Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.169

Greed for the Impermanent Interior

Ajjhattaaniccarāgasutta — Saṭṭhipeyyālavagga

Setting
Not restated in this discourse
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants
Form
The identical structure as SN 35.168, with greed (rāga) substituted for desire (chanda)
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 single substitution on SN 35.168's own frame

Why this discourse

This discourse is round one's second variant: the identical interior sense fields, the identical declaration of impermanence, but greed (rāga) substituted for SN 35.168's own desire (chanda). Sujato's own English compresses the repeated material with an ellipsis once the substitution is made, trusting the reader to supply SN 35.168's own full six-field elaboration.

Reading guide

One substitution: rāga for chanda

“You should give up greed for what is impermanent” replaces SN 35.168's own “desire” — the sense fields, the declaration of impermanence, and the closing repetition are otherwise unchanged.

A pair, not yet a trio

Desire (chanda) and greed (rāga) name two related but distinct afflictive responses — chanda the wish or inclination toward an object, rāga the stronger pull of attachment. This project has not previously needed to distinguish them this explicitly; here they are named as separate targets before SN 35.170 combines them.

Key terms

rāgo pahātabbo — “greed should be given up” — this discourse's own substitution for SN 35.168's chando pahātabbo
chanda — desire — SN 35.168's own term, distinguished here from rāga
anicca — impermanent — the quality declared of the six interior sense fields, unchanged from SN 35.168
ajjhattikāyatana — the six interior sense fields — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, unchanged from SN 35.168
chandarāga — desire-and-greed together — the third variant, following at SN 35.170

The text

The complete discourse, apart from its own closing ellipsis (Sujato's own English elides the repeated material, identical to SN 35.168's own): the instruction, then the definition of what is impermanent. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, you should give up greed for what is impermanent. And what is impermanent?

§2The eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are impermanent …”

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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 single word does this discourse substitute for SN 35.168's own “desire” (chanda)?
Correct: A. Rāgo pahātabbo, the second of round one's three variants.
Question 2 of 5
What sense fields does this discourse address?
Correct: A. Ajjhattikāyatana, exactly as in SN 35.168; only the target of abandonment changes.
Question 3 of 5
What third variant follows this discourse, at SN 35.170?
Correct: A. SN 35.170 combines desire and greed into a single compound term, completing round one's first three-item unit.
Question 4 of 5
How does Sujato's own English handle the repeated material in this discourse?
Correct: A. A single-substitution compression, the same technique this project has traced across many other peyyāla ranges.
Question 5 of 5
How does this discourse's own bilara-data file relate to SN 35.168's?
Correct: A. SN 35.168-170 are the vagga's only three-item unit kept as three separate files rather than one merged file.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 35.168 · Desire for the Impermanent Interior