Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 56.52

A Lotus Pond

Pokkharaṇīsutta — Abhisamayavagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.51's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A comparative question, its own answer, then the application fully elided back to SN 56.51
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★ — the second of ten discourses in this vagga's own systematic series

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse compares a single drop of water lifted on the tip of a blade of grass to an immense lotus pond fifty leagues in each dimension, full to the brim — the same “at most seven more lives” application already given in full at SN 56.51 is here compressed to a single elided line.

Reading guide

A specific, measured pond

This project's own reading: the pond's own dimensions are given precisely (fifty leagues long, wide, and deep, “full to the brim so a crow could drink from it”) — a vivid, specific measure rather than a vague notion of largeness, matching this vagga's own recurring taste for concrete comparison.

Key terms

pokkharaṇī paññāsayojanāni āyāmena, vitthārena, ubbedhena — “a lotus pond that was fifty leagues long, fifty leagues wide, and fifty leagues deep” — this discourse's own precisely measured image
samatittikā kākapeyyā — “full to the brim so a crow could drink from it” — a vivid detail confirming the pond's own completeness
kusaggena udakaṁ uddhareyya — “pick up some water on the tip of a blade of grass” — the tiny counterpart to the pond
… — the elision marking, standing in for the full application already given at SN 56.51
dutiyaṁ — “the second” — 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 56.51's own full statement. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, suppose there was a lotus pond that was fifty leagues long, fifty leagues wide, and fifty leagues deep, full to the brim so a crow could drink from it. Then a person would pick up some water on the tip of a blade of grass. What do you think, mendicants? Which is more: the water on the tip of the blade of grass, or the water in the lotus pond?” “Sir, the water in the lotus pond is certainly more. The water on the tip of a blade of grass is tiny. Compared to the water in the lotus pond, it doesn’t count, there’s no comparison, it’s not worth a fraction.” “In the same way, for a noble disciple … That’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
How precisely does this discourse describe the lotus pond's own size?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — a precise, vivid measurement.
Question 2 of 3
How does this discourse's own root text present its own application to a noble disciple?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading of the root Pali's own elision.
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 "Dutiyaṁ" ("second").
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

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