Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 45.149

Hard Work

Balasutta — Balakaraṇīyavagga

Setting
Sāvatthī
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
One simile (hard work depends on the earth), restated with each of the four closing formulas in elided form
Length
1-2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — the controlling discourse for this entire vagga

Why this discourse

A new vagga begins, with ethics (sīla) as its own controlling image — every kind of hard labor depends on the solid earth beneath it, just as the eightfold path depends on and is grounded in ethical conduct. This discourse establishes the same fourfold formula structure already met in the preceding vaggas, here restated across five numbered parts.

Reading guide

Five parts, four formulas, and one untranslated note

Part 1 writes the base formula (seclusion, fading away, cessation, letting go) out in full. Part 2 (2.1) is a single bracketed editorial or structural note in the Pāli root, left untranslated in the consulted English source — this project describes it as such rather than inventing a rendering. Parts 3, 4, and 5 then restate the discourse with the “removal of greed, hate, delusion,” “freedom from death,” and self-referential extinguishment formulas respectively, each heavily elided in the source to just its own distinguishing clause.

This vagga's own template discourse

As with SN 45.139 opening the preceding vagga, this discourse establishes the pattern that the remaining eleven discourses of this vagga will each implicitly carry — confirmed explicitly by an elaboration instruction found at this vagga's own final discourse, SN 45.160.

Key terms

balakaraṇīyā kammantā — “the hard work that gets done” — labor requiring physical strength, this discourse's own opening image
sīlaṁ nissāya sīle patiṭṭhāya — “depending on and grounded on ethics” — this vagga's own controlling phrase, replacing the river- and diligence-based openings of the two preceding vaggas
vivekanissitaṁ virāganissitaṁ nirodhanissitaṁ vossaggapariṇāmiṁ — the base formula, written out in full in Part 1
rāgavinayapariyosānaṁ... amatogadhaṁ... nibbānaninnaṁ — the three further formulas (Parts 3, 4, 5), each restated here in heavily elided form
paṭhamaṁ — “the first” — the Pāli root's own closing numeral, confirming this discourse opens the vagga's own twelve

The text

Every genuinely translated fragment across this discourse's own five parts. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

Part 1 — the base formula, in fullAt Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, all the hard work that gets done depends on the earth and is grounded on the earth. In the same way, a mendicant develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path depending on and grounded on ethics. And how does a mendicant grounded on ethics 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 grounded on ethics develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path.”

Part 3 — culminating in the removal of greed, hate, and delusion“… which culminate in the removal of greed, hate, and delusion …”

Part 4 — whose objective, destination, and culmination is freedom from death“… which have freedom from death as their objective, destination, and culmination …”

Part 5 — which slants, slopes, and inclines to extinguishment“… 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 new controlling image opens this vagga, replacing the river and diligence similes of the two preceding vaggas?
Correct: A. This vagga's own name, Balakaraṇīyavagga ("Hard Work"), names its opening simile.
Question 2 of 3
How does this project handle the untranslated editorial note at 149:2.1?
Correct: A. Following this project's own established honest-hedging practice for untranslated source material.
Question 3 of 3
What does the vagga's own final discourse (SN 45.160) confirm about this discourse's own role?
Correct: A. Confirmed by an explicit elaboration instruction at SN 45.160's own close.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 45.146–148 · The Moon, Etc.