Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 48.33

A Perfected One

Arahantasutta — Sukhindriyavagga

Setting
Not specified in the source
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A single defining statement, the arahant counterpart to the immediately preceding stream-enterer discourse
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★★☆ — confirms the honest expectation noted at SN 48.32: this vagga repeats the stream-enterer/arahant pairing pattern already met in Vagga 3

Why this discourse

This discourse confirms an expectation this project's own SN 48.32 noted honestly but declined to assume in advance: a paired arahant discourse follows, mirroring Vagga 3's own SN 48.26/27 pair exactly, now defining full arahantship with respect to the five feeling faculties — a mendicant freed “by not grasping” (anupādāvimutto) after truly understanding them.

Reading guide

A confirmed pairing, not merely a guessed one

Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse validates the honest expectation this project's own SN 48.32 stated without assuming: SN 48.32 (stream-enterer) and this discourse (arahant) form a direct pair for the five feeling faculties, exactly mirroring Vagga 3's own SN 48.26/27 pair for the six sense faculties — read fresh from this discourse's own source rather than taken for granted in advance.

The identical distinguishing phrase and closing formula

Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse shares its own distinguishing phrase (“anupādāvimutto,” “freed by not grasping”) and its own closing full arahant formula (“khīṇāsavo vusitavā katakaraṇīyo … sammadaññāvimutto”) with SN 48.27's own text, word for word — applied here to the five feeling faculties instead of the six sense faculties.

A structural pattern now confirmed across two vaggas

This project's own running observation: the stream-enterer/arahant pairing, first met in this saṃyutta's own Vagga 1 (SN 48.2-5), then Vagga 3 (SN 48.26-27), and now Vagga 4 (SN 48.32-33), appears to be a structural device this saṃyutta reuses for each new faculty category — though this project will keep confirming rather than assuming this for any later vagga.

Key terms

Sukhindriyavagga — “the vagga of the pleasure faculty” — this discourse continues the five feeling faculties named at SN 48.31-32
Sukhindriyaṁ, dukkhindriyaṁ, somanassindriyaṁ, domanassindriyaṁ, upekkhindriyaṁ — the five feeling faculties: pleasure, pain, happiness, sadness, and equanimity
anupādāvimutto — “freed by not grasping” — the phrase distinguishing this discourse's own arahant from SN 48.32's own stream-enterer, identical to the phrase met at SN 48.27
arahaṁ khīṇāsavo — “a perfected one, with defilements ended” — opening the classic full arahant formula, word for word the same as SN 48.27's own
Tatiyaṁ — “the third” — the closing colophon marker, confirming this as the vagga's third discourse

The text

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

§1“Mendicants, there are these five faculties. What five? The faculties of pleasure, pain, happiness, sadness, and equanimity. A mendicant comes to be freed by not grasping after truly understanding these five faculties’ origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape. Such a mendicant is called a perfected one, with defilements ended, who has completed the spiritual journey, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, achieved their heart’s goal, utterly ended the fetter of continued existence, and is rightly freed through enlightenment.”

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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 discourse confirm about the expectation noted at SN 48.32?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading, not assumed in advance.
Question 2 of 3
What phrase, shared word for word with SN 48.27, distinguishes this discourse's arahant from a mere stream-enterer?
Correct: A. The identical distinguishing phrase this project already met at SN 48.27.
Question 3 of 3
How many times has the stream-enterer/arahant pairing pattern now appeared across this saṃyutta, by this project's own count?
Correct: A. A recurring structural device across multiple vaggas, confirmed rather than assumed each time.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0