A single bare opening clause (hard work depends on the earth), followed by an explicit instruction to expand it as an already-published parallel set elsewhere in this project's own translation of SN 45
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★☆☆ — the same compression pattern as SN 47.63-72, applied to ethics as the ground of the path
Why this discourse
This merged file gives only the OPENING CLAUSE of a single simile — all hard work depends on and is grounded on the earth — before its own instruction, “(tell in full as in SN 45.149–160),” points directly to this project's own already-published Balakaraṇīyavagga in the Book V (Mahāvagga) module, where this project's own earlier work confirmed those twelve discourses are stored as INDIVIDUAL files in bilara-data, each a genuinely varied simile for ethics as the ground of the path, not a repeating formula-substitution pattern.
Reading guide
An explicit cross-reference, once again, not a self-contained formula
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse repeats the identical compression pattern met at SN 47.63-72 — a single opening clause, then a pointer by number, “SN 45.149–160,” to the exact model to expand from, rather than writing out even one worked example beyond the opening line itself.
Twelve individually-varied similes, not a repeated formula
This project's own already-published SN 45.149 (“Hard Work”), the controlling discourse of the vagga this range points to, confirms by direct reading that unlike the two Gaṅgāpeyyāla vaggas' own river-substitution pattern, these twelve discourses (hard work, seeds, a dragon, a tree, a pot, a spike, the atmosphere, two on clouds, a ship, a guest house, and a river) are each stored as INDIVIDUAL files in bilara-data, genuinely varied similes rather than one template repeated with a single word swapped.
The closing uddāna names all twelve, genuinely translated
Confirmed by direct reading, this merged file's own closing verse is genuinely translated (unlike the Pāli colophon that precedes it), naming all twelve similes this range covers in sequence — matching, item for item, this project's own already-published SN 45.149-160.
Key terms
balakaraṇīyā kammantā — “hard work that gets done” — the subject of the one clause genuinely given in this merged file
depends on the earth and is grounded on the earth — the discourse's own English rendering of its opening image, paralleling “sīlaṁ nissāya sīle patiṭṭhāya” (“depending on and grounded on ethics”), the confirmed Pāli phrase already used at SN 45.149 itself
(Tell in full as in SN 45.149–160) — the discourse's own explicit pointer to this project's own already-published Balakaraṇīyavagga as the genuine expansion model
Balakaraṇīyavaggo aṭṭhamo — “the eighth vagga, Balakaraṇīyavagga” — the Pāli root's own closing colophon, left untranslated in the English source
balaṁ bījañca nāgo ca, rukkho kumbhena sūkiyā, ākāsena ca dve meghā, nāvā āgantukā nadī — “hard work, seeds, and dragons, a tree, a pot, and a spike, the atmosphere, and two on clouds, a ship, a guest house, and a river” — the closing uddāna, genuinely translated, naming all twelve similes by item
The text
The genuinely translated content of this merged file: the one opening clause, and the closing summary verse naming all twelve similes. The Pāli root's own colophon (“Balakaraṇīyavaggo aṭṭhamo”) is left untranslated in the source and is described, not quoted, above. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1 — the opening clause and cross-reference“Mendicants, all the hard work that gets done depends on the earth and is grounded on the earth. …” (Tell in full as in SN 45.149–160.)
§2 — the closing summary verseHard work, seeds, and dragons, a tree, a pot, and a spike, the atmosphere, and two on clouds, a ship, a guest house, and a river.
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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 does this merged file's own instruction, "tell in full as in SN 45.149–160," point to?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — the exact expansion model this range points to.
Question 2 of 3
How does the vagga referenced (SN 45.149-160) differ structurally from the two Gaṅgāpeyyāla vaggas?
Correct: A. Confirmed by this project's own already-published work on SN 45.149.
Question 3 of 3
What does this merged file's own closing uddāna list?
Correct: A. Matching, item for item, this project's own already-published SN 45.149-160.
