Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.138

Not Yours (1st)

Paṭhamanatumhākasutta — Devadahavagga

Setting
Not restated by name, though the discourse's own grass-and-sticks simile refers to "this Jeta's Grove" — the same formula's original setting at SN 22.33/22.34 and SN 35.101/102, apparently carried over unchanged
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants
Form
A full catechism — the six internal sense bases named as not-yours, then the complete grass-and-sticks simile with its own question-and-answer exchange
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 familiar teaching, freshly scoped

Why this discourse

This project has now met this exact teaching three times. SN 22.33/22.34, in Book III's own Natumhākavagga, apply “give up what's not yours” and the Jeta's Grove grass simile to the five aggregates. SN 35.101/102, in this book's own tenth vagga, reapply both to the six sense fields through an elaborate five-layer chain — base, object, consciousness, contact, and feeling. This discourse reapplies them a third time, more simply: only the six internal sense bases themselves — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind — with the full interactive dialogue of the simile kept intact, unlike its own companion discourse immediately ahead.

Reading guide

A teaching this project has now met three times

SN 22.33/22.34 (the five aggregates) and SN 35.101/102 (the six sense fields, through an elaborate five-layer chain) are both already published on this site. This discourse is the third distinct reapplication of the same “give up what's not yours” formula and the same grass simile.

Base only, not the full six-fold chain

Unlike SN 35.101/102's five-layer elaboration (base, object, consciousness, contact, and the feeling born of contact), this discourse names only the six internal bases themselves — simpler in scope, though it keeps the simile's full dialogue that the shorter SN 35.102 already drops.

The full dialogue, preserved

Unlike its own companion discourse immediately ahead (SN 35.139), this discourse keeps the simile's complete exchange: would you think, if someone carried off or burned this Jeta's Grove's own grass, sticks, branches, and leaves, that they were carrying off or burning you? "No, sir." "Why is that?" "Because to us that's neither self nor belonging to self."

A quiet echo of Book III's own Natumhākavagga

SN 22's own fourth vagga (Mūlapaṇṇāsaka, already fully published) took its name, Natumhākavagga, directly from this formula. This discourse and its companion don't carry that name here in Book IV, but they are built from the identical material — a small structural rhyme between a named vagga far back in Book III and an unnamed pairing here.

Key terms

yaṁ na tumhākaṁ taṁ pajahatha — give up what's not yours — the refrain shared with SN 22.33/34 and SN 35.101/102
cakkhu...jivhā...mano na tumhākaṁ — the eye...the tongue...the mind isn't yours — the six internal bases, named one by one, this discourse's own scope
tiṇakaṭṭhasākhāpalāsaṁ — grass, sticks, branches, and leaves — the simile's own vocabulary, shared word for word with every earlier occurrence of this teaching on this site
na hi no etaṁ, bhante, attā vā attaniyaṁ vā — "because to us that's neither self nor belonging to self, sir" — the mendicants' own answer, completing the simile's logic
hitāya sukhāya bhavissati — will be for your welfare and happiness — the result promised for giving up each of the six bases

The text

The complete discourse: the six internal sense bases named as not-yours, then the full grass-and-sticks simile with its own question-and-answer exchange, and the restatement that closes it. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, give up what’s not yours. Giving it up will be for your welfare and happiness. And what isn’t yours? The eye isn’t yours: give it up. Giving it up will be for your welfare and happiness. The ear … nose … tongue … body … mind isn’t yours: give it up. Giving it up will be for your welfare and happiness.

§2Suppose a person was to carry off the grass, sticks, branches, and leaves in this Jeta’s Grove, or burn them, or do what they want with them. Would you think: ‘This person is carrying us off, burning us, or doing what they want with us’?” “No, sir. Why is that? Because to us that’s neither self nor belonging to self.”

§3“In the same way, the eye isn’t yours: give it up. Giving it up will be for your welfare and happiness. The ear … nose … tongue … body … mind isn’t yours: give it up. Giving it up will be for your welfare and happiness.”

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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 name as "not yours," to be given up?
Correct: A. This discourse's own scope, narrower than its companion discourse ahead.
Question 2 of 5
How many times has this project now encountered the "give up what's not yours" teaching and its grass simile, counting this discourse?
Correct: A. A third reapplication of the same formula, scoped even more simply than the second.
Question 3 of 5
What do the mendicants answer when asked whether someone carrying off Jeta's Grove's grass and sticks would be carrying off them?
Correct: A. The dialogue this discourse keeps intact, unlike its own companion ahead.
Question 4 of 5
How does this discourse's scope compare to SN 35.101/102's own five-layer treatment of the same teaching?
Correct: A. A simpler scope, though the simile's dialogue is kept in full here.
Question 5 of 5
What vagga in Book III (SN 22) takes its own name from this exact formula?
Correct: A. Already fully published on this site, in SN 22's own Mūlapaṇṇāsaka.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

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