Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourses 35.171–173

Desire, Etc. for the Suffering Interior

Dukkhachandādisutta — Saṭṭhipeyyālavagga

Setting
Not restated in this discourse
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants
Form
Three discourses compressed by bilara-data into a single file, the same three-item desire/greed/both unit SN 35.168-170 spelled out separately, now elided into one sentence
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 elided sentence standing in for three discourses

Why this discourse

This is round one's first merged file: the interior sense fields, now declared suffering rather than SN 35.168-170's own impermanent, with desire, greed, and desire-and-greed compressed by Sujato's own English into a single elided sentence (“desire … greed … desire and greed”) rather than kept as three separate discourses.

Reading guide

Suffering replaces impermanence

The only change from SN 35.168-170's own frame: “suffering” (dukkha) replaces “impermanent” (anicca) as the quality declared of the six interior sense fields.

Three variants, compressed into one sentence

Where SN 35.168-170 spelled out desire, greed, and desire-and-greed as three separate files, this merged file compresses all three into a single opening line: “you should give up desire … greed … desire and greed for what is suffering” — the compression pattern round one's remaining four combinations will also follow.

Key terms

dukkha — suffering — the quality declared here, replacing SN 35.168-170's own anicca
chando pahātabbo, rāgo pahātabbo, chandarāgo pahātabbo — “desire should be given up, greed should be given up, desire and greed should be given up” — all three variants compressed into this file's single opening line
ajjhattikāyatana — the six interior sense fields — unchanged from SN 35.168-170
peyyāla — an elision mark — here compressing three discourses' worth of material into one file
anicca — impermanent — SN 35.168-170's own quality, distinguished from this file's dukkha

The text

The complete merged file: the instruction, then the definition of what is suffering. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, you should give up desire … greed … desire and greed for what is suffering. And what is suffering?

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

· · ·

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 quality does this file declare of the six interior sense fields, replacing SN 35.168-170's own impermanence?
Correct: A. Dukkha replaces anicca as this combination's own declared quality.
Question 2 of 5
How does this file compress the desire/greed/desire-and-greed trio, compared to SN 35.168-170?
Correct: A. SN 35.168-170's own three-file pattern compresses here into a single opening line.
Question 3 of 5
How many discourse numbers does this single file cover?
Correct: A. The file's own slug (171-173) names the three discourse numbers it represents.
Question 4 of 5
What sense fields does this file address?
Correct: A. Ajjhattikāyatana, the same six interior fields as the opening three discourses.
Question 5 of 5
What compression pattern does this file establish for round one's remaining combinations?
Correct: A. SN 35.174 onward each follow this same merged, single-file pattern.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 35.170 · Desire and Greed for the Impermanent Interior