Reading guide
One formula, three different names across this vagga
“The ending of greed, hate, and delusion” has now named the unconditioned (SN 43, this project's own earlier saṃyutta), the culmination of the spiritual path (SN 45.6), the element of extinguishment, and freedom from death, all within this single vagga — confirmed by direct comparison across all four, the identical three-root ending answering four differently framed questions.
A path named again, without variation
Asked for the path leading to freedom from death, the Buddha names the noble eightfold path once more, confirming this vagga's own consistent pattern: whatever the goal is called, the path to it is always the identical eight factors, never a different practice tailored to the particular name in use.
Key terms
The text
First question: the removal of the three roots
§1At Sāvatthī. Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha … and said to him: “Sir, they speak of ‘the removal of greed, hate, and delusion’. What is this a term for?” “Mendicant, the removal of greed, hate, and delusion is a term for the element of extinguishment. It’s used to speak of the ending of defilements.”
Second question: freedom from death, and its own path
§2When he said this, the mendicant said to the Buddha: “Sir, they speak of ‘freedom from death’. What is freedom from death? And what is the path that leads to freedom from death?” “The ending of greed, hate, and delusion. This is called freedom from death. The path that leads to freedom from death is simply this noble eightfold path, that is: right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion.”
Self-check quiz
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