Reading guide
A trail left by higher beings
This project's own reading of the image: a “footprint” implies a path already walked by another, one a follower can locate and step into — here attributed to the gods themselves, giving the four factors a mark of aspirational, almost cosmic sanction beyond their own psychological or ethical description elsewhere in this saṃyutta.
A compressed statement, its own full form given next
Confirmed by direct comparison, this discourse states the four footprints without the explanatory reflection SN 55.35 gives for each one — a bare structural statement, its own fuller content held back for its own immediate companion discourse.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, these four footprints of the gods are in order to purify unpurified beings and cleanse unclean beings. What four? Firstly, a noble disciple has experiential confidence in the Buddha … This is the first footprint of the gods in order to purify unpurified beings and cleanse unclean beings. Furthermore, a noble disciple has experiential confidence in the teaching … the Saṅgha … Furthermore, a noble disciple’s ethical conduct is loved by the noble ones, unbroken, impeccable, spotless, and unmarred, liberating, praised by sensible people, not mistaken, and leading to immersion. This is the fourth footprint of the gods in order to purify unpurified beings and cleanse unclean beings. These four footprints of the gods are in order to purify unpurified beings and cleanse unclean beings.”
Self-check quiz
3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.