Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 56.46

Darkness

Andhakārasutta — Papātavagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.45's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha describes a cosmic darkness; a mendicant asks; the Buddha answers
Form
A cosmological description, then the same "is there something worse?" pattern already met at SN 56.42-43
Length
1–2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★★ — the sixth of ten discourses, this vagga's own third instance of its own recurring "something worse" pattern

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse describes the boundless gloom of interstellar space, so utterly dark that even the sun and moon's own mighty light makes no impression there — then repeats the same pattern already met at SN 56.42 and SN 56.43, naming the darkness of rebirth, old age, and death, into which those lacking understanding of the four truths fall, as worse still.

Reading guide

This vagga's own third repetition of a recurring pattern

This project's own direct comparison across SN 56.42, 56.43, and this discourse: all three share the identical structure — an image of overwhelming scale or intensity, a mendicant's own question about whether anything could be worse, and the same underlying answer about the choices leading to rebirth, old age, and death — confirming this project's own recognition of a deliberate compositional pattern within this vagga.

Key terms

lokantarikā aghā — “the boundless gloom of interstellar space” — literally the "gap-spaces" between world-systems, this discourse's own central cosmological image
candimasūriyānaṁ...evaṁmahiddhikānaṁ evaṁ mahānubhāvānaṁ ābhāya nānubhonti — “even the luminosity of the moon and the sun, so mighty and powerful, makes no impression” — this discourse's own measure of the darkness's own absoluteness
mahā vata so andhakāro, sumahā vata so andhakāro — “that darkness really is mighty, so very mighty” — the mendicant's own reaction, identical in form to SN 56.42-43's own reactions
jātandhakārampi papatanti, jarandhakārampi papatanti, maraṇandhakārampi papatanti — “they fall into the darkness of rebirth...old age...and death” — this discourse's own version of the recurring falling image
chaṭṭhaṁ — “the sixth” — 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 across the repeated formula's own darkness variant. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, the boundless gloom of interstellar space is so utterly dark that even the luminosity of the moon and the sun, so mighty and powerful, makes no impression.”

§2When he said this, one of the mendicants asked the Buddha, “Sir, that darkness really is mighty, so very mighty. Is there any other darkness more mighty and terrifying than this one?” “There is, mendicant.”

§3“But sir, what is it?” “There are ascetics and brahmins who don’t truly understand about suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. They take pleasure in choices that lead to rebirth … They continue to make such choices … Having made such choices, they fall into the darkness of rebirth, old age, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re not freed from rebirth, old age, and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re not freed from suffering, I say.

§4There are ascetics and brahmins who truly understand about suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. They don’t take pleasure in choices that lead to rebirth … They stop making such choices … Having stopped making such choices, they don’t fall into the darkness of rebirth, old age, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re freed from rebirth, old age, and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re freed from suffering, I say.

§5That’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 confirms this project's own recognition of a deliberate compositional pattern in this vagga?
Correct: A. This project's own direct comparison across three discourses confirming a repeated compositional choice.
Question 2 of 3
What measure of absoluteness does this discourse give for the darkness of interstellar space?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — a measure of totality, not merely relative darkness.
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 "Chaṭṭhaṁ" ("sixth").
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

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