An unnamed mendicant, questioning the Buddha; the Buddha replying
Form
The identical structure as SN 35.165-166, with theory of self (attānudiṭṭhi) and not-self (anattato) substituted
Length
~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
★★☆☆☆ — closes the vagga and, its own untranslated colophon confirms, opens a new fifty
Why this discourse
This discourse closes Nandikkhayavagga, completing the three-term views-abandonment cluster (wrong view, substantialist view, theory of self) that mirrors, in reverse, Book III's own SN 22.154-156. Beyond this discourse's own content — theory of self dissolved by knowing each sense field as not-self — its closing colophon settles a question this project's own working notes have carried since Navapurāṇavagga: “Nandikkhayavaggo paṭhamo” (“Nandikkhaya is the first”) confirms this vagga opens a new fifty, the fourth paṇṇāsaka of Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta, exactly as predicted by the same ordinal pattern already traced across Yogakkhemivagga's own “paṭhamo” opening the third fifty.
Reading guide
The third and final view, dissolved by not-self
“Knowing and seeing the eye... as not-self, theory of self is given up” completes the cluster's own sequence: wrong view/impermanence at SN 35.165, substantialist view/suffering at SN 35.166, theory of self/not-self here — the three marks matched one each to the three views, in a tidy correspondence this cluster does not spell out but leaves implicit in its own ordering.
A cluster completing what SN 22.154-156 began, in reverse
Together, SN 35.165-167 give this project's second full treatment of the micchādiṭṭhi/sakkāyadiṭṭhi/attānudiṭṭhi sequence, examined here from the abandoning side rather than SN 22.154-156's arising side — the same three terms, the same underlying diagnosis, approached from both directions across two different books.
This vagga's own closing colophon: the first
"Nandikkhayavaggo paṭhamo" — left untranslated in the Pali root and described, not quoted, here, confirming Nandikkhayavagga as the first vagga of a new fifty, following the identical ordinal reset this project already traced when Yogakkhemivagga's own “paṭhamo” opened the third paṇṇāsaka immediately after Saḷavagga's fifth-vagga close.
A prediction confirmed, cautiously
This vagga's opening discourse, SN 35.156, could not yet confirm the fourth paṇṇāsaka's start — only a vagga-closing colophon carries that confirmation, and this discourse's own untranslated "paṭhamo" now supplies it. As with the third paṇṇāsaka's own opening, the Pali root itself never labels the paṇṇāsaka number directly at a vagga's start — only a summary count naming the vaggas thus far accumulated would settle a still-more-precise ordinal for this fourth fifty, and this discourse's own uddāna offers no such count, so this reading guide states the fourth-paṇṇāsaka reading as the same kind of confident inference this project already made and later confirmed for the third.
Key terms
attānudiṭṭhi — theory of self — this discourse's own subject, the third and final term of the views-abandonment cluster
anattato jānato passato — knowing and seeing as not-self — the cognitive act this discourse names as sufficient for theory of self's abandonment
nandikkhayavaggo paṭhamo — Nandikkhayavagga, the first — this vagga's own closing colophon, left untranslated in the Pali root, confirming its place as a new fifty's opening vagga
tassuddānaṁ — “its own summary verse” — the heading introducing this vagga's own uddāna, naming all twelve discourses in four lines, left untranslated and described, not quoted, in this reading guide
sakkāyadiṭṭhi — substantialist view — the middle term of the three-part sequence this discourse completes, examined at SN 35.166
The text
The complete discourse, apart from its own closing colophon (the vagga-level landmark and its uddāna, both left untranslated in the Pali root and described above rather than quoted): the mendicant's question, then the Buddha's reply, run in full for the eye and mind and compressed across the remaining four sense fields. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha … and said to him: “Sir, how does one know and see so that theory of self is given up?” “Mendicant, knowing and seeing the eye, sights, eye consciousness, and eye contact as not-self, theory of self is given up. … And also knowing and seeing the pleasant, painful, or neutral feeling that arises conditioned by mind contact as not-self, theory of self is given up.”
· · ·
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 cognitive act does this discourse name as sufficient for theory of self's abandonment?
Correct: A. Anattato jānato passato — the third of three characterizations, one per view.
Question 2 of 5
How do SN 35.165-167 relate to SN 22.154-156, already published in Book III?
Correct: A. The same underlying diagnosis, approached from both directions across two books.
Question 3 of 5
What does this discourse's own closing colophon, "Nandikkhayavaggo paṭhamo," confirm?
Correct: A. The same ordinal reset already traced when Yogakkhemivagga opened the third paṇṇāsaka.
Question 4 of 5
Why does this reading guide describe the "fourth paṇṇāsaka" reading as an inference rather than a settled fact?
Correct: A. The same confident-but-cautious inference this project already made, and later confirmed, for the third paṇṇāsaka.
Question 5 of 5
How does this vagga's own three views (wrong view, substantialist view, theory of self) implicitly correspond to the three marks?
Correct: A. A tidy correspondence the cluster leaves implicit in its own ordering, not stated outright.
