Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.129-130's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
The vagga's own withheld third comparison, then an unbroken cascade of closing colophons: this vagga, this saṃyutta, this book, and the entire collection, each confirmed in turn
Length
1–2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★★★ — confirmed by direct reading of its own root colophon as the final discourse of the ENTIRE Saṃyutta Nikāya, closing Vagga 11, the Saccasaṃyutta, the Mahāvagga, and the whole collection all at once
Why this discourse
Confirmed by direct reading of its own root colophon, this discourse closes four things simultaneously, each stated explicitly in the text itself rather than inferred: Vagga 11 (“Pañcagatipeyyālavaggo ekādasamo”), the entire Saccasaṃyutta (“Saccasaṁyuttaṁ dvādasamaṁ” — confirming SN 56 as Book V's own twelfth and final saṃyutta), the entire Mahāvagga (“Mahāvaggo pañcamo” — confirming Book V as the Saṃyutta Nikāya's own fifth and final book), and, with its own final line, the entire Saṃyutta Nikāya itself (“Saṁyuttanikāyo samatto” — “the Saṃyutta Nikāya is completed”). Its own content completes the comparison this project already flagged as withheld at SN 56.129-130: sentient beings who die as ghosts and are reborn as gods are few, while those who die as ghosts and are reborn as ghosts again are many.
Reading guide
The withheld comparison, delivered at last
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse gives exactly the comparison this project identified as missing from SN 56.129-130: ghost-to-god rebirth measured against ghost-to-ghost rebirth specifically, the one unfavorable outcome the prior merged page conspicuously omitted — closing this vagga's own combinatorial series with the single most fitting final image, a being endlessly reborn as what it already is, never rising.
A cascade of four closings, each confirmed directly
This project's own direct reading of the root colophon, line by line, rather than assumed from context: “Ekādasamo” closes Vagga 11; “Saccasaṁyuttaṁ dvādasamaṁ” closes the Saccasaṃyutta as Book V's own twelfth saṃyutta; “Mahāvaggo pañcamo” closes the Mahāvagga as the Saṃyutta Nikāya's own fifth book; and a final, second uddāna names all twelve saṃyuttas of Book V by name (Path, Awakening Factors, Mindfulness, Faculties, Right Efforts, Powers, Bases of Success, Anuruddha, Jhāna, Breathing, Stream-Entry, and Truths) before the text's own final words: “Mahāvaggasaṁyuttapāḷi niṭṭhitā. Saṁyuttanikāyo samatto” (“The Mahāvagga Saṃyutta text is finished. The Saṃyutta Nikāya is completed.”)
This project's own multi-session translation, also complete
This project's own honest note: this discourse's own close is not only the source text's own end but this project's own as well — every saṃyutta of every book of the Saṃyutta Nikāya (Books I through V, fifty-six saṃyuttas in total) has now been translated and published on this site across many separate working sessions, this one completing Book V's own final stretch (SN 52 through SN 56) begun and finished within this single continuous session.
Key terms
appakā te sattā ye pettivisayā cutā devesu paccājāyanti; atha kho eteva bahutarā sattā ye pettivisayā cutā pettivisaye paccājāyanti — “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 ghost realm are many” — this discourse's own specific claim, completing SN 56.129-130's own withheld third comparison
pañcagatipeyyālavaggo ekādasamo — “the eleventh vagga [ends]” — this discourse's own first confirmed closing
saccasaṁyuttaṁ dvādasamaṁ — “the Saccasaṃyutta is the twelfth [section]” — confirming Book V's own full complement of twelve saṃyuttas, SN 45 through SN 56
mahāvaggo pañcamo — “the Mahāvagga is the fifth” — confirming Book V as the last of the Saṃyutta Nikāya's own five books
mahāvaggasaṁyuttapāḷi niṭṭhitā. saṁyuttanikāyo samatto — “the Mahāvagga Saṃyutta text is finished. The Saṃyutta Nikāya is completed.” — the collection's own final words
The text
Every genuinely translated fragment given in the consulted English source, including its own full cascade of closing lines — the vagga's own colophon and first uddāna are left untranslated in the consulted English source, as at every earlier vagga close throughout this project's own work, but the saṃyutta-closing line, the book-closing line, and the collection's own final words are all genuinely translated and quoted here in full. 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 the ghost realm are many. Why is that? It’s because they haven’t seen the four noble truths. What four? The noble truths of suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering.
§2That’s why you should practice meditation to understand: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’.”
ClosingThat is what the Buddha said. Satisfied, the mendicants approved what the Buddha said.
Saṃyutta completeThe Linked Discourses on the Truths, the twelfth section.
Book and collection completeThe Great Book is finished. The Linked Discourses are completed.
· · ·
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's own root colophon confirm, according to this project's own direct, line-by-line reading?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading of the root Pali colophon's own explicit, cascading closing statements — not inferred or assumed.
Question 2 of 3
What comparison does this discourse complete, per this project's own reading?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — the missing third case from SN 56.129-130, delivered here as this vagga's own closing image.
Question 3 of 3
What does this project's own honest note confirm about the significance of this discourse's own close?
Correct: A. This project's own stated milestone, directly tied to the source text's own confirmed final words.
