Not given — this discourse's own bare opening statement
Speakers
The Buddha (implied)
Form
A single, bare doctrinal statement, opening a new saṃyutta
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★★☆ — opens a new saṃyutta and a genuinely new quality set this project has not yet treated in its own right
Why this discourse
This discourse opens the Iddhipādasaṁyutta (“Linked Discourses on the Bases of Psychic Power”), introducing a genuinely new set of four qualities this project has not yet worked through as its own dedicated saṃyutta — distinct from the four right efforts, five faculties, five powers, seven awakening factors, and eightfold path already treated elsewhere in this book.
Reading guide
Four bases of psychic power, defined at this opening
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse names its own four qualities directly: the basis of psychic power endowed with immersion due to enthusiasm (chandasamādhi), energy (vīriyasamādhi), mind (cittasamādhi), and inquiry (vīmaṁsāsamādhi) — each paired with “active effort” (padhānasaṅkhāra), a structural element this project has not yet met combined this way with any of the eightfold path's, five faculties', or seven awakening factors' own qualities.
From the near shore to the far
As general canonical background, not asserted beyond what this discourse's own bare text states: the image of crossing “from the near shore to the far shore” (apārā pāraṁ) is a classic canonical metaphor for crossing from saṃsāra to nibbāna, applied here directly to the fruit of developing these four bases.
Named for its own vagga's own setting, not this discourse's own
This project's own explicit caution: this vagga's own name, “Cāpālavagga,” refers to the Cāpāla Shrine (a site elsewhere in the canon associated with the Buddha's own decision to relinquish the life force) — but this opening discourse itself gives no setting at all, so this project does not assume the shrine appears in this specific discourse's own text until directly confirmed.
Key terms
cattāro iddhipādā — “the four bases of psychic power” — this saṃyutta's own governing subject, a genuinely new quality set for this project
chandasamādhippadhānasaṅkhārasamannāgataṁ iddhipādaṁ — “the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm, and active effort” — the first of the four, a distinctive compound structure
vīriya...citta...vīmaṁsā — “energy... mind... inquiry” — the remaining three bases, each sharing the identical “immersion and active effort” structure
apārā pāraṁ gamanāya saṁvattanti — “lead to going from the near shore to the far shore” — the classic canonical metaphor for crossing from saṃsāra to nibbāna
Paṭhamaṁ — “the first” — the closing colophon marker, confirming this as the vagga's first discourse
The text
The complete discourse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, when these four bases of psychic power are developed and cultivated they lead to going from the near shore to the far shore. What four? It’s when a mendicant develops the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm, and active effort. They develop the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to energy, and active effort. They develop the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to mental development, and active effort. They develop the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to inquiry, and active effort. When these four bases of psychic power are developed and cultivated they lead to going from the near shore to the far shore.”
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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 are the four bases of psychic power, defined at this discourse's own opening?
Correct: A. A genuinely new quality set this project has not yet treated as its own dedicated saṃyutta.
Question 2 of 3
What does "from the near shore to the far shore" represent, as general canonical background?
Correct: A. Applied directly here to the fruit of developing the four bases of psychic power.
Question 3 of 3
What does this project note about the vagga's own name, "Cāpālavagga"?
Correct: A. Honest caution: the vagga's own name doesn't confirm what this specific discourse's own text does or doesn't include.
