Reading guide
Three kinds of terrain, only one shared
The discourse's own opening confirms three distinct kinds of Himalayan terrain: regions neither monkeys nor humans can reach, regions monkeys alone can reach, and level, pleasant places BOTH can reach — it is only in this last, shared territory that hunters set their snares, confirming the danger arises specifically where the monkey's own domain overlaps with human territory.
Struggling at five points, not just one
Confirmed by direct reading, the monkey's own escalating struggle — freeing one hand only by grabbing with another, then a foot, then the other foot, then his own snout — ends with him “trapped at five points,” a specific and vivid image of compounding entanglement rather than a single act of carelessness.
The identical closing application as SN 47.6
This discourse's own closing sections (§3-4) are confirmed by direct comparison to be worded almost identically to SN 47.6's own equivalent closing sections — the same five kinds of sensual stimulation named “the domain of others,” and the same four kinds of mindfulness meditation named a mendicant's own territory — confirming this saṃyutta's own use of a shared closing template across multiple animal-fable discourses.
Key terms
The text
§1 — three kinds of terrain“Mendicants, in the Himalayas there are regions that are rugged and impassable. In some such regions, neither monkeys nor humans can go, while in others, monkeys can go but not humans. There are also level, pleasant places where both monkeys and humans can go. There hunters set snares of tar on the monkey trails to catch the monkeys.
§2 — the monkey trapped at five pointsThe monkeys who are not foolhardy and reckless see the tar and avoid it from afar. But a foolish and reckless monkey goes up to the tar and grabs it with a hand. He gets stuck there. Thinking to free his hand, he grabs it with his other hand. He gets stuck there. Thinking to free both hands, he grabs it with a foot. He gets stuck there. Thinking to free both hands and foot, he grabs it with his other foot. He gets stuck there. Thinking to free both hands and feet, he grabs it with his snout. He gets stuck there. And so the monkey, trapped at five points, just lies there screeching. He’d meet with tragedy and disaster, and the hunter can do what he wants with him. The hunter spears him on that very banana tree, pries him off, and goes wherever he wants. That’s what happens when you roam out of your territory into the domain of others.
§3 — "the domain of others": the five kinds of sensual stimulationSo, mendicants, don’t roam out of your own territory into the domain of others. If you roam out of your own territory into the domain of others, Māra will find a vulnerability and get an opportunity. And what is not a mendicant’s own territory but the domain of others? It’s the five kinds of sensual stimulation. What five? Sights known by the eye, which are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. Sounds known by the ear … Smells known by the nose … Tastes known by the tongue … Touches known by the body, which are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. This is not a mendicant’s own territory but the domain of others.
§4 — "a mendicant's own territory": the four kinds of mindfulness meditationYou should roam inside your own territory, the domain of your fathers. If you roam inside your own territory, the domain of your fathers, Māra won’t find a vulnerability and get an opportunity. And what is a mendicant’s own territory, the domain of the fathers? It’s the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. What four? It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings … mind … principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. This is a mendicant’s own territory, the domain of the fathers.”
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