Not given — continuing directly from SN 56.89's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A single elided line, 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 9, ten discourses, closing this vagga's own ascending livestock sequence at its own largest animals
Why this discourse
Confirmed by direct reading of its own root colophon, this discourse closes Vagga 9 (“Tatiyaāmakadhaññapeyyālavaggo navamo”) by comparing sentient beings who refrain from receiving elephants, cattle, horses, and mares to the rare pinch of dirt, and those who don't refrain to the vast earth — the largest animals named, closing this vagga's own ascending livestock sequence begun at SN 56.88.
Reading guide
The scale completed
This project's own final observation: goats and sheep (SN 56.88), then chickens and pigs (SN 56.89), then elephants, cattle, horses, and mares here — this vagga's own closing three items complete a rough ascending scale by animal size, ending at the largest.
A ten-title uddāna, confirmed against this project's own SN 56.81-90
Confirmed by direct reading, this vagga's own closing uddāna (“Dance, beds, silver; grain, meat, girls; bondservants and goats; chickens, pigs, and elephant”) lists exactly ten titles, matching this project's own SN 56.81 through SN 56.90 precisely — and this vagga's own own name, the third of the "raw grain" block, is confirmed to derive from its own fourth member, SN 56.84, not from this closing discourse's own content.
Key terms
appakā te sattā ye hatthigavassavaḷavapaṭiggahaṇā paṭiviratā — “the sentient beings who refrain from receiving elephants, cows, horses, and mares are few” — the rare category, matching the tiny pinch of dirt
hatthi — “elephant” — the largest animal named, giving this discourse its own title
gavassavaḷava — “cattle, horses, and mares” — the remaining large livestock named alongside elephants
dasamaṁ. tatiyaāmakadhaññapeyyālavaggo navamo — “tenth. the ninth vagga [ends]” — the root colophon's own vagga-closing marker
naccaṁ sayanaṁ rajataṁ, dhaññaṁ maṁsaṁ kumārikā; dāsī ajeḷakañceva, kukkuṭasūkarahatthīti — the closing uddāna's own ten titles, confirmed by direct reading to match SN 56.81 through SN 56.90 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“… the sentient beings who refrain from receiving elephants, cows, horses, and mares are few, while those who don’t refrain are many. …”
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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
What scale does this discourse complete, per this project's own reading?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — this vagga's own closing three items completing an ascending sequence.
Question 3 of 3
What does this project's own reading confirm about this vagga's own name, given this discourse's own closing content?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — the naming puzzle traced and resolved earlier at SN 56.84, not reopened here.
