Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.101's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A single elided line; the fingernail demonstration itself left unstated even once in the consulted English source
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★★ — opens Vagga 11, this saṃyutta's own final vagga, beginning a large combinatorial series across the five destinations
Why this discourse
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse claims that sentient beings who die as humans and are reborn as humans are few, while those who die as humans and are reborn in hell are many — opening Vagga 11, “Pañcagatipeyyālavagga” (“Abbreviated Texts on Five Destinations”), this saṃyutta's own final vagga, confirmed by direct bilara-data listing to span SN 56.102 through SN 56.131, thirty discourses across five destinations: gods, humans, hell, animals, and ghosts.
Reading guide
The fingernail image, present in Pali but silent in English
This project's own reading: the root Pali still spells out the fingernail-dirt demonstration in full at this vagga's own opening (as at every previous vagga's own first or second discourse), but the consulted English source leaves every segment of that demonstration empty here, jumping straight to the comparative claim itself — a translator's own choice this project notes without treating it as evidence the Pali source itself omits the image.
A combinatorial matrix across five destinations
This project's own reading ahead, confirmed by direct bilara-data listing: this vagga systematically compares rebirth as a human or a god (the two favorable outcomes) against rebirth in hell, as an animal, or as a ghost (the three unfavorable ones), for each of the five destinations taken in turn as a starting point — a large combinatorial series, several of whose later segments bilara-data itself merges into single files.
Key terms
appakā te sattā ye manussā cutā manussesu paccājāyanti — “the sentient beings who die as humans and are reborn as humans are few” — the rare category, matching the tiny pinch of dirt already established at SN 56.51
manussā cutā niraye paccājāyanti — “die as humans and are reborn in hell” — the common category, matching the whole earth, giving this discourse its own title
cuta — “passed away, deceased” — the term marking the starting destination in each of this vagga's own comparisons
paccājāyati — “is reborn” — the term marking the resulting destination
paṭhamaṁ — “the first” — this discourse's own root text confirming its own position directly, read rather than assumed
The text
Every genuinely translated fragment given in the consulted English source, which itself leaves the fingernail demonstration unstated here, unlike this project's own earlier vagga-openers. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“… the sentient beings who die as humans and are reborn as humans are few, while those who die as humans and are reborn in hell are many …”
· · ·
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 claim about rebirth from a human life?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — the same rarity structure as SN 56.51's own fingernail-dirt image.
Question 2 of 3
What does this project's own reading ahead confirm about this vagga's own overall structure?
Correct: A. This project's own reading ahead, confirmed by direct bilara-data listing of the vagga's own full span.
Question 3 of 3
What position does this discourse occupy, and what vagga does it open?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading of the vagga field in the root text.
