Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 45.140

Footprints

Padasutta — Appamādapeyyālavagga

Setting
Continuing directly from SN 45.139
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
One simile, with only the base closing formula written out; the other three implied by elision
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, but structurally abbreviated

Why this discourse

An elephant's footprint, said to hold every other footprint within it, illustrates diligence exactly as SN 45.139's own simile did — but here only the base formula is written out, trailing into an ellipsis the source itself leaves for the reader to complete from the previous discourse.

Reading guide

Only the first of four formulas is spelled out here

Per SN 45.139's own precedent and the elaboration instruction confirmed later in this vagga, this discourse implicitly also carries the “greed/hate/delusion,” “freedom from death,” and self-referential formulas — but the source text itself writes out only the base formula before an ellipsis, and this reading guide does not invent the elided text.

Key terms

hatthipadaṁ — “an elephant's footprint” — said in the simile to hold every other walking creature's own footprint within it
appamādamūlakā appamādasamosaraṇā — “rooted in diligence and meeting at diligence” — the shared description applied to all skillful qualities throughout this vagga
vivekanissitaṁ virāganissitaṁ nirodhanissitaṁ vossaggapariṇāmiṁ — the base formula, the only one of the four written out in full here
pe — the standard bilara-data elision marker, rendered as an ellipsis, marking where the other three formulas are implied but not written out
ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo — the noble eightfold path, defined identically to SN 45.139's own

The text

The complete discourse as the source itself gives it, including its own trailing ellipsis. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“The footprints of all creatures that walk can fit inside an elephant’s footprint. So an elephant’s footprint is said to be the biggest of them all. In the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in diligence and meet at diligence, and diligence is said to be the best of them. A mendicant who is diligent can expect to develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path. And how does a mendicant who is diligent develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path? It’s when a mendicant develops right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion, which rely on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripen as letting go. … That’s how a mendicant who is diligent develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path.”

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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
How many of the four closing formulas does this discourse write out in full?
Correct: A. The source itself trails into an ellipsis after the base formula, per this vagga's own established abbreviation pattern.
Question 2 of 3
What image does this discourse use to illustrate diligence?
Correct: A. The second of this vagga's own ten similes, following the Realized One simile of SN 45.139.
Question 3 of 3
Why doesn't this reading guide supply the missing three formulas in translation?
Correct: A. Following this project's own established honest-hedging practice for elided peyyāla content.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 45.139 · The Realized One