A single substitution on SN 35.53's own template — the fetters (saṁyojanā) replacing ignorance as what's given up — compressed by Sujato's own English into one collapsed sentence
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 direct single-word substitution on the discourse immediately before it
Why this discourse
Where SN 35.53 established this vagga's own opening template — knowing and seeing the six sense fields as impermanent, closing on a stated result rather than the standard liberation formula — this discourse simply substitutes a new target: the fetters (saṁyojanā) in place of ignorance (avijjā). Sujato's own English translation compresses the entire sixfold sweep into a single sentence marked with an ellipsis, trusting the reader to supply the same six-field pattern SN 35.53 just spelled out in full — the "template established, then assumed" move this project has already traced repeatedly across Book IV's own vaggas.
Reading guide
One word changes; the chain does not
The same aniccato (as impermanent) lens carries over unchanged from SN 35.53 — only the target noun changes, from avijjā to saṁyojanā.
Sujato's own English compresses what the Pali root still spells out
Unlike some later discourses in this vagga, the Pali root here still writes out the full six-field chain across seventeen segments; only Sujato's own English translation collapses it into a single sentence with an ellipsis, extending the "root fuller than translation" pattern this project already met at SN 35.33.
A pattern of pairs begins
Unlike avijjā, the fetters will receive a second, companion discourse immediately following — SN 35.55, applying "uprooting" rather than "giving up" to the same target.
Key terms
saṁyojana — fetter — the target substituted in for avijjā here, this discourse's own subject
pahāna — giving up — the same verb carried over from SN 35.53
aniccato — as impermanent — the unchanged lens this discourse retains from SN 35.53
avijjā — ignorance — this vagga's own opening target, absent from this discourse
peyyāla — formula-repetition — the elision mark Sujato's own English uses to abbreviate this discourse's own sixfold sweep
The text
The complete discourse, as Sujato's own English gives it: the question, and a single collapsed sentence carrying the answer, its ellipsis marking the six-field sweep SN 35.53 already spelled out in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Sir, how does one know and see so that the fetters are given up?”
§2“Mendicant, knowing and seeing the eye as impermanent, the fetters are given up …”
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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 single change does this discourse make to SN 35.53's own template?
Correct: A. The chain and its aniccato lens carry over unchanged; only the target noun changes.
Question 2 of 5
What does Sujato's own English translation do with the sixfold sense-field sweep here?
Correct: A. The reader is trusted to supply SN 35.53's own full pattern.
Question 3 of 5
Does the Pali root itself also compress the sixfold sweep here?
Correct: A. The same "root fuller than translation" divergence this project already met at SN 35.33.
Question 4 of 5
What discourse immediately follows, completing the fetters' own pair?
Correct: A. Unlike ignorance, the fetters receive both a giving-up and an uprooting discourse.
Question 5 of 5
What lens (mode of knowing and seeing) does this discourse retain from SN 35.53?
Correct: A. The switch to anattato begins only at SN 35.55, this vagga's first uprooting discourse.
