Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 45.172

Yokes

Yogasutta — Oghavagga

Setting
Continuing directly from SN 45.171
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
One sentence, matching this vagga's own established compressed presentation
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, in this vagga's own established rhythm

Why this discourse

The four yokes — sensual pleasures, future lives, views, and ignorance — name essentially the same four underlying forces as SN 45.171's own floods, now under the metaphor of a yoke binding beings to what drags them onward, rather than a flood sweeping them along.

Reading guide

A near-identical fourfold, a new metaphor

Comparing the two lists directly: the floods (sensuality, desire to be reborn, views, ignorance) and the yokes (sensual pleasures, future lives, views, ignorance) name essentially the same four underlying forces — confirming this vagga's own opening sequence, like the “barrenness/stains/troubles” sequence of the preceding vagga, applies successive metaphors to closely related, sometimes identical, content.

Key terms

cattāro yogā — “four yokes” — a metaphor for what binds and drags beings toward continued existence
kāmayogo bhavayogo diṭṭhiyogo avijjāyogo — the yokes of sensual pleasures, future lives, views, and ignorance — near-identical in substance to SN 45.171's own four floods
abhiññāya pariññāya parikkhayāya pahānāya — the four verbs established at SN 45.161-162, carried forward unchanged
ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo bhāvetabbo — “the noble eightfold path should be developed” — this discourse's own base-formula conclusion
dutiyaṁ — “the second” — the Pāli root's own closing numeral for this discourse

The text

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

§1“Mendicants, there are these four yokes. What four? The yokes of sensual pleasures, future lives, views, and ignorance. These are the four yokes. The noble eightfold path should be developed for the direct knowledge, complete understanding, finishing, and giving up of these four yokes.”

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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 does this discourse's own fourfold list compare to SN 45.171's own four floods?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct comparison of the two discourses' own Pāli terms.
Question 2 of 3
What image does the term "yoga" (yoke) evoke?
Correct: A. Distinct from the flood metaphor, though describing largely the same underlying forces.
Question 3 of 3
What earlier sequence in this project's own coverage of SN 45 does this metaphor-shift most resemble?
Correct: A. Both sequences apply a new descriptive lens to substantially the same underlying material.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 45.171 · Floods