SN 56.45 — Splitting Hairs | Ru-Yi Meditation Center

Reading guide

A named disciple, a specific skill witnessed directly

This project's own reading: unlike this vagga's own more abstract companions, this discourse names Ānanda specifically and describes an actual skill he directly observed — archers hitting a small keyhole repeatedly from a distance — grounding the discourse's own comparison in a concrete, witnessed feat rather than a hypothetical.

A comparison escalated twice, not once

This project's own reading of the discourse's own structure: the Buddha does not simply declare penetrating the truths hardest of all directly; he first has Ānanda judge between two difficult feats (archery versus hair-splitting), then names something harder than whichever wins that comparison.

Key terms

sikkhitā vatime licchavikumārakā, susikkhitā vatime licchavikumārakā — “these Licchavi youths really are trained, so well trained” — Ānanda's own admiring reaction, reported to the Buddha

dūratova sukhumena tāḷacchiggaḷena asanaṁ atipātente poṅkhānupoṅkhaṁ avirādhitaṁ — “shooting arrows from a distance through a small keyhole, shaft after shaft without missing” — the skill Ānanda witnessed directly

sattadhā bhinnassa vālassa koṭiyā koṭiṁ paṭivijjheyya — “take a horsehair split into seven strands and penetrate one tip with another tip” — the harder feat this discourse's own title names

duppaṭivijjhataraṁ paṭivijjhanti — “penetrate something tougher than that” — the Buddha's own verdict, naming truly penetrating the four truths as harder than even the hair-splitting

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, which itself leaves Ānanda's own report to the Buddha untranslated as a repetition of what was already given in full moments earlier. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof. Then Venerable Ānanda robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, entered Vesālī for alms. He saw several Licchavi youths practicing archery near the town hall. They were shooting arrows from a distance through a small keyhole, shaft after shaft without missing. When he saw this he thought, “These Licchavi youths really are trained, so well trained, in that they shoot arrows from a distance through a small keyhole, shaft after shaft without missing.”

§2Then Ānanda wandered for alms in Vesālī. After the meal, on his return from almsround, he went to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him what had happened.

§3“What do you think, Ānanda? Which is harder and more challenging: to shoot arrows from a distance through a small keyhole, shaft after shaft without missing? Or to take a horsehair split into seven strands and penetrate one tip with another tip?” “It’s more difficult and challenging, sir, to take a horsehair split into seven strands and penetrate one tip with another tip.” “Still, Ānanda, those who truly penetrate suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path penetrate something tougher than that.

§4That’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 skill does Ānanda directly witness and report to the Buddha in this discourse?

Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — a specific, witnessed skill, not a hypothetical.

Question 2 of 3

What two-step comparison does the Buddha make, per this project's own reading of the discourse's own structure?

Correct: A. This project's own reading of the discourse's own two-stage escalation.

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

Splitting Hairs

Why this discourse