Reading guide
Six near-synonyms for desire, named in full
“Greed, desire, fondness, thirst, passion, and craving” (chando rāgo nandī taṇhā) for each aggregate is this discourse's own fuller and more emotionally textured list than SN 44.4's own drier “not truly knowing” — confirmed by direct comparison, not a stylistic variant of the same underlying claim.
The shortest of the four, not the least of them
At only seventeen segments, this is the shortest discourse in the run of four, confirmed by direct comparison of file sizes — brevity here reflects how tightly the desire-based explanation parallels SN 44.4's own knowledge-based one in structure, not that it is a lesser or secondary explanation.
Key terms
The text
§1At one time Venerable Sāriputta and Venerable Mahākoṭṭhita were staying near Varanasi, in the deer park at Isipatana. … (The same down as far as:) “What’s the cause, reverend, what’s the reason why this has not been declared by the Buddha?” “Reverend, if you’re not rid of greed, desire, fondness, thirst, passion, and craving for form … feeling … perception … choices … consciousness, you think ‘a realized one still exists after death’ … ‘a realized one neither still exists nor no longer exists after death.’ If you are rid of greed for form … feeling … perception … choices … consciousness, you don’t think ‘a realized one still exists after death’ … ‘a realized one neither still exists nor no longer exists after death.’ This is the cause, this is the reason why this has not been declared by the Buddha.”
Self-check quiz
3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.