Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 45.10

With Nandiya

Nandiyasutta — Avijjāvagga

Setting
Sāvatthī
Speakers
The wanderer Nandiya and the Buddha
Form
A direct question, a direct answer, and a lay follower's own closing declaration
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, closes this vagga plainly

Why this discourse

The wanderer Nandiya asks how many things, developed and cultivated, have extinguishment as their “target, destination, and culmination” — a slightly different framing than this vagga's own earlier questions, asking not what the path is called but how many things constitute it. The answer is the familiar eight, and Nandiya, satisfied, goes for refuge as a lay follower “for life,” closing Avijjāvagga, this book's own first vagga of fourteen.

Reading guide

A question about number, not name

“How many things” is a different question than this vagga's own earlier “what is the path,” confirmed by direct comparison — Nandiya's own phrasing (“target, destination, and culmination”) is also distinct from the vocabulary SN 45.5–7 used, though the answer itself, the eightfold path's own eight factors, is identical.

A lifelong commitment, closing the vagga

Nandiya's own closing declaration — going for refuge “for life” — closes Avijjāvagga on a note of settled conviction rather than further argument, this project's own familiar closing pattern for a wanderer or outsider satisfied by an answer.

This vagga's own untranslated close

Following this discourse's own genuinely translated content, the root Pāli carries a closing colophon (“Avijjāvaggo paṭhamo,” “Avijjāvagga is the first [vagga]”) and an untranslated meta-uddāna naming all ten of this vagga's own discourses in verse — described here rather than quoted, since Sujato's own English leaves this portion untranslated and this reading guide does not fabricate content the translation does not supply.

Key terms

nibbānaṅgamā... nibbānaparāyanā... nibbānapariyosānā — “have extinguishment as their target, destination, and culmination” — Nandiya's own threefold framing of the question
aṭṭhime... dhammā — “these eight things” — the Buddha's own answer, naming the eightfold path's own eight factors by number before listing them
upāsakaṁ maṁ... dhāretu ajjatagge pāṇupetaṁ saraṇaṁ gataṁ — “may the worthy Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life” — Nandiya's own closing declaration
avijjāvaggo paṭhamo — “Avijjāvagga is the first [vagga]” — this vagga's own closing colophon, left untranslated in the root and described rather than quoted as English here
tassuddānaṁ — “its own summary verse” — the heading introducing the untranslated meta-uddāna naming all ten of this vagga's own discourses

The text

The complete genuinely translated content of the discourse. This vagga's own closing colophon and meta-uddāna are left untranslated in the source and are described, not quoted, above. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At Sāvatthī. Then the wanderer Nandiya went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side, and said to the Buddha: “Mister Gotama, how many things, when developed and cultivated, have extinguishment as their target, destination, and culmination?” “These eight things, when developed and cultivated, have extinguishment as their target, destination, and culmination. What eight? They are: right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. These eight things, when developed and cultivated, have extinguishment as their target, destination, and culmination.” When he said this, the wanderer Nandiya said to the Buddha, “Excellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! … From this day forth, may the worthy Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”

· · ·

Self-check quiz

3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 3
How does Nandiya's own question differ in framing from this vagga's earlier ones?
Correct: A. A different question, though the answer — the eightfold path's own eight factors — is identical to what this vagga has given throughout.
Question 2 of 3
How does Nandiya respond to the Buddha's own answer?
Correct: A. A note of settled conviction closing the vagga, this project's own familiar pattern for an outsider satisfied by an answer.
Question 3 of 3
What does this discourse's own closing colophon, left untranslated in the root, announce?
Correct: A. Described rather than quoted, since Sujato's own English leaves this portion untranslated.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

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