Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 56.58

The Ocean (2nd)

Dutiyamahāsamuddasutta — Abhisamayavagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.57's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A comparative question inverting SN 56.57'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 eighth of ten discourses, completing the addition/erosion pair opened at SN 56.57, this vagga's own most extreme erosion image

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct comparison against SN 56.57, this discourse inverts the image: rather than drawing two or three drops out of the intact ocean, the entire ocean is imagined dried up and evaporated except for two or three drops — this project's own most extreme instance yet of this vagga's own recurring erosion move, applied to the largest possible body of water.

Reading guide

The most extreme erosion in this vagga

This project's own reading: of this vagga's own four addition/erosion pairs (mountain, confluence, earth, ocean), this discourse's own image — the entire ocean evaporated to a few drops — is the most extreme in scale, since an ocean's own water volume vastly exceeds a mountain's own mass, a river's own flow, or clay balls placed on open ground.

Key terms

mahāsamudde udakaṁ parikkhayaṁ pariyādānaṁ gaccheyya — “the water in the ocean dried up and evaporated” — this discourse's own inverted image, this vagga's own most extreme erosion
ṭhapetvā dve vā tīṇi vā udakaphusitāni — “except for two or three drops” — the remainder after the ocean's own evaporation
mahāsamudde udakaṁ parikkhīṇaṁ pariyādinnaṁ — “the water in the ocean that has dried up and evaporated” — the vast portion compared against the tiny remainder
… — the elision marking, standing in for the full application already given at SN 56.51
aṭṭhamaṁ — “the eighth” — 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 water in the ocean dried up and evaporated except for two or three drops. What do you think, mendicants? Which is more: the water in the ocean that has dried up and evaporated, or the two or three drops left?” “Sir, the water in the ocean that has dried up and evaporated is certainly more. The two or three drops left are tiny. Compared to the water in the ocean that has dried up and evaporated, 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
Why does this project's own reading identify this discourse's own image as the vagga's own most extreme erosion?
Correct: A. This project's own comparative reading across the vagga's own four addition/erosion pairs.
Question 2 of 3
What remains after the ocean's own evaporation in this discourse?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — the identical small remainder used throughout this vagga's own similes.
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 "Aṭṭhamaṁ" ("eighth").
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 56.57 · The Ocean (1st)