Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 56.4

A Gentleman (2nd)

Dutiyakulaputtasutta — Samādhivagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.3's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A threefold claim across past, future, and present, this time partly elided
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★ — the fourth of ten discourses, its own companion pairing with SN 56.3 confirmed by direct comparison

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct comparison against SN 56.3, this discourse shifts its own claim's grammar: where SN 56.3 named the four truths as the purpose gentlemen go forth for, this discourse states that any gentleman who has — after rightly going forth — truly comprehended anything at all, has thereby comprehended the four noble truths specifically.

Reading guide

A shift from purpose to achievement

This project's own direct comparison against SN 56.3: that discourse named the four truths as what going forth is for; this discourse instead claims that whatever true comprehension a gone-forth gentleman actually achieves, it is comprehension of these same four truths — a subtle but genuine shift this project reports rather than treats as mere repetition.

Key terms

sammā agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajitā yathābhūtaṁ abhisamesuṁ — “having rightly gone forth from the lay life to homelessness, truly comprehended” — this discourse's own subject, shifted from SN 56.3's own purpose-clause to an achievement-clause
cattāri ariyasaccāni yathābhūtaṁ abhisamesuṁ — “truly comprehended the four noble truths” — this discourse's own claim about what such comprehension always turns out to be
dukkhaṁ ariyasaccaṁ — “the noble truth of suffering” — the first truth, named in full at this discourse's own midpoint
… — the elision marking, standing in for the repeated temporal refrain already given in full at SN 56.3
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, which itself preserves the elision back to SN 56.3's own full statement. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, whatever gentlemen—past, future, or present—truly comprehend after rightly going forth from the lay life to homelessness, all of them truly comprehend 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. … That’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
How does this discourse's own claim differ from SN 56.3's own claim, per this project's own direct comparison?
Correct: A. This project's own reading of a subtle but genuine grammatical shift between two paired discourses.
Question 2 of 3
What does this discourse's own root text use to stand in for the repeated temporal refrain already given in full at SN 56.3?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading of the root Pali's own compression.
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 56.3 · A Gentleman (1st)