The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A prose definition of the three feelings followed by a single three-line verse
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
★☆☆☆☆ — a compact verse repaying close reading
Why this discourse
This discourse repeats SN 36.1's own opening definition of the three feelings before turning to a verse that treats all three — pleasure, pain, and neutral feeling alike, whether felt internally or externally — as a single unified object of insight: known as suffering, deceptive, and breaking apart. Rather than treating pleasant feeling as something to seek and painful feeling as something to avoid, the verse collapses the distinction, applying the identical diagnosis to all three and to their arising "again and again," concluding this is how one becomes free of desire for them.
Reading guide
All three feelings named together, not treated separately
Where many discourses in this saṃyutta will treat pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling with separate prescriptions, this verse names all three together in a single breath ("pleasure or pain as well as what's neutral") before applying one shared diagnosis to all of them at once.
Internal and external, without distinction
The verse specifies feeling "internally and externally" (ajjhattañca bahiddhā ca) — whatever is felt, regardless of source, falls under the same diagnosis, a scope broader than discourses that treat only feeling arisen through the body's own six sense doors.
Three words for one diagnosis
Suffering (dukkha), deceptive (mosadhamma), and breaking apart (palokina) are given together as a single compound description, not three separate faults to weigh — the verse's own economy suggests these are three ways of naming one underlying instability rather than three distinct problems.
Freedom through repeated seeing, not a single insight
The verse's own phrase “as they're experienced again and again” (phussa phussa vayaṁ passaṁ, literally “touching and touching, seeing their passing away”) frames freedom from desire as the product of a repeated observation across many occurrences of feeling, not one decisive realization.
Key terms
ajjhattañca bahiddhā ca — “internally and externally” — the verse's own scope, covering feeling regardless of its source
mosadhammaṁ palokinaṁ — “deceptive, breaking apart” — two of the three qualities the verse assigns jointly to all three feelings
phussa phussa vayaṁ passaṁ — “as they're experienced again and again” — literally “touching and touching, seeing their passing away,” the verse's own description of repeated observation
virajjati — “to be free of desire” — the outcome the verse names for one who sees feeling this way
yaṁ kiñci atthi veditaṁ — “whatever is felt” — the verse's own maximally inclusive scope, naming no feeling as exempt from the diagnosis
The text
The complete discourse: the definition of the three feelings and the closing verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, there are these three feelings. What three? Pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling. These are the three feelings.
§2Whatever is felt internally and externally—whether pleasure or pain as well as what’s neutral—having known this as suffering, deceptive, breaking apart, one sees them vanish as they’re experienced again and again: that’s how to be free of desire for them.”
· · ·
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 does this discourse's verse treat the three feelings, compared to prescribing separate responses to each?
Correct: A. Pleasure, pain, and neutral feeling are named together before the shared diagnosis of suffering, deception, and breaking apart is applied.
Question 2 of 5
What scope does the verse specify for the feelings it discusses?
Correct: A. Ajjhattañca bahiddhā ca — "internally and externally," a scope broader than feeling from the six sense doors alone.
Question 3 of 5
What three qualities does the verse jointly assign to all three feelings?
Correct: A. Dukkha, mosadhamma, and palokina — given together as one compound diagnosis, not three separate faults.
Question 4 of 5
What does the phrase "as they're experienced again and again" suggest about how freedom from desire arises?
Correct: A. Phussa phussa vayaṁ passaṁ — "touching and touching, seeing their passing away" — repetition, not a one-time event.
Question 5 of 5
What outcome does the verse name for someone who sees feeling this way?
Correct: A. "That's how to be free of desire for them" — the verse's own closing line.
