Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.74

Sick (1st)

Paṭhamagilānasutta — Gilānavagga

Setting
Sāvatthī, at the bedside of a sick mendicant elsewhere in the city
Speakers
The Buddha questioning; a junior, little-known mendicant confessing and answering
Form
A pastoral visit prompted by a third party’s report, a remorse diagnosed and corrected, then a six-faculty catechism (permanent? suffering? self?) closing on the arising of the Dhamma-eye
Length
~3 minutes 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
★★★☆☆ — the remorse dialogue and the closing outcome both reward careful attention

Why this discourse

This discourse opens Gilānavagga (“Sick”), and its own opening scene explains the vagga’s name: a mendicant reports to the Buddha that an unnamed junior monk, not well-known, is gravely ill elsewhere in Sāvatthī, and asks him to visit out of sympathy. The Buddha goes unprompted by the sick monk himself. What follows is a careful diagnosis: the sick monk has no remorse over his ethical conduct, yet admits to remorse all the same — not because he has broken any precept, but because he had understood the Buddha’s teaching to aim merely at ethical purity. The Buddha corrects this: the Dhamma is taught for the sake of the fading away of greed (rāgavirāga), not ethical purity for its own sake. A catechism on the six sense faculties alone — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, each asked whether permanent, whether suffering, whether fit to be regarded as self — follows, and the discourse closes not with the full liberation formula this project has met many times before, but with the arising of “the dustless, stainless vision of the Dhamma” in the sick mendicant: stream-entry, not full awakening. This narrower catechism and narrower outcome will matter directly for reading SN 35.75, which repeats this same visit almost word for word but extends both the catechism and the goal further, and closes on full liberation instead.

Reading guide

A visit prompted by report, not request

The sick mendicant never asks for the Buddha himself — another mendicant reports his condition and asks the Buddha to go “out of sympathy.” The Buddha, hearing that the monk is junior and little-known, goes anyway; the sick monk stirs to rise and is told to stay as he is.

Remorse traced to a misunderstood goal

The sick monk has “no reason to blame himself” over ethical conduct, yet confesses real remorse. The Buddha’s questioning uncovers why: the monk had understood the teaching to aim at ethical purity alone. The Buddha corrects this directly — the Dhamma is taught for the fading away of greed, not for ethical purity as an end in itself.

A catechism on the six faculties alone

The three-question catechism (permanent or impermanent? suffering or happiness? fit to be regarded as self?) here covers only the six sense faculties themselves — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind — not the extended chain through consciousness, contact, and feeling that SN 35.75 will use for the same visit repeated.

A first stirring, not full release

The discourse closes with the disillusionment formula and the arising of “the dustless, stainless vision of the Dhamma” in the sick mendicant — the standard mark of stream-entry, not the fuller declaration of freedom this project has met at the close of many other discourses. Read alongside SN 35.75, this narrower outcome tracks the narrower catechism and narrower statement of the goal that preceded it.

Key terms

kukkucca — remorse, worry — what the Buddha asks after and the sick monk confesses to, despite having no fault in conduct
rāgavirāga — the fading away of greed — what the sick monk comes to understand as the real purpose of the teaching
anicca — impermanent — the catechism’s own first question, applied to each of the six sense faculties
dukkha — suffering — what is impermanent is, by the catechism’s own logic, necessarily this
dhammacakkhu — the vision (or eye) of the Dhamma — what arises in the sick mendicant at the close, the classic mark of stream-entry

The text

The complete discourse: a pastoral visit, a remorse diagnosed and corrected, a six-faculty catechism, and the arising of the Dhamma-eye. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At Sāvatthī. Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha, and said to him, “Sir, in such and such a monastery there’s a mendicant who is junior and not well-known. He’s sick, suffering, gravely ill. Please go to him out of sympathy.”

§2When the Buddha heard that the mendicant was junior and ill, understanding that he was not well-known, he went to him. That mendicant saw the Buddha coming off in the distance and stirred in his cot. The Buddha said to that monk, “It’s all right, mendicant, don’t get up. There are some seats spread out, I will sit there.” He sat on the seat spread out and said to the mendicant, “I hope you’re keeping well, mendicant; I hope you’re all right. I hope that your pain is fading, not growing, that its fading is evident, not its growing.” “Sir, I’m not keeping well, I’m not getting by. The pain is terrible and growing, not fading; its growing is evident, not its fading.”

§3“I hope you don’t have any remorse or regret?” “Indeed, sir, I have no little remorse and regret.” “I hope you have no reason to blame yourself when it comes to ethical conduct?” “No sir, I have no reason to blame myself when it comes to ethical conduct.” “In that case, mendicant, why do you have remorse and regret?” “Because I understand that the Buddha has not taught the Dhamma merely for the sake of ethical purity.” “If that is so, what then do you understand to be the purpose of teaching the Dhamma?” “I understand that the Buddha has taught the Dhamma for the purpose of the fading away of greed.”

§4“Good, good, mendicant! It’s good that you understand that I’ve taught the Dhamma for the purpose of the fading away of greed. For that is indeed the purpose. What do you think, mendicant? Is the eye permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent, sir.” … “Is the ear … nose … tongue … body … mind permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent, sir.”

§5“But if it’s impermanent, is it suffering or happiness?” “Suffering, sir.” “But if it’s impermanent, suffering, and perishable, is it fit to be regarded thus: ‘This is mine, I am this, this is my self’?” “No, sir.”

§6“Seeing this, a learned noble disciple grows disillusioned with the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Being disillusioned, desire fades away. When desire fades away they’re freed. When they’re freed, they know they’re freed. They understand: ‘Rebirth is ended … there is nothing further for this place.’” That is what the Buddha said. Satisfied, that mendicant approved what the Buddha said. And while this discourse was being spoken, the stainless, immaculate vision of the Dhamma arose in that mendicant: “Everything that is liable to arise is liable to cease.”

· · ·

Self-check quiz

6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 6
Who first reports the sick mendicant’s condition to the Buddha?
Correct: A. The sick monk never asks for the visit himself — a third party reports his condition.
Question 2 of 6
Why does the sick monk feel remorse, given he has no fault in ethical conduct?
Correct: A. His remorse traces to a misunderstood goal, not a broken precept.
Question 3 of 6
What does the Buddha say the Dhamma is actually taught for?
Correct: A. Rāgavirāga — the fading away of greed — not ethical purity for its own sake.
Question 4 of 6
Which sense factors does this discourse’s own catechism cover?
Correct: A. A narrower catechism than SN 35.75’s repeat of this same visit.
Question 5 of 6
What arises in the sick mendicant at the discourse’s close?
Correct: A. Stream-entry, not full liberation — a narrower outcome than SN 35.75’s.
Question 6 of 6
How does this discourse’s outcome set up SN 35.75, which follows immediately?
Correct: A. The pairing rewards reading both discourses together, as this reading guide does.
Answered 0 of 6 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 35.73 · Six Fields of Contact (3rd)