No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★ — the discourse's own title marks it as the first of a pair, extending the four bases' own claim beyond the Buddhist community itself
Why this discourse
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse makes an unusually broad claim: not only Buddhist mendicants like Moggallāna, but “all the ascetics and brahmins in the past, future, or present who are mighty and powerful” — any tradition, any era — owe that power specifically to developing and cultivating the four bases of psychic power.
Reading guide
A claim that reaches beyond this one community
Confirmed by direct reading, the discourse's own scope is explicitly universal: “all the ascetics and brahmins” across all three times, not qualified by school, teacher, or tradition — the same claim this project has already met in a narrower form applied to Moggallāna specifically at SN 51.14.
The same four bases, stated without elaboration
Confirmed by direct reading, the discourse gives only the bare list — enthusiasm, energy, mental development, inquiry, each with active effort — without repeating the detailed method or the sixfold list of results already given in full at SN 51.11.
A title that promises a second discourse
This project's own observation: the discourse's own root Pāli title, Paṭhamasamaṇabrāhmaṇasutta, marks it explicitly as “first” (paṭhama) — not yet confirmed what distinguishes the companion discourse still to come.
Key terms
samaṇabrāhmaṇā — “ascetics and brahmins” — the discourse's own deliberately broad category, not restricted to the Buddha's own community
atītānāgatapaccuppannā — “past, future, or present” — the discourse's own three-part temporal scope, covering every era without exception
iddhimanto ceva ahesuṁ mahānubhāvā ca — “mighty and powerful” — the discourse's own criterion, identical to the description of Moggallāna at SN 51.14
paṭhama — “first” — part of the discourse's own root Pāli title, marking it as one of a pair
padhānasaṅkhārasamannāgataṁ — “and active effort” — the same technical term defined in full at SN 51.13, here used without re-explanation
The text
The complete discourse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, all the ascetics and brahmins in the past, future, or present who are mighty and powerful have become so by developing and cultivating the four bases of psychic power.
§2What four? It’s when a mendicant develops the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm … energy … mental development … inquiry, and active effort. All the ascetics and brahmins in the past, future, or present who are mighty and powerful have become so by developing and cultivating the four bases of psychic power.”
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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 broad is this discourse's own claim about who owes their power to the four bases?
Correct: A. "All the ascetics and brahmins in the past, future, or present who are mighty and powerful."
Question 2 of 3
What does this discourse's own title suggest about it?
Correct: A. Paṭhamasamaṇabrāhmaṇasutta — "the first Ascetics-and-Brahmins discourse," by its own root title.
Question 3 of 3
How does this discourse present the four bases, compared to SN 51.11's own full account?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading: only the bare list, assuming the reader already has SN 51.11's own fuller account in mind.
