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Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.134

At Devadaha

Devadahasutta — Devadahavagga

Setting
Devadaha, a Sakyan town
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single teaching in two parts — who does and doesn't need diligence — run across the eye and the mind, with the four senses between them folded into a shared ellipsis
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 compact, two-part teaching

Why this discourse

This discourse opens Devadahavagga, Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta's own fourteenth vagga, and gives it its name from its own opening setting — the Sakyan town of Devadaha — matching the pattern most of this book's vaggas have followed rather than the rarer “named for its own closing discourse” pattern seen occasionally elsewhere in this project. Its own content is a compact, exact distinction: the Buddha does not say all mendicants need to work with diligence at the six fields of contact, nor that none of them do. Perfected ones (arahants) don't, because their work is already done. Trainees, still aspiring to the supreme sanctuary from the yoke, do — and this discourse spells out exactly what that diligence looks like when a pleasant or unpleasant sight, or a pleasant or unpleasant idea, is actually encountered.

Reading guide

A vagga named for its own setting

Devadaha, a Sakyan town distinct from Kapilavatthu, gives this vagga its name simply by being where the Buddha is staying when he addresses the mendicants — this reading guide asserts nothing further about the town beyond what the text itself states.

Neither all nor none

The discourse's own opening move refuses both extremes: not every mendicant has work to do with diligence at the six fields of contact, and not no mendicant does. What follows is a clean division by attainment, not a blanket rule.

Arahants: work already done

Perfected ones are described with the full standard epithet chain — defilements ended, the spiritual journey completed, the burden laid down, rightly freed — and declared incapable of negligence precisely because their own work with diligence is already finished, not because diligence never mattered to them.

Trainees: what diligence actually looks like

For mendicants still training, the discourse gives a concrete, fourfold description rather than an abstract exhortation: encountering pleasant and unpleasant sights (and, after the shared ellipsis, pleasant and unpleasant ideas) again and again without those sights occupying the mind, energy roused and unflagging, mindfulness established and lucid, the body tranquil, the mind unified in samādhi.

Key terms

appamāda — diligence — the discourse's own central term, granted or withheld depending on what stage of practice a mendicant has reached
khīṇāsavā vusitavanto katakaraṇīyā ohitabhārā anuppattasadatthā parikkhīṇabhavasaṁyojanā sammadaññāvimuttā — the full standard arahant epithet chain — defilements ended, the journey completed, the burden laid down, rightly freed
sekkhā appattamānasā anuttaraṁ yogakkhemaṁ patthayamānā — trainees, who haven't achieved their heart's desire, living aspiring to the supreme sanctuary from the yoke — the same yogakkhema that names this saṃyutta's own eleventh vagga, Yogakkhemivagga
āraddhaṁ vīriyaṁ asallīnaṁ, upaṭṭhitā sati asammuṭṭhā, passaddho kāyo asāraddho, samāhitaṁ cittaṁ ekaggaṁ — energy roused and unflagging, mindfulness established and lucid, the body tranquil, the mind unified — the fourfold description of diligence itself
manoramāpi amanoramāpi — pleasant and also unpleasant — the two-sided testing ground diligence is measured against, not a single easy case

The text

The complete discourse: the setting, the twofold distinction between arahants and trainees, and the fourfold description of diligence itself, run across the eye and the mind. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Sakyans, near the Sakyan town named Devadaha. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants:

§2“When it comes to the six fields of contact, mendicants, I don’t say that all mendicants have work to do with diligence, nor do I say that none of them have work to do with diligence. I say that, when it comes to the six fields of contact, mendicants don’t have work to do with diligence if they are perfected, with defilements ended, having completed the spiritual journey, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, achieved their heart’s goal, utterly ended the fetter of continued existence, and become rightly freed through enlightenment. Why is that? They’ve done their work with diligence, and are incapable of negligence.

§3I say that, when it comes to the six fields of contact, mendicants do have work to do with diligence if they are trainees, who haven’t achieved their heart’s desire, but live aspiring to the supreme sanctuary from the yoke. Why is that? There are sights known by the eye that are pleasant and also those that are unpleasant. Though experiencing them again and again they don’t occupy the mind. Their energy is roused up and unflagging, their mindfulness is established and lucid, their body is tranquil and undisturbed, and their mind is immersed in samādhi and unified. Seeing this fruit of diligence, I say that those mendicants have work to do with diligence when it comes to the six fields of contact. …

§4There are ideas known by the mind that are pleasant and also those that are unpleasant. Though experiencing them again and again they don’t occupy the mind. Their energy is roused up and unflagging, their mindfulness is established and lucid, their body is tranquil and undisturbed, and their mind is immersed in samādhi and unified. Seeing this fruit of diligence, I say that those mendicants have work to do with diligence when it comes to the six fields of contact.”

· · ·

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
According to this discourse, which mendicants no longer need to work with diligence at the six fields of contact?
Correct: A. They've done their work with diligence, and are incapable of negligence.
Question 2 of 5
Which mendicants does the Buddha say still have work to do with diligence?
Correct: A. Those who haven't yet achieved their heart's desire.
Question 3 of 5
What four qualities describe diligence itself in this discourse?
Correct: A. The fourfold description given for both the eye and the mind.
Question 4 of 5
What determines whether a mendicant is being diligent when a sight is encountered, according to this discourse?
Correct: A. Repeated experience without the mind being occupied is the mark diligence leaves.
Question 5 of 5
Which Sakyan town gives Devadahavagga its own name?
Correct: A. This vagga is named, as most of this book's vaggas are, for its own opening setting.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

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