Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.84

Liable to Wear Out

Palokadhammasutta — Channavagga

Setting
Sāvatthī
Speakers
Venerable Ānanda questioning; the Buddha answering
Form
A single question — how is “the world” defined? — answered by definition, then run across the six sense fields
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
★★☆☆☆ — short and formulaic, once the six-field chain is familiar

Why this discourse

This discourse opens Channavagga with Ānanda — a questioner this project has already met across several earlier vaggas of this book — asking the Buddha directly how “the world” (loka) is defined. This is the same question Gilānavagga's own SN 35.82 already answered, there through an unnamed mendicant and a wordplay etymology (lujjati, “it wears away”). Here the Buddha instead defines “the world” directly as “that which is liable to wear out” (palokadhamma) — a different formulation reaching the identical conclusion, run across the same six sense fields. Sujato's own note on this discourse's opening term cross-references SN 22.93 and SN 35.82 directly, confirming this project's own sense that these are restatements of one teaching rather than independent claims.

Reading guide

Ānanda's own question, opening a new vagga

Ānanda approaches the Buddha and asks plainly how “the world” is defined — the first of three questions he will put to the Buddha across this vagga's own opening trio (SN 35.84–86).

The world defined without etymology

“That which is liable to wear out is called the world,” the Buddha answers, then names what wears out: the eye, sights, eye consciousness, eye contact, and the feeling born of it — repeated for each of the remaining five sense fields in turn.

The same move as SN 35.82, without repeating its wordplay

SN 35.82, met earlier in Gilānavagga, reached this identical conclusion through the Pali pun on lujjati. This discourse reaches it again by direct definition instead — two different routes to the same six-field redefinition of “the world.”

Key terms

loka — the world — the term Ānanda asks the Buddha to define, opening this vagga exactly as it opened SN 35.82 in Gilānavagga
palokadhamma — liable to wear out — the Buddha's own definition of “the world,” a noun form of palujjati (Sujato's own note cross-references SN 22.93 and SN 35.82)
Ānanda — the questioner throughout this vagga's own opening trio (SN 35.84–86), continuing his recurring role across this project
cakkhu — the eye — the first sense field named as liable to wear out, opening the six-field chain
phassajā vedanā — feeling born of contact — the final link in the chain, also liable to wear out, for each of the six fields

The text

The complete discourse: Ānanda's question on the definition of “the world,” and the Buddha's answer run across the six sense fields. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At Sāvatthī. Then Venerable Ānanda went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him:

§2“Sir, they speak of this thing called ‘the world’. How is the world defined?” “Ānanda, that which is liable to wear out is called the world in the training of the Noble One. And what is liable to wear out?

§3The eye is liable to wear out. Sights … eye consciousness … eye contact is liable to wear out. The painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact is also liable to wear out. The ear … nose … tongue … body … The mind … ideas … mind consciousness … mind contact is liable to wear out. The painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact is also liable to wear out. That which is liable to wear out is called the world in the training of the Noble One.”

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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 question does Ānanda put to the Buddha at this discourse's opening?
Correct: A. The first of three questions Ānanda asks across this vagga's own opening trio.
Question 2 of 5
How does the Buddha define “the world” in this discourse?
Correct: A. A direct definition, not the etymological wordplay SN 35.82 used.
Question 3 of 5
What does this discourse name as liable to wear out?
Correct: A. The eye, sights, eye consciousness, eye contact, and feeling — repeated for all six fields.
Question 4 of 5
Which earlier discourse in this book reaches the identical conclusion by a different route?
Correct: A. Two different arguments, met earlier and now again, reaching the same six-field redefinition.
Question 5 of 5
What does Sujato's own note on this discourse's opening term cross-reference?
Correct: A. Confirming these three discourses restate one teaching rather than making independent claims.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

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