Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 56.9

Arguments

Viggāhikakathāsutta — Samādhivagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.8's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly, quoting a caricature of quarrelsome speech
Form
A direct prohibition, its own quoted example given in full, then a direct instruction
Length
1–2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★ — the ninth of ten discourses, its own quoted dialogue the most vivid piece of reported speech in this vagga so far

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse instructs against quarrelsome debate, and quotes in full the very words such an argument would use — a string of escalating jabs (“you don't understand this teaching, I do,” “you're practicing wrong, I'm practicing right,” “go on, save your doctrine!”) — this project's own most vivid piece of quoted speech encountered in this vagga.

Reading guide

A caricature quoted in full

This project's own reading: rather than merely naming quarrelsome debate as unskillful, this discourse quotes an escalating string of debate-tactics word for word — accusations of misunderstanding, claims of correct practice, complaints about argument order, declarations of victory — a vividness this project notes stands out against this vagga's own more abstract companions.

Key terms

viggāhikakathaṁ katheyyātha — “get into arguments” — this discourse's own opening prohibition
na tvaṁ imaṁ dhammavinayaṁ ājānāsi, ahaṁ imaṁ dhammavinayaṁ ājānāmi — “you don't understand this teaching and training, I understand this teaching and training” — the quoted dialogue's own opening jab
micchāpaṭipanno tvamasi, ahamasmi sammāpaṭipanno — “you're practicing wrong, I'm practicing right” — the quoted dialogue's own escalation
āropito te vādo, cara vādappamokkhāya — “your doctrine is refuted, go on, save your doctrine!” — the quoted dialogue's own closing taunt
navamaṁ — “the ninth” — 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 leaves the closing instruction compressed with an elision back to SN 56.7's own full statement. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, don’t get into arguments, such as: ‘You don’t understand this teaching and training. I understand this teaching and training. What, you understand this teaching and training? You’re practicing wrong. I’m practicing right. I stay on topic, you don’t. You said last what you should have said first. You said first what you should have said last. What you’ve thought so much about has been disproved. Your doctrine is refuted. Go on, save your doctrine! You’re trapped; get yourself out of this—if you can!’ Why is that? Because those discussions aren’t beneficial or relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. They don’t lead to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment.

§2When you discuss, you should discuss: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’. … 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 does this discourse present its own prohibition against quarrelsome debate, per this project's own reading?
Correct: A. This project's own reading of this discourse's own distinctively vivid quoted dialogue.
Question 2 of 3
What does the quoted dialogue's own closing line say?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — the quoted dialogue's own final taunt.
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 "Navamaṁ" ("ninth").
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

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