Not restated; continues directly as dialogue from SN 38.1's own setting
Speakers
The wanderer Jambukhādaka questioning Venerable Sāriputta
Form
A four-step chained dialogue, breaking this saṃyutta's own fifteen-discourse catechism template entirely, closing on this saṃyutta's own colophon
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
★★☆☆☆ — closes both the vagga and the entire saṃyutta at once
Why this discourse
This discourse closes Jambukhādakasaṃyutta by abandoning the fifteen-discourse catechism template entirely: instead of defining a term, Jambukhādaka asks what's hard to do in this teaching and training, and Sāriputta answers with a chain of four increasingly demanding stages — going forth is hard; for one gone forth, finding satisfaction is hard; for one satisfied, practicing in line with the teaching is hard — before Jambukhādaka asks the natural final question: once a mendicant is practicing that way, how long until they become an arahant? “Not long,” Sāriputta answers. The discourse then closes on this saṃyutta's own genuinely Sujato-translated colophon: “The Linked Discourses with Jambukhādaka are complete” — confirming, at last, this saṃyutta's own scope of 16 discourses in a single vagga.
Reading guide
A chain, not a catechism
Going forth → finding satisfaction → practicing in line with the teaching → arahantship — four linked stages of increasing difficulty, each building on the one before it, replacing the define-confirm-name-close template every earlier discourse in this saṃyutta has used.
The reassurance at the end of the chain
Once the hardest stage — practicing in line with the teaching — is actually reached, Sāriputta's own answer is unambiguous: arahantship follows “not long” after. The difficulty named throughout this discourse is in reaching that stage, not in what follows once it is reached.
A genuinely translated close, confirming this saṃyutta's own scope
“The Linked Discourses with Jambukhādaka are complete” — Sujato's own translated closing line, following an untranslated ordinal (“sixteenth”) this reading guide describes rather than quotes, and preceding an entirely untranslated uddāna listing all sixteen discourses by name, also described rather than quoted.
Key terms
pabbajjā... dukkarā — “going forth is hard to do” — the first link in this discourse's own four-stage chain
abhirati dukkarā — “finding satisfaction is hard to do” — the second link, specific to one who has already gone forth
dhammānudhammappaṭipatti dukkarā — “practicing in line with the teaching is hard to do” — the third and hardest link named in this discourse
naciraṁ — “not long” — Sāriputta's own answer to how long arahantship takes once that third stage is genuinely reached
Jambukhādakasaṁyuttaṁ samattaṁ — “The Linked Discourses with Jambukhādaka are complete” — this saṃyutta's own genuinely Sujato-translated closing line, following the untranslated ordinal and uddāna this reading guide describes rather than quotes
The text
The complete discourse, apart from the intervening untranslated ordinal and uddāna (described rather than quoted above), together with this saṃyutta's own genuinely translated final line. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Reverend Sāriputta, in this teaching and training, what is hard to do?” “Going forth, reverend, is hard to do in this teaching and training.” “But what’s hard to do for someone who has gone forth?” “When you’ve gone forth it’s hard to be satisfied.” “But what’s hard to do for someone who is satisfied?” “When you’re satisfied, it’s hard to practice in line with the teaching.” “But if a mendicant practices in line with the teaching, will it take them long to become a perfected one?” “Not long, reverend.”
§2The Linked Discourses with Jambukhādaka are complete.
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Self-check quiz
4 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 4
What four-stage chain does Sāriputta name in this discourse?
Correct: A. A chain of increasing difficulty, replacing this saṃyutta's own fifteen-discourse catechism template.
Question 2 of 4
How does this discourse structurally differ from SN 38.1-15?
Correct: A. The only discourse in this saṃyutta that breaks its own fixed template.
Question 3 of 4
How long does Sāriputta say arahantship takes once a mendicant genuinely practices in line with the teaching?
Correct: A. The reassurance closing the chain: the difficulty lies in reaching that stage, not in what follows it.
Question 4 of 4
What does this discourse's own closing colophon confirm?
Correct: A. "The Linked Discourses with Jambukhādaka are complete" — following an untranslated ordinal and uddāna this reading guide describes rather than quotes.
