Reading guide
A third simile, confirming a recurring motif
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse is the third in this vagga to apply a vivid image to wisdom's own foremost place among the five faculties: the lion (SN 48.51), the elephant's footprint (SN 48.54), and now red sandalwood, best of fragrant heartwoods — confirming this vagga's own recurring structural motif rather than a single isolated comparison.
Returning to SN 48.51's own exact phrasing
Confirmed by direct comparison, this discourse's own framing term, “bodhipakkhiyā dhammā” (“qualities on the side of awakening”), matches SN 48.51's own phrasing exactly, word for word — rather than continuing SN 48.54's own distinct term, “padāni bodhāya saṁvattanti” — showing this vagga's own simile-discourses do not progress in a single fixed direction but return to earlier phrasing as needed.
Sandalwood among heartwoods: a specific, valued image
As general background, not asserted beyond what this discourse's own bare text states: red sandalwood (lohitacandana) was a prized fragrant wood in ancient India, valued above other aromatic heartwoods — this discourse's own choice of image draws on that recognized value to make wisdom's own foremost status vivid and immediate.
Key terms
The text
§1“Of all kinds of fragrant heartwood, red sandalwood is said to be the best. In the same way, the faculty of wisdom is said to be the best of the qualities on the side of awakening; that is, for becoming awakened. And what are the qualities on the side of awakening? The faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom are qualities on the side of awakening, in that they lead to becoming awakened. Of all kinds of fragrant heartwood, red sandalwood is said to be the best. In the same way, the faculty of wisdom is said to be the best of the qualities on the side of awakening; that is, for becoming awakened.”
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