Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 45.121

Slanting to the Ocean

Samuddaninnasutta — Dutiyagaṅgāpeyyālavagga

Setting
Sāvatthī
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
The full template restored, opening Set 2's own second half
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, opens this set's own second half

Why this discourse

The Ganges slopes to the ocean once more, closing with the identical “freedom from death” formula as SN 45.115's own — confirming, as with Set 1, that the closing formula is fixed per set of twelve rather than per direction.

Reading guide

The pattern holds a second time

Exactly as SN 45.109 confirmed for Set 1, this discourse confirms the same holds for Set 2: one closing formula spans both the east-bound and ocean-bound halves of a set.

Key terms

gaṅgā nadī samuddaninnā samuddapoṇā samuddapabbhārā — “the Ganges river slants, slopes, and inclines to the ocean” — this discourse's own opening image
amataogadhaṁ amataparāyanaṁ amatapariyosānaṁ — “whose objective, destination, and culmination is freedom from death” — unchanged from SN 45.115's own, confirming Set 2's own formula holds across both directions
nibbānaninno hoti nibbānapoṇo nibbānapabbhāro — “slants, slopes, and inclines to extinguishment” — the path's own description, unchanged
ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo — the noble eightfold path, defined identically throughout this set
samuddaninna — “sloping to the ocean” — this discourse's own direction, opening this set's own second half

The text

The complete discourse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, the Ganges river slants, slopes, and inclines to the ocean. In the same way, a mendicant who develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path slants, slopes, and inclines to extinguishment. And how does a mendicant who develops the noble eightfold path slant, slope, and incline to extinguishment? It’s when a mendicant develops right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion, whose objective, destination, and culmination is freedom from death. That’s how a mendicant who develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path slants, slopes, and inclines to extinguishment.”

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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
What closing formula does this discourse use, compared to SN 45.115's own?
Correct: A. Confirming, as with Set 1, that the formula is fixed per set rather than per direction.
Question 2 of 3
What does this discourse confirm for the second time in this vagga?
Correct: A. First confirmed at SN 45.109 for Set 1, now confirmed again for Set 2.
Question 3 of 3
What comes next, following this vagga's own established four-river pattern?
Correct: A. SN 45.122-126 will close Set 2 with the same four-river-plus-collective structure.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0