SN 51.17 — Ascetics and Brahmins (2nd)

Reading guide

The promised pair, now distinguished

This project's own observation, confirmed directly by comparing the two texts: SN 51.16's own “mighty and powerful” is replaced here with the specific, detailed list of psychic feats already given in full at SN 51.11 — multiplying oneself, materializing and dematerializing, passing through solid matter, walking on water, flying, touching sun and moon, reaching the Brahmā realm bodily.

Still universally scoped, still unelaborated in method

Confirmed by direct reading, the discourse keeps SN 51.16's own universal scope — “all the ascetics and brahmins in the past, future, or present” — and its own bare list of the four bases, without repeating the detailed method given at SN 51.11 or SN 51.13.

A pair now complete

This project's own observation: with this discourse, the pair SN 51.16 has promised its own title is now complete — general mightiness first, specific psychic power second, both traced to the same four bases regardless of tradition or era.

Key terms

dutiya — “second” — the discourse's own root Pāli title, confirming it as SN 51.16's own promised companion

anekavihitaṁ iddhividhaṁ paccanubhonti — “wield the various kinds of psychic power” — the discourse's own more specific criterion, replacing SN 51.16's own generic “mighty and powerful”

ekopi hutvā bahudhā hoti — “multiplying themselves and becoming one again” — the first item in the detailed list this discourse now spells out

yāva brahmalokāpi kāyena vasaṁ vatteti — “controlling their body as far as the realm of divinity” — the list's own final, most extreme item, kept in full here as in SN 51.11

samaṇabrāhmaṇā — “ascetics and brahmins” — the same deliberately broad category as SN 51.16, unchanged across both discourses of the pair

The text

The complete discourse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, all the ascetics and brahmins in the past,

§2future,

§3or present who wield the various kinds of psychic power—multiplying themselves and becoming one again; materializing and dematerializing; going unobstructed through a wall, a rampart, or a mountain as if through space; diving in and out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying cross-legged through the sky like a bird; touching and stroking with the hand the sun and moon, so mighty and powerful; controlling their body as far as the realm of divinity—do so by developing and cultivating the four bases of psychic power.

§4What 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. Mendicants, all the ascetics and brahmins in the past,

§5future,

§6or present who wield the many kinds of psychic power—multiplying themselves and becoming one again … controlling their body as far as the realm of divinity—do so by developing and cultivating these four bases of psychic power.”

· · ·

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 discourse differ from SN 51.16, according to this project's own comparison?

Correct: A. SN 51.16's bare "mighty and powerful" becomes here the specific list: multiplying the body, passing through walls, flying, touching sun and moon.

Question 2 of 3

What confirms this discourse as SN 51.16's own promised companion?

Correct: A. "Dutiya" ("second") in the discourse's own root title, directly paired with SN 51.16's own "paṭhama" ("first").

Question 3 of 3

Does this discourse repeat the detailed method for developing each basis?

Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading: only the bare list of four, assuming the reader already knows the method.

Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Ascetics and Brahmins (2nd)

Why this discourse