A single prescriptive formula, repeated across a five-part breakdown of all six 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
★☆☆☆☆ — a single repeated formula
Why this discourse
This discourse takes SN 35.23's own twelve-item "all" and reworks it into a genuinely more granular schema: each sense field is broken into five parts — the base itself, its object, the consciousness it gives rise to, the contact built from all three, and the feeling that arises dependent on that contact — thirty items in total, each one prescribed, flatly, for giving up.
Reading guide
From twelve items to a five-part breakdown per sense
Where SN 35.23 named only the sense base and its object ("the eye and sights"), this discourse expands each sense field into five: the eye, sights, eye consciousness, eye contact, and the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact — and the same five-part breakdown for each of the remaining five sense fields, thirty items altogether.
A single imperative, repeated exactly thirty times
Pahātabbaṁ, "should be given up" — the same verb applied without variation to every one of the thirty items, compressed in the source with peyyāla ellipsis for the ear, nose, tongue, and body once the pattern is established for the eye.
Setting up this trio's own next refinement
SN 35.25 will repeat this exact formula, adding only one phrase — "by direct knowledge and complete understanding" — turning a bare instruction to relinquish into a claim about how that relinquishing must be grounded.
Key terms
pahātabbaṁ — "should be given up" — this discourse's own single repeated imperative
cakkhusamphasso — eye contact — the fourth of five parts in this discourse's own breakdown of each sense field
vedayitaṁ — "what is felt" — the fifth part, the feeling that arises dependent on contact
sukhaṁ vā dukkhaṁ vā adukkhamasukhaṁ vā — "pleasant, painful, or neutral" — the threefold classification of that feeling
cakkhuviññāṇaṁ — eye consciousness — the third of five parts in this discourse's own breakdown of each sense field
The text
The complete discourse, with the ear, nose, tongue, and body sections compressed in the source once the pattern is established for the eye. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, I will teach you the principle for giving up the all. Listen … And what is the principle for giving up the all?
§2The eye should be given up. Sights should be given up. Eye consciousness should be given up. Eye contact should be given up. The painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact should also be given up. The ear … nose … tongue … body … mind should be given up. Ideas should be given up. Mind consciousness should be given up. Mind contact should be given up. The painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact should be given up.
§3This is the principle for giving up the all.”
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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
How many parts does this discourse break each sense field into, and what are they?
Correct: A. A genuinely more granular schema than SN 35.23's own twelve-item pairing.
Question 2 of 5
What single verb governs every one of the thirty items in this discourse?
Correct: A. Applied without variation across all thirty items.
Question 3 of 5
How is the ear, nose, tongue, and body section handled in the source?
Correct: A. A standard compression device, once the formula's shape is clear.
Question 4 of 5
What single addition will SN 35.25 make to this exact formula?
Correct: A. Turning a bare instruction to relinquish into a claim about how that relinquishing must be grounded.
Question 5 of 5
What is vedayitaṁ, the fifth part of this discourse's own breakdown?
Correct: A. Classified threefold: pleasant, painful, or neutral.
