A single elided sentence, completing the base formula established at SN 52.11
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★ — confirms this project's own preview at SN 52.11: this vagga does walk through the classic higher knowledges one by one
Why this discourse
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse validates this project's own preview at SN 52.11: the base question and formula (several mendicants asking what Anuruddha developed to attain great direct knowledge, answered with the four kinds of mindfulness meditation) are elided by ellipsis, with only the closing claim spelled out — the many kinds of psychic power, the first of the classic sixfold higher knowledges already given in full at SN 51.11.
Reading guide
A bare-bones structure, confirming the vagga's own pattern
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse's own content is a single elided sentence, assuming the reader already has SN 52.11's own full question-and-answer structure in mind — the same compression pattern this project expects to confirm across this vagga's own remaining discourses.
The same list already met in full at SN 51.11
Confirmed by direct reading, the specific powers named — “multiplying myself and becoming one again... controlling the body as far as the realm of divinity” — are the identical list this project has already translated in full detail at SN 51.11, here simply attributed to the four foundations of mindfulness rather than the four bases of psychic power.
The same power, two different causes named across this book
This project's own cross-reference: SN 51 attributed psychic power to the four bases (iddhipāda); this discourse attributes the identical power to the four foundations of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna) instead — confirming, as this project has already observed elsewhere in this book, that multiple distinct practices are each said to lead to the same attainments.
Key terms
iddhividha — “psychic powers” — this discourse's own title and its own sole content
anekavihitaṁ iddhividhaṁ paccanubhoti — “wield the many kinds of psychic power” — the same phrase already met in full at SN 51.11
ekopi hutvā bahudhā hoti — “multiplying myself and becoming one again” — the list's own first item, kept here as elsewhere
yāva brahmalokāpi kāyena vasaṁ vatteti — “controlling the body as far as the realm of divinity” — the list's own final, most extreme item
catunnaṁ satipaṭṭhānānaṁ bhāvitattā — “because of developing and cultivating these four kinds of mindfulness meditation” — the cause named for psychic power here, distinct from SN 51's own four bases
The text
Every genuinely translated fragment given in the consulted English source. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“… And it’s because of developing and cultivating these four kinds of mindfulness meditation that I wield the many kinds of psychic power: multiplying myself and becoming one again … controlling the body as far as the realm of divinity.”
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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 discourse confirm about this project's own preview from SN 52.11?
Correct: A. Confirmed directly: this discourse's own content is psychic power, attributed to the four foundations, matching the predicted pattern.
Question 2 of 3
Where has this project already translated the specific list of psychic powers named here?
Correct: A. The identical list — multiplying the body, walking through walls, flying, and more — already given in full at SN 51.11.
Question 3 of 3
What does this project's own cross-reference observe about the cause named for psychic power here, compared to SN 51?
Correct: A. This project's own confirmed observation: multiple distinct practices, each said to lead to the same attainments.
