Giving Up by Direct Knowledge and Complete Understanding
Abhiññāpariññāpahānasutta — Sabbavagga
Setting
Sāvatthī
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
The same single formula as SN 35.24, repeated with one phrase added throughout
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, one phrase richer than SN 35.24's own
Why this discourse
This discourse takes SN 35.24's own thirty-item "should be given up" formula and inserts a single addition into every instance of it: "by direct knowledge and complete understanding" (abhiññā pariññā). The claim is no longer simply that the all should be relinquished, but that this relinquishing must itself be grounded in a specific kind of knowing — introducing the exact two-term pair that structures this trio's own next pair of discourses (SN 35.26–27).
Reading guide
The same thirty-item schema, word for word
Every item from SN 35.24 — the base, its object, its consciousness, its contact, and the feeling arising from that contact, across all six sense fields — reappears here unchanged, down to the same peyyāla compression for the ear, nose, tongue, and body.
One addition: abhiññā pariññā
"Direct knowledge" (abhiññā) and "complete understanding" (pariññā), inserted before pahātabbaṁ throughout: not "the eye should be given up" but "the eye should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding." A single phrase, repeated thirty times, changes the character of the instruction from a bare imperative to a claim about the epistemic work that relinquishing requires.
An escalation across this trio's own first three discourses
SN 35.23 defines the all; SN 35.24 says it should be given up; this discourse says it should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding — not renunciation for its own sake, but renunciation grounded in a specific, named kind of knowing, which the next pair of discourses (SN 35.26–27) will turn into a diagnostic.
Key terms
abhiññā — direct knowledge — the first of two terms added to SN 35.24's own single verb
pariññā — complete understanding — the second added term, paired with abhiññā throughout
pahātabbaṁ — "should be given up" — the verb carried over unchanged from SN 35.24
cakkhusamphasso — eye contact — the fourth part of the same five-part schema carried over from SN 35.24
vedayitaṁ — "what is felt" — the fifth part, now also qualified "by direct knowledge and complete understanding"
The text
The complete discourse, with the same peyyāla compression as SN 35.24 for the ear, nose, tongue, and body. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, I will teach you the principle for giving up the all by direct knowledge and complete understanding. Listen … And what is the principle for giving up the all by direct knowledge and complete understanding?
§2The eye should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding. Sights should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding. Eye consciousness should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding. Eye contact should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding. The painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding. The ear … nose … tongue … body … mind should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding. Ideas should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding. Mind consciousness should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding. Mind contact should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding. The painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact should be given up by direct knowledge and complete understanding.
§3This is the principle for giving up the all by direct knowledge and complete understanding.”
· · ·
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 single change distinguishes this discourse's own formula from SN 35.24's?
Correct: A. The same thirty-item schema, with abhiññā pariññā added throughout.
Question 2 of 5
What do abhiññā and pariññā mean, and how are they used here?
Correct: A. Inserted before pahātabbaṁ throughout, turning a bare imperative into an epistemically grounded one.
Question 3 of 5
How does this discourse's own claim escalate beyond SN 35.24's?
Correct: A. Setting up SN 35.26–27's own diagnostic use of this exact same pair of terms.
Question 4 of 5
How is the ear, nose, tongue, and body section handled here?
Correct: A. The identical compression device, once the formula's shape is established for the eye.
Question 5 of 5
What do the next two discourses of this trio (SN 35.26–27) do with abhiññā and pariññā?
Correct: A. SN 35.26–27 invert this discourse's own positive prescription into a negative-and-positive diagnostic pair.
