The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A brief instruction and its rationale, run in full for the eye and the mind, elided for the remaining four 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, direct instruction, closely echoing one already published on this site
Why this discourse
This discourse is a near-duplicate of SN 35.99 (Saḷavagga, already published on this site): the same “develop immersion” instruction, the same claim run through eye and mind with their four companions each, closing with the same instruction repeated. Two things distinguish it honestly rather than making it identical: this discourse gives an explicit setting (Jīvaka's Mango Grove near Rājagaha, where SN 35.99 restated nothing), and its outcome is phrased with a different verb — “yathābhūtaṁ okkhāyati” (things become truly clear) rather than SN 35.99's “yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti” (truly understands).
Reading guide
A four-word instruction, restated
“Mendicants, develop immersion” opens this discourse exactly as it opened SN 35.99; the rest of the discourse explains what immersion is said to produce — here, things “becoming truly clear” rather than being “truly understood.”
A genuine verb difference, not a copying error
SN 35.99 uses “yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti” (truly understands), placing the mendicant as an active knower; this discourse uses “yathābhūtaṁ okkhāyati” (becomes truly clear), a more passive construction — things becoming evident to the immersed mendicant rather than being actively grasped. This reading guide notes the difference rather than smoothing it into a single translation.
The same five-link chain, for eye and mind
Eye, sights, eye consciousness, eye contact, and the feeling born of eye contact are declared impermanent in full, exactly as in SN 35.99; the mind's own parallel five links follow, with the four middle sense doors elided between them.
An explicit setting this discourse's twin lacks
SN 35.99 restates no setting at all; this discourse places the teaching at Jīvaka's Mango Grove near Rājagaha — the same grove where the physician Jīvaka, the Buddha's own doctor, is traditionally associated, though this discourse itself makes no mention of him.
Key terms
samādhiṁ bhāvetha — “develop immersion” — this discourse's own opening instruction, identical to SN 35.99's
yathābhūtaṁ okkhāyati — things become truly clear — this discourse's own outcome verb, distinct from SN 35.99's “yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti” (truly understands)
jīvakambavana — Jīvaka's Mango Grove — this discourse's own explicit setting near Rājagaha, absent from SN 35.99
cakkhusamphassapaccayā uppajjati vedayitaṁ — the feeling that arises dependent on eye contact — the fifth and final link in the chain run for the eye
anicca — impermanent — what becomes truly clear about each of the five links in the chain, for both eye and mind
The text
The complete discourse, apart from its own closing count (left untranslated and not quoted): the instruction to develop immersion, and its rationale run for the eye and the mind. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in Jīvaka’s Mango Grove. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants: “Mendicants, develop immersion. For a mendicant with immersion, things become truly clear. And what becomes truly clear? It becomes truly clear that the eye, sights, eye consciousness, and eye contact are impermanent. And it also becomes truly clear that the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact is impermanent. It becomes truly clear that the ear … nose … tongue … body … mind, ideas, mind consciousness, and mind contact are impermanent. And it also becomes truly clear that the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact is impermanent. Mendicants, develop immersion. For a mendicant with immersion, things become truly clear.”
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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 instruction opens this discourse, identical to SN 35.99's own opening?
Correct: A. The same four-word instruction opens both discourses.
Question 2 of 5
How does this discourse's outcome verb differ from SN 35.99's own?
Correct: A. A genuine, honestly noted variation rather than a copying error.
Question 3 of 5
What setting does this discourse supply that SN 35.99 does not?
Correct: A. SN 35.99 restates no setting at all.
Question 4 of 5
Which five links does the chain run in full for the eye?
Correct: A. The same five-link chain as SN 35.99's own, for eye and then for mind.
Question 5 of 5
What discourse immediately follows this one, and what does it change?
Correct: A. SN 35.160 and SN 35.161 form a pair, mirroring SN 35.99 and SN 35.100.
