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Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.67

Samiddhi’s Question About Suffering

Samiddhidukkhapañhasutta — 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 third of Samiddhi's four questions, compressing entirely just as SN 35.66 did: only the question is given — “How do we define suffering or what is known as suffering?” — closed with a peyyāla ellipsis. The reader is again trusted to supply SN 35.65's own template, this time with dukkha (suffering) substituted for Māra. Dukkha is, of course, the very term this project has already met at the centre of the four noble truths throughout Books III and IV — this discourse does not invoke that teaching directly, but the choice to ask “what is suffering?” using the identical six-sense-field template already used for Māra and a sentient being quietly reinforces this saṃyutta's own recurring claim: suffering, like Māra and personhood, is nothing apart from the six sense fields and what arises there.

Reading guide

Compressed again, matching SN 35.66

The third of Samiddhi's four questions, and the second in a row reduced to a bare question and a peyyāla ellipsis.

What the reader is trusted to supply

SN 35.65's own six-field chain, with dukkha (suffering) substituted for Māra as the discourse's own target.

A familiar word, an unfamiliar template

Dukkha is the term at the centre of the four noble truths, but here it receives the same six-sense-field treatment already applied to Māra and a sentient being — not the four-noble-truths analysis this project has met applying dukkha elsewhere.

Key terms

dukkha — suffering — this discourse's own target, substituted for Māra
dukkhapaññatti — the description “suffering” — 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 third 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 ‘suffering’. How do we define suffering or what is known as suffering?” …

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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 third of Samiddhi's four questions, compressed just as SN 35.66 was.
Question 2 of 5
What target replaces Māra as this discourse's own subject?
Correct: A. The third of Samiddhi's own four questions.
Question 3 of 5
What analysis does this discourse notably NOT apply to dukkha, unlike its more familiar canonical treatment?
Correct: A. Here dukkha receives the same six-sense-field template already used for Māra, not a four-noble-truths analysis.
Question 4 of 5
What template is the reader trusted to supply for this discourse's own unwritten answer?
Correct: A. The same substitution move as SN 35.66.
Question 5 of 5
What discourse comes next, closing this four-part sequence at full length again?
Correct: A. The fourth and last of Samiddhi's questions, restating the template in full.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 35.66 · Samiddhi’s Question About a Sentient Being