Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 56.56

The Earth (2nd)

Dutiyamahāpathavīsutta — Abhisamayavagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.55's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A comparative question inverting SN 56.55's own image, its own answer, then the same elided application
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★ — the sixth of ten discourses, completing the addition/erosion pair opened at SN 56.55

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct comparison against SN 56.55, this discourse inverts the image: rather than seven clay balls placed on an intact earth, the great earth itself is imagined worn away and eroded entirely except for seven clay balls the size of jujube seeds — the identical erosion move already met between SN 56.53 and SN 56.54, and between SN 56.49 and SN 56.50.

Reading guide

A third instance of the same addition/erosion move

This project's own direct comparison: by this discourse, the addition/erosion inversion has now recurred three times in this vagga (SN 56.49-50's own mountain, SN 56.53-54's own confluence, and this pair's own earth) — confirming a deliberate structural template this project traces across the vagga rather than treating each pair as a fresh, unrelated invention.

Key terms

mahāpathavī parikkhayaṁ pariyādānaṁ gaccheyya ṭhapetvā satta kolaṭṭhimattiyo guḷikā — “the great earth was worn away and eroded except for seven clay balls the size of jujube seeds” — this discourse's own inverted image
mahāpathaviyā parikkhīṇaṁ pariyādinnaṁ — “the great earth that has been worn away and eroded” — the vast portion now compared against the tiny remainder
appamattikā — “tiny” — this discourse's own term for the remaining seven clay balls, echoing the identical term used throughout this vagga's own comparisons
… — the elision marking, standing in for the full application already given at SN 56.51
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 back to SN 56.51's own full statement. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, suppose the great earth was worn away and eroded except for seven clay balls the size of jujube seeds. What do you think, mendicants? Which is more: the great earth that has been worn away and eroded, or the seven clay balls the size of jujube seeds that are left?” “Sir, the great earth that has been worn away and eroded is certainly more. The seven clay balls the size of jujube seeds are tiny. Compared to the great earth that has been worn away and eroded, they don’t count, there’s no comparison, they’re 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 many times has the addition/erosion inversion now recurred in this vagga, per this project's own count as of this discourse?
Correct: A. This project's own count confirming a deliberate, recurring structural template.
Question 2 of 3
What remains after the great earth's own erosion in this discourse?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — the identical remainder named at SN 56.55, now eroded rather than added.
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

← PreviousSN 56.55 · The Earth (1st)