Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 46.21

To Awakening

Bodhisutta — Udāyivagga

Setting
Not specified — an abbreviated narrative frame
Speakers
An unnamed mendicant, questioning the Buddha directly
Form
The identical question-and-etymology already met at SN 46.5, in a more condensed form
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, opening this vagga's own repertoire of definitional discourses

Why this discourse

The same basic question already asked at SN 46.5 — “how are the awakening factors defined?” — returns here, receiving the identical etymological answer (“they lead to awakening”), but without SN 46.5's own closing account of the freedom that follows developing them.

Reading guide

A condensed repetition, not a new teaching

Confirmed by direct comparison, this discourse asks and answers the identical question already met at SN 46.5, but stops short of that discourse's own extended description of freedom from the defilements — a shorter, more purely definitional version of the same exchange, opening this new vagga's own sequence with familiar material before moving to new content.

Key terms

bojjhaṅgā ti vuccanti — “they speak of the ‘awakening factors’” — the identical opening question already met at SN 46.5
bodhāya saṁvattantīti... tasmā bojjhaṅgā ti vuccanti — “they lead to awakening... that's why they're called awakening factors” — the same etymology given at SN 46.5
sati... upekkhā — the seven awakening factors, named in brief succession as this discourse's own object
vivekanissitaṁ virāganissitaṁ nirodhanissitaṁ vossaggapariṇāmiṁ — the base formula, applied here to each awakening factor in turn
paṭhamaṁ — “the first” — the Pāli root's own closing numeral, confirming this discourse opens the vagga's own ten

The text

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

§1Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha … and said to him:

§2“Sir, they speak of the ‘awakening factors’. How are the awakening factors defined?” “Mendicant, they’re called awakening factors because they lead to awakening. A mendicant develops the awakening factors of mindfulness, investigation of principles, energy, rapture, tranquility, immersion, and equanimity, which rely on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripen as letting go. They’re called awakening factors because they lead to awakening.”

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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 earlier discourse does this one repeat, in condensed form?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct comparison — the identical question and etymological answer.
Question 2 of 3
What does this discourse omit, compared to SN 46.5's own fuller version?
Correct: A. A shorter, more purely definitional version of the same exchange.
Question 3 of 3
What does the Pāli root's own closing numeral, "paṭhamaṁ," confirm about this discourse?
Correct: A. A simple ordinal marker, consistent with the closing numerals seen throughout Book V.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 46.20 · Disillusionment