Reading guide
This vagga's own name, finally defined by the text itself
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse's own question-and-answer — “Katame ca, bhikkhave, bodhipakkhiyā dhammā?” (“And what are the qualities on the side of awakening?”) — answers, for the first time in this sequence, the very term this project has used throughout SN 48.61-66 as this vagga's own name without the text yet having explained it directly.
The black plum tree: wisdom as foremost
As general canonical background, not asserted beyond what this discourse's own bare text states: “Jambudīpa” (“Black Plum Tree Land,” i.e. the Indian subcontinent) is said to take its own name from the jambu (black plum, or rose-apple) tree, held to be the finest of all its trees — the simile places the faculty of wisdom in that same foremost position among the five bodhipakkhiyā dhammā.
Paṭhama, again: a pattern now recognized
This project's own observation, drawing directly on the confirmed pairing of SN 48.65-66: this discourse's own title again carries “Paṭhama” (“first”), a pattern this project has learned to flag rather than assume — the existence and content of any companion discourse to be confirmed only by directly reading SN 48.68 when reached.
Key terms
The text
§1“Mendicants, of all the trees in the Black Plum Tree Land, the black plum 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 the trees in the Black Plum Tree Land, the black plum 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.”
Self-check quiz
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