Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 56.25

The Ending of Defilements

Āsavakkhayasutta — Koṭigāmavagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.24's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A direct claim, its own key terms restated, then the standard closing instruction
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★ — the fifth of ten discourses, tying the traditional mark of arahantship (āsavakkhaya) directly to knowing and seeing the four truths

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse claims that the ending of defilements — the traditional mark of arahantship this project has already met throughout its own earlier work (SN 51-52, SN 54) — is specifically for one who knows and sees suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path, not for one who lacks such knowledge and vision.

Reading guide

Knowing and seeing, not merely believing

This project's own reading: the discourse's own repeated pairing “jānato passato” (“for one who knows and sees”) emphasizes direct cognitive and perceptual realization, not mere conceptual belief or faith — a distinction this project notes recurs across the wider canon whenever genuine insight is contrasted with intellectual assent alone.

A title shared exactly with SN 54.20

This project's own direct comparison: this discourse's own Pali title, “Āsavakkhayasutta,” and its own English title, “The Ending of Defilements,” are identical to the closing discourse of this project's own earlier Ānāpānasaṃyutta (SN 54.20) — two genuinely distinct discourses sharing one name, reported honestly rather than silently disambiguated.

Key terms

jānatohaṁ, bhikkhave, passato āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmi — “I say that the ending of defilements is for one who knows and sees” — this discourse's own opening claim
no ajānato apassato — “not for one who does not know or see” — this discourse's own explicit negative complement
āsavānaṁ khayo — “the ending of defilements” — the traditional mark of arahantship already met throughout this project's own earlier work
jānato passato — “for one who knows and sees” — a paired formula emphasizing direct realization over mere conceptual belief
pañcamaṁ — “the fifth” — 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. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, I say that the ending of defilements is for one who knows and sees, not for one who does not know or see. For one who knows and sees what? The ending of defilements is for one who knows and sees suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. The ending of the defilements is for one who knows and sees this.

§2That’s why you should practice meditation …”

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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
For whom does this discourse claim the ending of defilements is possible?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — the discourse's own explicit condition, stated positively and negatively.
Question 2 of 3
What does this project's own reading emphasize about the phrase "jānato passato" ("knowing and seeing")?
Correct: A. This project's own reading of a distinction recurring across the wider canon.
Question 3 of 3
What position does this discourse occupy in this vagga's own ten-discourse sequence?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading of the root text's own closing marker "Pañcamaṁ" ("fifth").
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

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