A short definitional discourse, closing with a direct challenge to anyone who would propose a different "all"
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, compact claim with a sharp edge
Why this discourse
This discourse opens Sabbavagga ("the Chapter on Everything"), Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta's own third vagga, and gives the vagga its own name directly: sabba, "the all." Where Aniccavagga opened with a fourfold matrix and Yamakavagga with a threefold gratification-drawback-escape analysis, this discourse instead states outright what "the all" names for the Buddha's own purposes — and forecloses, in advance, any attempt to substitute a different one.
Reading guide
"The all", defined by exhaustive enumeration
Twelve items, no more and no fewer: the eye and sights, the ear and sounds, the nose and smells, the tongue and tastes, the body and touches, and the mind and ideas. "This is called the all," the discourse states flatly — a deliberately narrow definition that makes no claim to describe the universe in some cosmological sense, only the total range of what can be known through the six sense doors.
A boundary-setting claim, not merely a descriptive one
The discourse's own closing lines go further than simple definition: anyone who said, "I'll deny this all and describe another all," would have no grounds for the claim, would be stumped by questions, and would end up frustrated — "because they're out of their own element" (avisayasmiṃ, literally outside their own domain or range). The Buddha isn't only proposing a definition here; he's ruling out alternatives in advance.
This vagga's own name, supplied by its own first discourse
Unlike Naḷavagga, whose name came from its own closing simile, or Nandanavagga and Sattivagga, whose names came from images in their own opening lines, Sabbavagga takes its name from this discourse's own central term, stated outright in its own first substantive sentence — a third distinct pattern for how a vagga's own name can arise from its own content.
A single claim, opening a much longer investigation
The nine discourses that follow build directly on this exact twelve-item schema, applying it with progressively richer vocabulary: what should be given up, how it should be understood, what happens when it isn't, and what it means to stop conceiving anything about it at all.
Key terms
sabba — "the all" — this discourse's own title term, and this vagga's own name
cakkhuñceva rūpā ca — "the eye and sights" — the first of six paired items making up the enumeration
avisayasmiṃ — "out of one's own element," or "outside one's own domain" — the reason given for why any alternative "all" must fail
vācāvatthu — "grounds for a claim" (literally, "a basis for speech") — what the proponent of a different "all" would lack
sotañca saddā ca — "the ear and sounds" — the second of six paired items in this discourse's own enumeration
The text
The complete discourse: the definition of "the all," and the challenge to anyone who would propose a different one. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, I will teach you the all. Listen … And what is the all? It’s just the eye and sights, the ear and sounds, the nose and smells, the tongue and tastes, the body and touches, and the mind and ideas. This is called the all.
§2Mendicants, suppose someone was to say: ‘I’ll deny this all and describe another all.’ They’d have no grounds for that claim, they’d be stumped by questions, and, in addition, they’d get frustrated. Why is that? Because they’re out of their element.”
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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 twelve items make up "the all" in this discourse's own definition?
Correct: A. A deliberately narrow definition, limited to what can be known through the six sense doors.
Question 2 of 5
What happens, according to this discourse, to someone who claims a different "all"?
Correct: A. Because, the text says, "they're out of their own element."
Question 3 of 5
What does avisayasmiṃ mean, and what does it explain?
Correct: A. Literally, outside one's own domain or range.
Question 4 of 5
How does Sabbavagga's own naming pattern compare to Naḷavagga's and Nandanavagga's?
Correct: A. Naḷavagga's name came from a closing simile; Nandanavagga's and Sattivagga's from an opening image.
Question 5 of 5
What do the nine discourses that follow do with this twelve-item schema?
Correct: A. This discourse's own definition becomes the shared foundation for the rest of Sabbavagga.
