Three discourses compressed into a single file, now addressing the six exterior 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
★☆☆☆☆ — the identical formula, one variable switched
Why this discourse
This file opens round one's exterior half: the identical desire/greed/both, impermanent/suffering/not-self matrix already run for the interior sense fields (SN 35.168-176), now applied to the six exterior sense fields — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas.
Reading guide
The exterior sense fields, named in full
Where the interior half's files elide the middle sense fields (“the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind” compressed with “…pe…” in the root), this exterior file spells out all six — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas — each on its own line before the closing repetition.
One matrix, two halves
Round one's own full structure is now visible: two halves (interior, SN 35.168-176; exterior, SN 35.177-185), each crossing three qualities (impermanent, suffering, not-self) with three variants (desire, greed, both) — eighteen discourses per half, thirty-six total... but not quite, since the opening interior-impermanent-desire/greed/both trio alone stays unmerged across three files rather than one.
Key terms
bāhirāyatana — the six exterior sense fields — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas, this file's own new subject
rūpā, saddā, gandhā, rasā, phoṭṭhabbā, dhammā — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas — the six exterior sense fields, each spelled out on its own line in this file
anicca — impermanent — the quality declared here, the first of the exterior half's own three-quality cycle
chando pahātabbo, rāgo pahātabbo, chandarāgo pahātabbo — the same three-variant compression carried over from the interior half
ajjhattikāyatana — the six interior sense fields — already completed at SN 35.168-176, contrasted here with the exterior fields
The text
The complete merged file: the instruction, then the definition of what is impermanent, naming each of the six exterior sense fields in turn. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, you should give up desire … greed … desire and greed for what is impermanent. And what is impermanent?
§2Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas 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 sense fields does this file address, opening round one's second half?
Correct: A. Bāhirāyatana, following the interior half's own completion at SN 35.168-176.
Question 2 of 5
How does this file's own treatment of the six sense fields differ from the interior files?
Correct: A. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas each get their own line, unlike the interior files' elision.
Question 3 of 5
What quality does this file declare of the exterior sense fields?
Correct: A. The exterior half repeats the identical anicca/dukkha/anattā cycle already run for the interior fields.
Question 4 of 5
How many discourses does round one's exterior half (SN 35.177-185) cover in total?
Correct: A. SN 35.177-185 spans nine discourse numbers across three merged three-item files, mirroring SN 35.171-176's own two later interior combinations.
Question 5 of 5
What compression carries over unchanged from the interior half?
Correct: A. Only the sense-field set changes; the desire/greed/both compression is identical to SN 35.171-176's own.
