Not given — continuing directly from SN 54.18's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha (implied)
Form
A single compressed sentence, the third of a four-item series
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★ — brief in its own written form, but its own claim (“the course of time”) is the most distinctive and least self-explanatory of the four benefits in this series
Why this discourse
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse continues the four-item series opened at SN 54.17: mindfulness of breathing, developed and cultivated, “leads to completely understanding the course of time” (addhānapariññā) — the third of four named benefits, and, confirmed by this project's own direct comparison, the least self-explanatory claim in this series, given no further gloss anywhere in this saṃyutta.
Reading guide
"Addhāna": time, or a journey through it
This project's own honest observation: “addhāna” can mean either “time” or a long “journey”/“road,” and “the course of time” here most plausibly points to full understanding of one's own passage through saṁsāra — but this discourse itself gives no further explanation, and this project has not traced a fuller gloss elsewhere in this saṃyutta.
The least self-explanatory of the four
This project's own direct comparison: unlike “giving up the fetters” or “uprooting the tendencies,” whose own traditional referents (saṁyojana, anusaya) are well-established doctrinal lists, “completely understanding the course of time” is not tied to any other list this project has already translated, making it this series' own most distinctive claim.
Key terms
ānāpānassatisamādhi bhāvito bahulīkato — “immersion due to mindfulness of breathing, developed and cultivated” — the recurring cause named across this entire four-item series
addhānapariññā — “completely understanding the course of time” — this discourse's own named benefit, the third of four in this series
addhāna — “time,” or a long “journey”/“road” — a genuinely ambiguous term, not further glossed in this brief discourse
pariññā — “complete understanding” — a technical term for the fullest, most direct kind of insight, distinct from mere intellectual knowledge
navamaṁ — “ninth” — this discourse's own closing ordinal, confirming its position as the ninth discourse of Vagga 2
The text
Every genuinely translated fragment given in the consulted English source. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, when immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated it leads to completely understanding the course of time …”
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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 benefit does this discourse claim mindfulness of breathing leads to?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — this discourse's own single, named claim.
Question 2 of 3
What does this project's own honest observation note about the term "addhāna"?
Correct: A. Confirmed honestly — a genuinely ambiguous term, given no further gloss in this saṃyutta.
Question 3 of 3
How does this discourse's own claim compare to SN 54.17 and SN 54.18's own claims, per this project's own comparison?
Correct: A. This project's own direct comparison across the series' own four claims.
