Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourses 35.198–200

The Exterior as Suffering in the Three Times

Bāhirātītādidukkhasutta — Saṭṭhipeyyālavagga

Setting
Not restated in this discourse
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants
Form
The identical structure as SN 35.195-197, with suffering (dukkha) substituted for impermanence
Length
under 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 35.195-197's own frame

Why this discourse

This file is the exterior half's second combination in round two: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas declared suffering across all three times, mirroring SN 35.189-191's own interior treatment and completing this round's second lap through the three-quality cycle.

Reading guide

Suffering, applied outward, across all three times

The same substitution SN 35.189-191 made for the interior fields (suffering replacing impermanence) repeats here for the exterior fields, with past, future, and present already folded into the single opening line.

Key terms

dukkha — suffering — the quality declared here, replacing SN 35.195-197's own anicca
rūpā…dhammā — sights…ideas — the six exterior sense fields, unchanged from SN 35.195-197
atītaṁ anāgataṁ paccuppannaṁ — past, future, present — carried over unchanged
anicca — impermanent — SN 35.195-197's own quality, distinguished from this file's dukkha
anattā — not-self — the third and final combination, following next at SN 35.201-203

The text

The complete merged file, apart from its own closing ellipsis: the declaration. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, in the past … future … present sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas are suffering …”

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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 quality does this file declare of the exterior sense fields, replacing SN 35.195-197's own impermanence?
Correct: A. Dukkha, mirroring SN 35.189-191's own interior treatment.
Question 2 of 5
What time-values does this file compress into its own single opening line?
Correct: A. Atītaṁ anāgataṁ paccuppannaṁ, unchanged from every other file in round two.
Question 3 of 5
What combination follows this file, completing round two's exterior half?
Correct: A. SN 35.201-203 completes round two entirely, cycling not-self through the exterior fields across all three times.
Question 4 of 5
What interior-half discourse does this file mirror?
Correct: A. The exterior half repeats the identical suffering-across-three-times combination already run for the interior fields.
Question 5 of 5
What sense fields does this file address?
Correct: A. Bāhirāyatana, continuing the exterior half opened at SN 35.195.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0