Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 36.3

Giving Up

Pahānasutta — Sagāthāvagga

Setting
Not restated in this discourse
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A threefold prose prescription followed by a five-verse elaboration
Length
~2 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
★★☆☆☆ — a clean three-way mapping, worth holding in mind together

Why this discourse

This discourse matches each of the three feelings to a specific underlying tendency (anusaya) that must be given up: the tendency to greed for pleasant feeling, the tendency to aversion for painful feeling, and the tendency to ignorance for neutral feeling. A mendicant who has given up all three is described in a formula this project has already met applied to other objects — seeing rightly, cutting off craving, casting off the fetters, and making an end of suffering. The five-verse elaboration that follows reverses the frame, describing the danger of not understanding feeling rather than the achievement of understanding it, before closing on the same firm, unreckonable knowledge master this project has already met in other closing verses.

Reading guide

Three feelings, three distinct tendencies

Greed (rāga) underlies pleasant feeling, aversion (paṭigha) underlies painful feeling, and ignorance (avijjā) underlies neutral feeling — a precise, non-interchangeable mapping rather than a single tendency applied loosely across all three.

A mendicant defined by absence, not by achievement

The formula naming someone who has given up all three tendencies — “without underlying tendencies” (niranusaya), who “sees rightly” (sammaddasa) — describes a state purely in terms of what has been removed, not any new faculty gained.

The verses reverse the frame: danger, not achievement

Where the prose describes what should be given up, the verses describe what happens when it isn't: a person who doesn't understand feeling develops the underlying tendency, and even someone who correctly identifies neutral feeling as peaceful still isn't released from suffering if they take pleasure (abhinandati) in it — correct identification alone is shown to be insufficient without also giving up delight.

A closing formula this project has already met elsewhere

The verses' own closing lines — complete understanding, freedom from defilements in this life, a “knowledge master” (vedagū) who “can't be reckoned” (na saṅkhyaṁ upeti) when the body breaks up — recur nearly word for word in SN 36.5, this saṃyutta's own fifth discourse, suggesting these two discourses share a common closing template this saṃyutta will return to more than once.

Key terms

rāgānusayo / paṭighānusayo / avijjānusayo — the underlying tendencies to greed, aversion, and ignorance — matched respectively to pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling
niranusayo sammaddaso — “without underlying tendencies” and “who sees rightly” — the discourse's own description of a mendicant who has given up all three tendencies
anissaraṇadassino — “not seeing the escape” — the condition the verses name for someone whose underlying tendency remains active
abhinandati — “takes pleasure in” — the verse's own precise failure point: correctly seeing neutral feeling as peaceful is not enough if one still delights in it
vedagū — “knowledge master” — the verse's own closing epithet for one who has completely understood feeling, “unreckonable” at the body's breaking up

The text

The complete discourse: the threefold prescription and the five-verse elaboration. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, there are these three feelings. What three? Pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling. The underlying tendency to greed should be given up when it comes to pleasant feeling. The underlying tendency to aversion should be given up when it comes to painful feeling. The underlying tendency to ignorance should be given up when it comes to neutral feeling. When a mendicant has given up these underlying tendencies, they’re called a mendicant without underlying tendencies, who sees rightly, has cut off craving, cast off the fetters, and by rightly comprehending conceit has made an end of suffering.

§2When you feel pleasure without understanding feeling, the underlying tendency to greed is there, if you don’t see the escape.

§3When you feel pain without understanding feeling, the underlying tendency to aversion is there, if you don’t see the escape.

§4As for that peaceful, neutral feeling: he of vast wisdom has taught that if you relish it, you’re still not released from suffering.

§5But when a mendicant is keen, not neglecting situational awareness, that astute person understands all feelings.

§6Completely understanding feelings, they’re without defilements in this very life. That knowledge master is firm in principle; when their body breaks up, they can’t be reckoned.”

· · ·

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
Which underlying tendency does this discourse match to each of the three feelings?
Correct: A. A precise, non-interchangeable pairing: rāga/pleasant, paṭigha/painful, avijjā/neutral.
Question 2 of 5
How is a mendicant who has given up all three tendencies described?
Correct: A. Niranusayo sammaddaso — defined by what has been removed, not by any new faculty gained.
Question 3 of 5
What does the discourse say about someone who correctly identifies neutral feeling as peaceful but still takes pleasure in it?
Correct: A. "If you relish it, you're still not released from suffering" — correct identification without giving up delight is insufficient.
Question 4 of 5
What happens to someone who doesn't understand feeling, according to the verses?
Correct: A. "When you feel pleasure without understanding feeling, the underlying tendency to greed is there."
Question 5 of 5
What closing epithet does the final verse use for someone who has completely understood feeling?
Correct: A. A formula this discourse shares closely with SN 36.5's own closing verse.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 36.2 · Pleasure