A bare list of six faculties, named without further elaboration
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★★★ — the first discourse in this vagga whose own text directly matches the vagga's own name, “Chaḷindriyavagga,” resolving the discrepancy this project's own SN 48.21 honestly flagged
Why this discourse
This discourse finally resolves, directly and by its own text, the discrepancy this project's own SN 48.21 declined to guess at: it opens “Chayimāni, bhikkhave, indriyāni” — “mendicants, there are these SIX faculties” — the first discourse in this vagga to use the word “six” together with “indriya,” naming the six sense faculties: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.
Reading guide
The vagga's own name, finally matched directly
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse's own opening line — “Chayimāni, bhikkhave, indriyāni” (“these SIX faculties”) — is the first in this vagga whose own text literally uses the number six with the word “indriya,” directly matching “Chaḷindriyavagga” itself. This project's own SN 48.21 declined to guess at the resolution; this discourse supplies it.
The six sense faculties, the classic āyatana list
Confirmed by direct reading, the six faculties named here — cakkhundriya (eye), sotindriya (ear), ghānindriya (nose), jivhindriya (tongue), kāyindriya (body), manindriya (mind) — are the classic sixfold sense-base list met throughout the canon under the term āyatana, here specifically framed as “indriya,” faculties.
A running catalogue: five kinds of indriya so far
This project's own tally across this vagga so far: the five spiritual faculties (SN 48.21), the physiological trio of femininity/masculinity/life (SN 48.22), the supramundane trio (SN 48.23), the extended graduated scale of the five spiritual faculties (SN 48.24), and now the six sense faculties (SN 48.25) — a survey still possibly unfinished, as this vagga's own further discourses have not yet been read.
Key terms
Chaḷindriyavagga — “the vagga of the six faculties” — finally matched directly by this discourse's own opening line
Chayimāni — “these six” — the exact number this vagga's own name refers to, appearing here for the first time paired with “indriya”
cakkhundriyaṁ, sotindriyaṁ, ghānindriyaṁ, jivhindriyaṁ, kāyindriyaṁ, manindriyaṁ — “the faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind” — the classic sixfold sense-base list
Suddhaka — “plain, unmixed” — this discourse's own title, marking its bare, unelaborated form
Pañcamaṁ — “the fifth” — the closing colophon marker, confirming this as the vagga's fifth discourse
The text
The complete discourse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, there are these six faculties. What six? The faculties of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. These are the six faculties.”
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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 makes this discourse distinct from SN 48.21-24 within this vagga?
Correct: A. Directly resolving the discrepancy this project's own SN 48.21 honestly flagged.
Question 2 of 3
What six faculties does this discourse name?
Correct: A. The classic sixfold sense-base (āyatana) list, here framed as "indriya."
Question 3 of 3
How many distinct kinds of "indriya" has this project's own tally found in this vagga through SN 48.25?
Correct: A. A running catalogue, possibly still incomplete as more of the vagga remains unread.
