Reading guide
A shift from seeing to relinquishing
Where SN 46.71-73 built toward an analytical understanding (impermanence → suffering → not-self), this discourse's own topic is more directly volitional — the deliberate cultivation of letting go, confirmed by direct reading to be a natural next step after that analytical chain rather than a further link within it.
Key terms
pahānasaññā — “the perception of giving up” — a more directly volitional theme than the preceding three-characteristics chain, cultivating the intention to relinquish
bhāvitā bahulīkatā — “developed and cultivated” — the standard phrase, followed by the source's own elision
satta bojjhaṅgā — the seven awakening factors, implicitly developed together with this meditation topic
pahāna — “giving up” or “relinquishment” — a term describing the active abandonment of defilements, distinct from merely perceiving their own impermanent nature
aṭṭhamaṁ — “the eighth” — the Pāli root's own closing numeral for this discourse
The text
The complete discourse as the source itself gives it. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, when the perception of giving up is developed and cultivated it’s very fruitful and beneficial. …”
· · ·
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 topic differ in register from the preceding three-characteristics chain?
Correct: A. A natural next step after the analytical chain, rather than a further analytical link within it.
Question 2 of 3
What does "pahāna" (giving up) describe?
Correct: A. A volitional theme distinguishing this discourse from the preceding purely analytical sequence.
Question 3 of 3
What confirms this discourse's own position as the vagga's own eighth topic?
Correct: A. Consistent with the sequential numbering confirmed throughout this vagga's own ten topics.