The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A single prose sentence, restated once to name the three feelings, with no verse
Length
Under 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 enough to read in one breath
Why this discourse
This discourse is the shortest this project has met in Book IV so far: a single claim, stated once and then restated verbatim after naming the three feelings, that pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling are “impermanent, conditioned, dependently originated, liable to end, vanish, fade away, and cease.” Six near-synonymous terms for impermanence are stacked together rather than a single word standing alone, and no verse, simile, or narrative frame accompanies the claim at all — a pure, unadorned doctrinal statement standing between two more elaborate discourses on either side.
Reading guide
Six words for one idea, not six separate claims
Aniccā (impermanent), saṅkhatā (conditioned), paṭiccasamuppannā (dependently originated), khayadhammā (liable to end), vayadhammā (liable to vanish), virāgadhammā (liable to fade away), and nirodhadhammā (liable to cease) are strung together as one cumulative description rather than seven distinct properties to weigh separately — repetition and accumulation doing the work a longer argument might otherwise do.
No verse, no simile, no narrative frame
Unlike every other discourse in this vagga so far, this one offers no closing verse, no simile, and no setting — a bare doctrinal statement, restated once for confirmation, and nothing more.
A shared property across all three feelings, not a distinguishing one
Where SN 36.3 and SN 36.5 assigned each feeling its own distinct tendency or way of being seen, this discourse returns to treating all three identically, applying the same sevenfold impermanence description to pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling without distinction.
A brief statement, positioned deliberately between longer discourses
Following the extended twin infirmary discourses (SN 36.7–8) and preceding this vagga's own closing discourse (SN 36.10), this brief statement functions as a compact restatement of the vagga's underlying premise before the vagga's final discourse develops a new dimension (feeling's dependence on contact) at greater length.
Key terms
aniccā saṅkhatā paṭiccasamuppannā — impermanent, conditioned, dependently originated — the first three of the discourse's own seven cumulative descriptions
khayadhammā vayadhammā — liable to end, liable to vanish — two more of the seven, distinguishing finality (khaya) from the process of fading (vaya)
virāgadhammā nirodhadhammā — liable to fade away, liable to cease — the final two of the seven, closing on cessation itself
tisso vedanā — the three feelings — named once, with the sevenfold description applied to all three without distinction
navamaṁ — “ninth” — this discourse's own untranslated closing marker, its position within Sagāthāvagga
The text
The complete discourse: a single sentence, stated once. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, these three feelings are impermanent, conditioned, dependently originated, liable to end, vanish, fade away, and cease. What three? Pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling. These are the three feelings that are impermanent, conditioned, dependently originated, liable to end, vanish, fade away, and cease.”
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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
How many near-synonymous terms for impermanence does this discourse stack together?
Correct: A. Aniccā, saṅkhatā, paṭiccasamuppannā, khayadhammā, vayadhammā, virāgadhammā, and nirodhadhammā — cumulative repetition rather than a single term.
Question 2 of 5
What structural elements does this discourse lack, unlike every other discourse in this vagga so far?
Correct: A. A bare doctrinal statement, restated once, with nothing else attached.
Question 3 of 5
Does this discourse assign a distinct property to each of the three feelings, as SN 36.3 and SN 36.5 did?
Correct: A. A return to treating all three feelings identically, in contrast to the two preceding discourses' distinct mappings.
Question 4 of 5
Where is this discourse positioned within Sagāthāvagga?
Correct: A. A brief restatement functioning as a pause before the vagga's final, more developed discourse.
Question 5 of 5
What distinguishes khayadhammā ("liable to end") from vayadhammā ("liable to vanish") in this discourse's own list?
Correct: A. Two angles on the same impermanence, stacked together rather than treated as separate claims.
