The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
The same either/or test as SN 36.27, widened to five criteria, heavily compressed by peyyāla
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
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, building directly on SN 36.27
Why this discourse
This discourse widens SN 36.27's own three-item test for a true ascetic or brahmin (gratification, drawback, escape) to five items, adding feeling's own origin (samudaya) and disappearance (atthaṅgama) at the front. The same strict either/or structure remains unchanged: understanding all five disqualifies no one and understanding fewer than all five qualifies no one, with bilara-data compressing most of the repeated wording by ellipsis rather than restating it.
Reading guide
Two items added, none removed
Origin and disappearance are added to the same three criteria from SN 36.27, widening the test rather than replacing it — gratification, drawback, and escape remain necessary, now joined by understanding where feeling comes from and where it goes.
The same all-or-nothing structure, now with five parts
Just as SN 36.27 admitted no partial credit for understanding only some of its three items, this discourse's own five-item version requires understanding all five together — origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape — before the title of true ascetic or brahmin is granted.
Compression standing in for a now-familiar wording
Bilara-data compresses most of this discourse's own wording with ellipsis markers, assuming the reader already holds SN 36.27's own phrasing (“I don't deem them true ascetics and brahmins... those who do... realize the goal... with their own insight”) in mind rather than restating it in full a second time.
A middle term in a deliberately shrinking series
With five items, this discourse sits between SN 36.27's three and SN 36.29's own four — not a simple descending count, since SN 36.29 will use different elements again (feeling, origin, cessation, and the practice to cessation) rather than a strict subset of this discourse's own five.
Key terms
samudayañca atthaṅgamañca — “origin and disappearance” — the two items added to SN 36.27's own three, widening the test to five
assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca — gratification, drawback, and escape — retained unchanged from SN 36.27's own three-item version
…pe… — the peyyāla (repetition) marker compressing most of this discourse's own wording, assuming SN 36.27's phrasing
yathābhūtaṁ nappajānanti / pajānanti — “don't truly understand” and “do truly understand” — the same all-or-nothing verb pair from SN 36.27, now applied to all five items together
dutiyaṁ — “second” — this discourse's own untranslated closing marker, its position within this three-part series
The text
The complete discourse as bilara-data preserves it — the widened five-item test, compressed by peyyāla where its wording matches SN 36.27's own. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, there are these three feelings. What three? Pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling. There are ascetics and brahmins who don’t truly understand these three feelings’ origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape. … There are ascetics and brahmins who do truly understand …”
· · ·
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 two items does this discourse add to SN 36.27's own three-item test?
Correct: A. Samudaya and atthaṅgama, joining gratification, drawback, and escape to make five.
Question 2 of 5
Does this discourse's five-item test allow partial credit for understanding only some of the five?
Correct: A. The strict either/or structure carries over unchanged, now applied to five items.
Question 3 of 5
How does bilara-data handle most of this discourse's own wording?
Correct: A. Assuming the reader already holds SN 36.27's own denial/affirmation phrasing in mind.
Question 4 of 5
How does this discourse's five-item test relate to SN 36.29's own four-item version?
Correct: A. Not a simple descending count — SN 36.29 builds from feeling, origin, cessation, and the practice to cessation instead.
Question 5 of 5
What three items from SN 36.27 does this discourse retain unchanged?
Correct: A. The same three criteria from SN 36.27, now joined by origin and disappearance.
