painful feeling arises dependent on a contact to be experienced as painful. The mind element is found, as are ideas that are a basis for equanimity, and mind consciousness. Neutral feeling arises dependent on a contact to be experienced as neutral. This is how the Buddha spoke of the diversity of elements.”

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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 question does the householder Ghosita ask in this discourse, distinct from the vagga's opening five discourses?
Correct: A. This vagga's own second recurring question, distinct from the full-extinguishment catechism.
Question 2 of 5
Who answers Ghosita's question, rather than the Buddha?
Correct: A. The third discourse in this vagga where someone other than the Buddha teaches.
Question 3 of 5
According to this discourse, what three-way pattern correlates with pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling?
Correct: A. The eye element, a given kind of object, and eye consciousness together determine the feeling that arises.
Question 4 of 5
What setting does this discourse share with the previous one (SN 35.128's neighbor, SN 35.127)?
Correct: A. The same monastery, named for this discourse's own questioner.
Question 5 of 5
How does this discourse's account of "diversity of elements" differ from the next discourse's (SN 35.130) account?
Correct: A. Worth reading the two discourses immediately alongside each other.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 35.128 · With Soṇa