The Exterior and What’s Impermanent in the Three Times
Bāhirātītādiyadaniccasutta — Saṭṭhipeyyālavagga
Setting
Not restated in this discourse
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants
Form
Three discourses compressed into a single file, the full four-step chain applied to the 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 three's exterior half: the identical chain formula already run for the interior sense fields (SN 35.204-212), now applied to the six exterior sense fields, beginning again from the full four-step version — impermanent, therefore suffering, therefore not-self, therefore “not mine” — exactly as SN 35.204 opened the interior half.
Reading guide
The exterior fields, compressed onto one line
“Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas are impermanent in the past, future, and present…” opens this file, all six exterior fields folded into a single sentence — unlike round one's own exterior files (SN 35.177-185), which spelled out each field on its own line, but matching round two's own tighter exterior compression (SN 35.195-203). The Pāli root still marks each field separately; only Sujato's own English compresses them together here.
The full chain, restored
Just as round three's interior half opened with the full four-step chain (SN 35.204) before shortening across SN 35.207-212, this exterior file restores the full chain at its own opening, beginning the same progressive shortening again for the exterior fields.
Key terms
bāhirāyatana — the six exterior sense fields — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas, this file's own new subject
rūpā…dhammā — sights…ideas — the six exterior sense fields, folded into a single sentence in Sujato's own English here, though the Pāli root still marks each separately
yadaniccaṁ, taṁ dukkhaṁ — “what's impermanent is suffering” — the chain's own first step, restored here after round three's interior half shortened it away
atītaṁ anāgataṁ paccuppannaṁ — past, future, present — the same three-time compression carried over from the interior half
ajjhattikāyatana — the six interior sense fields — already completed at SN 35.204-212, contrasted here with the exterior fields
The text
The complete merged file, apart from its own closing ellipsis: the declaration, naming each of the six exterior sense fields, then the chain's own remaining steps. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, in the past … future … present sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas are impermanent. What’s impermanent is 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 sense fields does this file address, opening round three's second half?
Correct: A. Bāhirāyatana, following the interior half's own completion at SN 35.204-212.
Question 2 of 5
How does this file's own chain formula compare to SN 35.204's own opening?
Correct: A. Just as SN 35.204 opened with the full chain before SN 35.207-212 shortened it, this file restores the full version at the exterior half's own opening.
Question 3 of 5
How does this file's own treatment of the six sense fields compare to round two's own exterior files (SN 35.195-203)?
Correct: A. Round three's own exterior files match round two's tighter compression, not round one's field-by-field spelling.
Question 4 of 5
What time-values does this file merge into a single opening declaration?
Correct: A. Atītaṁ anāgataṁ paccuppannaṁ, carried over unchanged from the interior half.
Question 5 of 5
What combination follows this file, at SN 35.216-218?
Correct: A. SN 35.216-218 continues the exterior half's own progressive shortening, exactly mirroring the interior half's shape.
