Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourses 49.23–34

Hard Work, Etc.

Balakaraṇīyādisutta — Balakaraṇīyavagga

Setting
Not given — matching this book's own recurring bare structure
Speakers
The Buddha (implied)
Form
A worked simile given in full, then a cross-reference instruction for the remaining discourses
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★☆☆ — breaks Vagga 2's own bare cross-reference pattern, keeping a full worked example, and reuses an image this project has already met at SN 46.11

Why this discourse

Unlike Vagga 2 (SN 49.13-22), a bare cross-reference with no content of its own, this file gives a full worked example: all hard work depends on and is grounded on the earth, just as a mendicant's own development of the four right efforts depends on and is grounded on ethics — the same grounding image this project already met at SN 46.11, there applied to the seven awakening factors.

Reading guide

A pattern broken, a familiar image reused

Confirmed by direct reading, this file's own opening gives the complete “grounded on ethics” simile in full before its own cross-reference instruction (“tell in full as in SN 45.149–160”) for the remaining eleven discourses — a fuller treatment than Vagga 2's own bare structure, matching this project's own observation at SN 46.11 that this same grounding image recurs across Book V's own related saṃyuttas.

Hard work, grounded on the earth

As general canonical background, not asserted beyond what this discourse's own bare text states: just as every task requiring effort (balakaraṇīya) depends on solid ground to be carried out at all, a mendicant's own development of the four right efforts is said to depend on and be grounded on ethics (sīla) as its own necessary foundation.

Twelve discourses, confirmed by this file's own colophon

This file's own closing colophon, “Balakaraṇīyavaggo tatiyo” (“the Hard Work chapter, the third”), confirms this vagga's own position without ambiguity, and its own uddāna — identical to the formula already met at SN 45.149-160 and SN 48.93-104 — names all twelve similes: hard work, seeds, a dragon, a tree, a pot, a spike, the atmosphere, two on clouds, a ship, a guest house, and a river.

Key terms

balakaraṇīyā kammantā... pathaviṁ nissāya pathaviyaṁ patiṭṭhāya — “hard work... depends on the earth and is grounded on the earth” — this discourse's own opening image
sīlaṁ nissāya sīle patiṭṭhāya — “depending on and grounded on ethics” — the same grounding phrase already met at this project's own SN 46.11, there for the awakening factors
cattāro sammappadhāne bhāveti — “develops the four right efforts” — this saṃyutta's own governing subject, now grounded on ethics
balaṁ bījañca nāgo ca; rukkho kumbhena sūkiyā — “hard work, seeds, and dragons, a tree, a pot, and a spike” — the closing uddāna's own opening line, naming the first six of this vagga's own twelve similes
Balakaraṇīyavaggo tatiyo — “the Hard Work chapter, the third” — this file's own closing colophon, confirming this vagga's own position

The text

Every genuinely translated fragment given in the consulted English source. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, all the hard work that gets done depends on the earth and is grounded on the earth. In the same way, a mendicant develops and cultivates the four right efforts depending on and grounded on ethics. How so? It’s when a mendicant generates enthusiasm, tries, makes an effort, exerts the mind, and strives so that bad, unskillful qualities don’t arise. … so that skillful qualities that have arisen remain, are not lost, but increase, mature, and are completed by development. That’s how a mendicant develops and cultivates the four right efforts depending on and grounded on ethics.”

Cross-reference(Tell in full as in SN 45.149–160.)

UddānaHard 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
How does this file's own structure differ from Vagga 2 (SN 49.13-22)?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — a fuller treatment than Vagga 2's own bare structure.
Question 2 of 3
What image does this discourse reuse from this project's own earlier work?
Correct: A. Just as hard work depends on the earth, the four right efforts depend on and are grounded on ethics.
Question 3 of 3
What does this file's own closing colophon and uddāna confirm?
Correct: A. "Balakaraṇīyavaggo tatiyo" and the identical twelve-simile uddāna, confirmed by direct reading.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 49.13–22 · Diligence