Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.126-128's own setting
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
Only two discourse-numbers merged, each keeping its own separate clause rather than compressing into one sentence
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★★ — confirmed by direct reading to be one short of this vagga's own otherwise-consistent three-item pattern, its own missing case reserved for the saṃyutta's own final discourse
Why this discourse
Confirmed by direct listing of bilara-data's own directory, this merged page covers only two discourse-numbers, unlike every other origin-point in this vagga's own series, which receives three — comparing sentient beings who die as ghosts and are reborn as gods (rare) against those who die as ghosts and fall into hell (SN 56.129) or the animal realm (SN 56.130), each kept as its own separate clause rather than merged into one compound sentence. The third expected comparison, against ghosts falling back into the ghost realm itself, is conspicuously absent here — confirmed by direct reading of SN 56.131 to be this saṃyutta's own deliberately withheld final discourse.
Reading guide
A pattern broken, and why
This project's own direct comparison against every prior merged page in this vagga: SN 56.105-128 each compress three unfavorable outcomes into one shared clause across three discourse-numbers; this page instead gives only two outcomes (hell, animal) across two numbers, each kept as its own separate sentence — both a numerical and a structural departure this project confirms is deliberate, not an accident of compilation, once SN 56.131's own content is read directly.
The missing case, reserved for the very end
Confirmed by direct reading ahead: the omitted comparison — sentient beings who die as ghosts and are reborn as ghosts again, set against the rare case of rebirth as a god — is not lost or uncounted; it is this saṃyutta's own closing discourse, SN 56.131, given its own dedicated final statement rather than folded into this merged page like its own two companions.
Key terms
appakā te sattā ye pettivisayā cutā devesu paccājāyanti — “the sentient beings who die as ghosts and are reborn as gods are few” — the rare category, repeated identically in both of this merged page's own two clauses
niraye paccājāyanti — “reborn in hell” — SN 56.129's own specific unfavorable outcome, kept as its own separate clause
tiracchānayoniyā paccājāyanti — “reborn as an animal” — SN 56.130's own specific unfavorable outcome, likewise its own separate clause
pettivisaye paccājāyanti — “reborn as a ghost” — the third, expected outcome conspicuously absent from this merged page, confirmed reserved for SN 56.131
ekūnatiṁsatimaṁ — “the twenty-ninth” — the root colophon's own numbering, confirming this merged file's own final discourse-number, one short of what the vagga's own pattern would predict
The text
Every genuinely translated fragment given in the consulted English source, given as two separate clauses rather than one merged sentence, matching the root text's own own structure here. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“… the sentient beings who die as ghosts and are reborn as gods are few, while those who die as ghosts and are reborn in hell are many.”
§2“… the sentient beings who die as ghosts and are reborn as gods are few, while those who die as ghosts and are reborn in the animal realm 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
How does this merged page's own structure depart from every prior one in this vagga, per this project's own direct comparison?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct comparison — both a numerical and structural departure from this vagga's own established pattern.
Question 2 of 3
What does this project's own reading ahead confirm about the missing ghost-to-ghost comparison?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading of SN 56.131's own actual content, resolving what would otherwise be an unexplained gap.
Question 3 of 3
What unfavorable outcomes does this merged page name, and how many discourse-numbers does it cover?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading and directory listing — two outcomes, two numbers, the pattern's own deliberate exception.
