An unnamed mendicant, questioning the Buddha; the Buddha replying
Form
A single question, then three qualifications defined in ascending order and run across all six sense fields
Length
~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
★★☆☆☆ — a short discourse carrying an outsized structural weight at its close
Why this discourse
This discourse closes Navapurāṇavagga, and its own untranslated closing colophon confirms two things at once: first, that Navapurāṇavagga is itself “the fifth” (pañcamo) vagga of a fifty now complete; and second — settling the question this project's own working notes have carried since Devadahavagga — that this fifty is explicitly named “the third” (tatiyapaṇṇāsaka), closing Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta's own third paṇṇāsaka at SN 35.104–155, five vaggas (Yogakkhemi, Lokakāmaguṇa, Gahapati, Devadaha, Navapurāṇa) across 52 actual discourses — “paṇṇāsaka” naming the unit by tradition, not by exact count. The discourse itself, apart from this closing landmark, applies a definition this project has already met twice before — at SN 12.16 (Book II) and SN 22.115–116 (Book III) — to the six sense fields for the first time: what makes a mendicant qualified to be called a Dhamma speaker, one who practices in line with the teaching, and one who has attained extinguishment in this very life.
Reading guide
Three titles, in ascending order
"If a mendicant teaches Dhamma for disillusionment... regarding the eye, they're qualified to be called 'a mendicant who speaks on Dhamma'" — the first and most accessible qualification, requiring only that the teaching itself point the right direction, followed by "practices in line with the teaching" (actually walking it) and "has attained extinguishment in this very life" (having arrived).
A definition met twice before, now given a third home
This project has already published this identical three-title formula at SN 12.16 (Book II, applied to the twelve links of dependent origination) and at SN 22.115 and SN 22.116 (Book III, applied to the five aggregates) — this discourse gives the same definition its third setting, run here across the six sense fields instead.
This vagga's own closing colophon: the fifth
"Navapurāṇavaggo pañcamo" — left untranslated in the Pali root and described, not quoted, here, confirming Navapurāṇavagga as the fifth vagga of a fifty, following the same ordinal pattern (paṭhamo, dutiyo, tatiyo, catuttho) this project has already traced across Yogakkhemivagga, Lokakāmaguṇavagga, Gahapativagga, and Devadahavagga.
A larger colophon, resolving an open question
"Saḷāyatanavagge tatiyapaṇṇāsako samatto" — "in the Saḷāyatanavagga, the third fifty is complete" — the higher-level landmark this discourse's own colophon supplies, together with a meta-uddāna naming all five vaggas of that fifty in turn (Yogakkhemi, Lokakāmaguṇa, Gahapati, Devadaha, Navapurāṇa), settling as fact what Devadahavagga's own reading guide had stated only as prediction: SN 35.104–155 is confirmed as the third paṇṇāsaka, five vaggas across 52 actual discourses — “paṇṇāsaka” naming the unit by tradition rather than by an exact discourse count, since this book's other two completed fifties don't count out to fifty either (the first, SN 35.1–52, is 52 discourses; the second, SN 35.53–103, is 51) — but all three do share the same five-vagga span, a consistent pattern this discourse's own colophon confirms holds for a third time running.
Key terms
dhammakathiko, dhammānudhammappaṭipanno, diṭṭhadhammanibbānappatto — a Dhamma speaker, one who practices in line with the teaching, one who has attained extinguishment in this very life — the three ascending qualifications, met twice before at SN 12.16 and SN 22.115–116, applied here to the six sense fields
nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya — for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation — the shared standard each of the three qualifications is measured against
navapurāṇavaggo pañcamo — Navapurāṇavagga, the fifth — this vagga's own closing colophon, left untranslated in the Pali root, confirming its place as the third paṇṇāsaka's fifth and final vagga
saḷāyatanavagge tatiyapaṇṇāsako samatto — in the Saḷāyatanavagga, the third fifty is complete — the higher-level closing colophon, likewise untranslated, confirming SN 35.104–155 as Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta's own third paṇṇāsaka
tassa vagguddānaṁ — "its own vagga-summary verse" — the heading introducing the meta-uddāna that names all five vaggas of the third paṇṇāsaka in turn, itself left untranslated and described, not quoted, in this reading guide
The text
The complete discourse, apart from its own closing colophon (the vagga-, paṇṇāsaka-, and both uddāna-level landmarks, all left untranslated in the Pali root and described above rather than quoted): the three-title definition of a Dhamma speaker, run across the eye and mind. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha … and asked him, “Sir, they speak of a ‘Dhamma speaker’. How is a Dhamma speaker defined?”
§2“If a mendicant teaches Dhamma for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding the eye, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who speaks on Dhamma’. If they practice for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding the eye, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who practices in line with the teaching’. If they’re freed by not grasping by disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding the eye, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who has attained extinguishment in this very life’. If a mendicant teaches Dhamma for disillusionment with the ear … nose … tongue … body … mind, for its fading away and cessation, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who speaks on Dhamma’. If they practice for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding the mind, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who practices in line with the teaching’. If they’re freed by not grasping by disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding the mind, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who has attained extinguishment in this very life’.”
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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 three ascending qualifications does this discourse define, applying a formula this project has already met twice before?
Correct: A. The first requires only right-pointing teaching; the third requires having actually arrived where the teaching points.
Question 2 of 5
Where has this project already published this identical three-title formula, before this discourse applies it to the six sense fields?
Correct: A. This discourse gives the same three-title definition its third setting on this site.
Question 3 of 5
What does this discourse's own vagga-level closing colophon, "Navapurāṇavaggo pañcamo," confirm?
Correct: A. Following the same paṭhamo/dutiyo/tatiyo/catuttho/pañcamo sequence already traced across the previous four vaggas.
Question 4 of 5
What does this discourse's own higher-level colophon, "Saḷāyatanavagge tatiyapaṇṇāsako samatto," settle?
Correct: A. "In the Saḷāyatanavagga, the third fifty is complete" — settling as fact what had been stated only as prediction.
Question 5 of 5
How does the third paṇṇāsaka's own five-vagga span compare to this book's two earlier completed fifties?
Correct: A. The first (closing at SN 35.52), second (closing at SN 35.103), and third (closing here) each span five vaggas.
