Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 56.34

Clothes

Celasutta — Sīsapāvanavagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.33's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha asks a question; the mendicants answer; the Buddha then applies the answer
Form
A question, an answer, then a striking reversal of priority
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★★★ — the fourth of ten discourses, this project's own most famous single image encountered so far in this vagga

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse asks the mendicants what they would do if their clothes or head caught fire; they answer that they would apply extraordinary urgency to extinguish it; the Buddha then delivers a striking reversal — until the four noble truths are comprehended, one should regard even a literally burning head with equanimity and direct that same extraordinary urgency toward comprehending the truths instead.

Reading guide

A question answered, then overturned

This project's own reading: the discourse's own rhetorical structure builds real force by first eliciting an obvious, urgent answer — of course one would act immediately on a burning head — only to redirect that exact urgency toward something the mendicants would not naturally treat as equally pressing, comprehending the four truths.

Key terms

āditte, bhikkhave, cele vā sīse vā kimassa karaṇīyaṁ — “if your clothes or head were on fire, what would you do about it?” — the Buddha's own opening question
adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca — “extraordinary enthusiasm, effort, zeal, vigor, perseverance, mindfulness, and situational awareness” — the sevenfold urgent response, first named for the fire, then redirected to the four truths
ajjhupekkhitvā — “regard...with equanimity” — the striking instruction to treat even a literally burning head as secondary
anabhisametānaṁ catunnaṁ ariyasaccānaṁ yathābhūtaṁ abhisamayāya — “to truly comprehending the four noble truths, so long as they have not [yet] been encompassed” — the redirected target of the same urgency
catutthaṁ — “the fourth” — 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, if your clothes or head were on fire, what would you do about it?” “Sir, if our clothes or head were on fire, we’d apply extraordinary enthusiasm, effort, zeal, vigor, perseverance, mindfulness, and situational awareness in order to extinguish it.”

§2“Mendicants, so long as you have not encompassed the four noble truths, regard your burning head or clothes with equanimity, ignore them, and apply extraordinary enthusiasm, effort, zeal, vigor, perseverance, mindfulness, and situational awareness to truly comprehending the four noble truths. What four? The noble truths of suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

§3That’s why you should practice meditation …”

· · ·

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 striking reversal does this discourse deliver, per this project's own reading of its own rhetorical structure?
Correct: A. This project's own reading of the discourse's own rhetorical force — urgency elicited, then redirected.
Question 2 of 3
What sevenfold response does the discourse name, first for the fire and then redirected?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — the identical sevenfold formula applied first to fire, then to the truths.
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 "Catutthaṁ" ("fourth").
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 56.33 · A Stick