No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★ — confirmed by this project's own comparison to closely echo SN 51.18, sharing its own title
Why this discourse
This project's own comparison: this discourse shares its own root Pāli title, “Bhikkhusutta,” with SN 51.18 from the previous vagga, and its own content is nearly identical — the four bases named plainly, with arahantship alone as the stated outcome.
Reading guide
The same title, a near-identical statement
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse's own structure mirrors SN 51.18 closely: the four bases are simply listed (enthusiasm, energy, mental development, inquiry, each with active effort), then their development is said to lead directly to “the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom... through the ending of defilements” — omitting the sixfold list of results entirely, as SN 51.18 also did.
A recurring shape across vaggas
This project's own observation: this saṃyutta's own practice of returning to the same bare formula across different vaggas, sometimes under the very same title, continues here — this discourse functions as Vagga 3's own counterpart to Vagga 2's own SN 51.18.
Key terms
bhikkhu — “a mendicant” — the discourse's own root Pāli title, shared word-for-word with SN 51.18
cattāro iddhipādā — “these four bases of psychic power” — the discourse's own bare opening statement
padhānasaṅkhārasamannāgataṁ — “and active effort” — the same technical term defined in full at SN 51.13, here used without re-explanation
āsavānaṁ khayā — “through the ending of defilements” — the discourse's own sole named outcome, as at SN 51.18
diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā — “in this very life... having realized it with their own insight” — the same emphasis on direct, present-life realization met throughout this saṃyutta
The text
The complete discourse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, there are these four bases of psychic power. What 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. These are the four bases of psychic power. By developing and cultivating these four bases of psychic power, a mendicant realizes the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life. And they live having realized it with their own insight due to the ending of defilements.”
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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 does this project's own comparison find about this discourse?
Correct: A. Same root title ("Bhikkhusutta"), same bare structure, same sole outcome named.
Question 2 of 3
What outcome does this discourse name for developing the four bases?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading: only arahantship, omitting the sixfold list, exactly as SN 51.18 also did.
Question 3 of 3
What does this discourse illustrate about this saṃyutta's own structure, according to this project's own observation?
Correct: A. This discourse functions as Vagga 3's own counterpart to Vagga 2's own SN 51.18.
