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Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.66

Samiddhi’s Question About a Sentient Being

Samiddhisattapañhasutta — Migajālavagga

Setting
Rājagaha (continuing, by cross-reference)
Speakers
Samiddhi questioning the Buddha
Form
The question alone, its answer left entirely unwritten — a peyyāla cross-reference to SN 35.65's own template
Length
a few seconds 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 question, its content assumed rather than stated

Why this discourse

The second of Samiddhi's four questions, compressing entirely: only the question is given — “How do we define a sentient being or what is known as a sentient being?” — closed with a peyyāla ellipsis, both the Pali root and Sujato's own English agreeing the whole answer is assumed, not written. The reader is trusted to supply SN 35.65's own template with satta (a sentient being) substituted for Māra. Read alongside SN 35.65, this discourse quietly extends the same reframing one step further: not only is Māra nothing apart from the six sense fields, neither is personhood itself — the very notion of “a being” is relocated onto the same sixfold experience already used to redefine “living alone,” Māra, and (two discourses ahead) the world.

Reading guide

The shortest discourse in this vagga so far

A single question, and nothing more — not even one written-out sentence of its own answer.

What the reader is trusted to supply

SN 35.65's own six-field chain, with satta (a sentient being) substituted for Māra as the discourse's own target.

Personhood, relocated too

The same move already applied to “living alone” (SN 35.63) and Māra (SN 35.65) now reaches the very notion of “a being” itself — nothing apart from the six sense fields.

Key terms

satta — a sentient being — this discourse's own target, substituted for Māra
sattapaññatti — the description “a sentient being” — the exact phrase this discourse's own question uses
peyyāla — formula-repetition — the ellipsis mark this discourse's own answer is reduced to
pañha — question — the second of Samiddhi's own four
Māra — the Evil One — SN 35.65's own target, whose template this discourse silently reuses

The text

The complete discourse, exactly as both the Pali root and Sujato's own English give it: a single question, closed with a peyyāla ellipsis and no written answer. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Sir, they speak of this thing called a ‘sentient being’. How do we define a sentient being or what is known as a sentient being?” …

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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 much of this discourse's answer is actually written out?
Correct: A. The second of Samiddhi's four questions, and the shortest discourse in this vagga so far.
Question 2 of 5
What target replaces Māra as this discourse's own subject?
Correct: A. The second of Samiddhi's own four questions.
Question 3 of 5
What template is the reader trusted to supply for this discourse's own unwritten answer?
Correct: A. The same “template established, then assumed” move this project has already met.
Question 4 of 5
What does relocating “a sentient being” onto the six senses imply, following this vagga's earlier reframings?
Correct: A. The same reframing extended one step further.
Question 5 of 5
What discourse comes next, continuing this same four-part sequence?
Correct: A. The third of Samiddhi's four questions, also compressed entirely.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 35.65 · Samiddhi’s Question About Māra