An unnamed mendicant, questioning the Buddha; the Buddha replying
Form
A single question, then a single declaration run across all six sense faculties, closing on the standard liberation formula
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 and direct
Why this discourse
"Accomplished in the faculties" (indriyasampanna) is a phrase an unnamed mendicant reports hearing used, without yet knowing its precise meaning — a familiar pattern in this project's own vagga so far, where technical terms arrive already in circulation and the discourse itself supplies the missing definition. Here the answer is compact: a mendicant who meditates observing rise and fall (udayabbaya) at each of the six sense faculties, growing disillusioned faculty by faculty, until desire fades and freedom is reached. The faculties in question are the sense faculties themselves (indriya used in its narrower sense), not the five spiritual faculties (faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, wisdom) the same word can also name elsewhere in the canon.
Reading guide
A term already in use, its meaning sought
"They speak of someone who is 'accomplished in the faculties'. How is someone accomplished in the faculties defined?" — the mendicant's own question assumes the phrase is already circulating, asking only for its precise sense.
Which faculties: the senses, not the five spiritual powers
Indriya can name either the six sense faculties or the five spiritual faculties (faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, wisdom) depending on context; this discourse's own answer — eye faculty, ear faculty, and so on through mind faculty — makes clear which sense is meant here.
Observing rise and fall, faculty by faculty
"If someone meditates observing rise and fall in the eye faculty, they grow disillusioned with the eye faculty" — the same udayabbaya (rise and fall) practice, run identically across all six senses, compressed by peyyāla for the middle four.
The familiar closing sequence, once again
Disillusionment, fading desire, freedom, the knowledge of that freedom, and the standard declaration that rebirth is ended — this vagga's own recurring closing formula, here the direct answer to what "accomplished in the faculties" actually means.
Key terms
indriyasampanna — accomplished in the faculties — the phrase this discourse defines, naming the six sense faculties rather than the five spiritual faculties the same word can also indicate
cakkhundriya — the eye faculty — the first of six sense faculties this discourse questions in turn
udayabbayānupassī — observing rise and fall — the specific meditative practice this discourse names as the path to accomplishment
nibbindati — grows disillusioned — the immediate result of observing rise and fall at each faculty
‘khīṇā jāti...n’āparaṁ itthattāyā’ti — 'rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place' — the discourse's own closing declaration, defining accomplishment concretely
The text
The complete discourse: an unnamed mendicant's question, and the Buddha's answer defining accomplishment in the faculties as disillusionment reached by observing rise and fall at each of the six senses. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha … and asked him, “Sir, they speak of someone who is ‘accomplished in the faculties’. How is someone accomplished in the faculties defined?”
§2“Mendicant, if someone meditates observing rise and fall in the eye faculty, they grow disillusioned with the eye faculty. If they meditate observing rise and fall in the ear faculty … nose faculty … tongue faculty … body faculty … mind faculty, they grow disillusioned with the mind faculty. Being disillusioned, desire fades away. … When they’re freed, they know they’re freed. They understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.’ This is how someone who is accomplished in the faculties is defined.”
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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 phrase does the unnamed mendicant ask the Buddha to define?
Correct: A. A term the mendicant reports already hearing used, asking only for its precise sense.
Question 2 of 5
Which sense of "faculties" (indriya) does this discourse's own answer make clear is meant?
Correct: A. The answer runs through eye faculty, ear faculty, and so on through mind faculty.
Question 3 of 5
What specific meditative practice does this discourse name as the path to accomplishment?
Correct: A. Run identically across all six senses, compressed by peyyāla for the middle four.
Question 4 of 5
How is the discourse structured across the six sense faculties?
Correct: A. The standard bilara-data elision convention, already familiar from many of this project's own catechisms.
Question 5 of 5
What closing declaration defines accomplishment concretely, according to this discourse?
Correct: A. This vagga's own recurring closing formula, here supplying the concrete answer to the mendicant's question.
