Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 56.60

A Mountain (2nd)

Dutiyapabbatūpamasutta — Abhisamayavagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.59's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A comparative question inverting SN 56.59's own image, its own answer, then this vagga's own closing colophon and uddāna
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★★★ — confirmed by direct reading of the root colophon as the close of Vagga 6, ten discourses, completing this vagga's own fifth and final addition/erosion pair

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct reading of its own root colophon, this discourse closes Vagga 6 (“Abhisamayavaggo chaṭṭho”) by inverting SN 56.59's own image: rather than seven mustard-seed pebbles placed on the intact Himalayas, the Himalayas themselves are imagined worn away and eroded until only seven mustard-seed pebbles remain — completing this vagga's own fifth and final addition/erosion pair.

Reading guide

A vagga of five complete pairs, confirmed

This project's own final accounting, confirmed by direct reading across all ten discourses: this vagga opens with two singleton comparisons (SN 56.51-52, fingernail-dirt and grass-tip water), then gives four full addition/erosion pairs (confluence, earth, ocean, and this discourse's own Himalayas) — ten discourses total, all restating the identical “at most seven more lives” claim first given in full at SN 56.51.

A ten-title uddāna, confirmed against this project's own SN 56.51-60

Confirmed by direct reading, this vagga's own closing uddāna (“A fingernail's tip, a lotus pond, confluence and two more; the earth twice, the ocean twice, and these two mountain similes”) lists exactly ten titles, matching this project's own SN 56.51 through SN 56.60 precisely.

Key terms

himavā pabbatarājā parikkhayaṁ pariyādānaṁ gaccheyya — “the Himalayas, the king of mountains, was worn away and eroded” — this discourse's own inverted image, completing this vagga's own final pair
ṭhapetvā satta sāsapamattiyo pāsāṇasakkharā — “except for seven pebbles the size of mustard seeds” — the remainder after the Himalayas' own erosion, matching SN 56.59's own added pebbles
dasamaṁ. abhisamayavaggo chaṭṭho — “tenth. the sixth vagga [ends]” — the root colophon's own vagga-closing marker
sattakkhattuparamatā — “at most seven more [lives]” — the claim every discourse in this vagga has restated, here for the tenth and final time
nakhasikhā pokkharaṇī, sambhejja apare duve; pathavī dve samuddā dve, dvemā ca pabbatūpamāti — the closing uddāna's own ten titles, confirmed by direct reading to match SN 56.51 through SN 56.60 exactly

The text

Every genuinely translated fragment given in the consulted English source. The vagga-closing colophon and uddāna verse are left untranslated in the consulted English source, as at several earlier vagga closes throughout this project's own work. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, suppose the Himalayas, the king of mountains, was worn away and eroded except for seven pebbles the size of mustard seeds. What do you think, mendicants? Which is more: the portion of the Himalayas, the king of mountains, that has been worn away and eroded, or the seven pebbles the size of mustard seeds that are left?” “Sir, the portion of the Himalayas, the king of mountains, that has been worn away and eroded is certainly more. The seven pebbles the size of mustard seeds are tiny. Compared to the Himalayas, they don’t count, there’s no comparison, they’re not worth a fraction.” “In the same way, for an individual with comprehension, a noble disciple accomplished in view, the suffering that’s over and done with is more, what’s left is tiny. Compared to the mass of suffering in the past that’s over and done with, it doesn’t count, there’s no comparison, it’s not worth a fraction, since there are at most seven more lives. Such an individual truly understands about suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

§2That’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 does this discourse's own root colophon confirm, according to this project's own direct reading?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading of the root Pali colophon, not assumed in advance.
Question 2 of 3
How does this project's own final accounting describe this vagga's own overall structure?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading across all ten discourses in this vagga.
Question 3 of 3
What does this discourse's own closing uddāna confirm about this project's own SN 56.51-60?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — a clean, exact match to this project's own tracked structure.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

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