Reading guide
A striking reversal of speaker and patient
In SN 46.14-15, the Buddha (healthy) recited the awakening factors to a sick disciple; here, the Buddha himself is sick, and a disciple recites them to him — confirmed by direct comparison to be the same narrative template with speaker and patient roles exchanged, suggesting the recitation's own efficacy does not depend on the speaker's own rank, only on the content itself.
Mahācunda, a less prominent disciple given a notable role
Unlike Mahākassapa and Mahāmoggallāna, senior figures central elsewhere in the canon, Mahācunda appears only occasionally — his selection here to recite the awakening factors to the ailing Buddha himself is notable precisely because of his own more modest profile, reinforcing that the practice's own power lies in the teaching, not the status of who speaks it.
Key terms
The text
§1 — the setting and requestAt one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. Now at that time he was sick, suffering, gravely ill. Then Venerable Mahācunda went up to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. The Buddha said to him: “Cunda, express your understanding of the awakening factors.”
§2 — Mahācunda's own recitation and the Buddha's own confirmation“Sir, the Buddha has rightly explained these seven awakening factors. When developed and cultivated, they lead to direct knowledge, to awakening, and to extinguishment. What seven? The awakening factors of mindfulness, investigation of principles, energy, rapture, tranquility, immersion, and equanimity. These are the seven awakening factors that the Buddha has rightly explained. When developed and cultivated, they lead to direct knowledge, to awakening, and to extinguishment.” “Indeed, Cunda, these are awakening factors! Indeed, Cunda, these are awakening factors!”
§3 — the recoveryThis is what Cunda said, and the teacher approved. And that’s how the Buddha recovered from that illness.
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