Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 56.27

Real

Tathasutta — Koṭigāmavagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.26's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A direct statement of the four truths, then an etymological claim about their own name
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★ — the seventh of ten discourses, sharing its own exact title with SN 56.20, though textually distinct

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse states that the four noble truths are “real, not unreal, not otherwise” — the identical claim already made at SN 56.20 — but adds an explicit etymological conclusion this project confirms is absent from SN 56.20's own text: “that's why they're called 'noble truths'” (tasmā ariyasaccānīti vuccanti), deriving the very name “ariyasacca” from the truths' own reality.

Reading guide

A title shared exactly with SN 56.20

This project's own direct comparison: this discourse's own Pali title, “Tathasutta,” and its own English title, “Real,” are identical to SN 56.20, the closing discourse of Vagga 2 — a genuine collision in the source text itself, reported honestly here rather than silently disambiguated with an invented numbering the Pali itself does not use.

A textual difference: etymology made explicit

This project's own direct comparison confirms the two discourses are not identical: this discourse alone adds “tasmā 'ariyasaccānī'ti vuccanti” (“that's why they're called 'noble truths'”), explicitly deriving the technical term “ariyasacca” from the truths' own confirmed reality (tatha) — an etymological conclusion SN 56.20 does not draw.

Key terms

tathāni avitathāni anaññathāni — “real, not unreal, not otherwise” — the claim shared word for word with SN 56.20
tasmā 'ariyasaccānī'ti vuccanti — “that's why they're called 'noble truths'” — this discourse's own added etymological conclusion, absent from SN 56.20
ariyasacca — “noble truth” — the technical term this discourse explicitly derives from “tatha” (real)
cattāri ariyasaccāni — “the four noble truths” — named and defined once more at the discourse's own opening
sattamaṁ — “the seventh” — 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, there are these 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. These four noble truths are real, not unreal, not otherwise. That’s why they’re called ‘noble truths’.

§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
What does this discourse share exactly with SN 56.20, per this project's own direct comparison?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct comparison — an honestly reported title collision, not invented or disambiguated.
Question 2 of 3
What does this discourse add that SN 56.20 does not include, per this project's own comparison?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — a genuine textual difference despite the shared title.
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 "Sattamaṁ" ("seventh").
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

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