Near Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery
Occasion
The Buddha watches Venerable Aññāsikoṇḍañña meditate nearby, reviewing his own freedom through the ending of craving
Form
A brief narrative frame with no recorded dialogue, closed by a six-line inspired utterance (udāna)
Length
<1 minute to read
Figure
Aññāsikoṇḍañña — “Koṇḍañña Who Understood” — traditionally the first of the Buddha’s disciples to grasp the Dhamma
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — short, but its plant imagery (root, ground, leaves) rewards careful reading
Why this discourse, a name earned decades earlier
The monk at the center of this discourse carries an unusual honorific: aññāsi, “who understood.” It was given to him, according to the tradition, the moment he grasped the Buddha’s very first teaching at Varanasi — a moment celebrated elsewhere in this reading series (see SN 56.11). This sutta shows him much later, simply sitting near the Buddha, quietly reviewing a freedom that name only partially described when it was first given.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Watching Venerable Aññāsikoṇḍañña sit quietly, reviewing his own freedom through the ending of craving, the Buddha speaks a verse describing a plant with no root, ground, or leaves left for anything to grow from — praised, it says, even by the gods and by the Divinity himself.
Reviewing, not attaining
Unlike the Bhaddiya discourses earlier in this chapter, nothing is newly achieved here. The text is explicit about the tense: Koṇḍañña is “reviewing the freedom through the ending of craving” (paccavekkhamāno), a term the canon uses for looking back over something already attained, not for attaining it in the moment. He sits “cross-legged, with his body straight” — the standard description of formal seated meditation — simply confirming, for himself, a freedom that is already his.
A name from long before
The text names him “Koṇḍañña Who Understood,” using the honorific aññāsi that, according to the wider tradition, was first applied to him at the very founding of the Saṅgha: he was the first of the Buddha’s companions to grasp the teaching at Varanasi, prompting the Buddha’s own exclamation, “Koṇḍañña has understood! Koṇḍañña has understood!” That founding moment is told in full elsewhere (see SN 56.11 in this reading series). This discourse offers no narrative bridge between that early event and this later scene — only the same honorific name, attached now to a much more settled, complete kind of understanding.
No root, no ground, no leaves
The verse’s central image is botanical: “there is no root or ground or leaves for them, so where would creepers sprout from?” A creeper needs all three — a root to draw from, ground to anchor in, and leaves to grow toward — and craving is pictured the same way throughout the canon, as something that needs conditions to keep spreading. Removing all three conditions at once, rather than merely trimming what has already grown, is the verse’s way of describing complete, rather than partial, freedom.
The closing lines shift from image to reputation: “who is worthy to criticize them? Even the gods praise them, and by the Divinity, too, they’re praised.” “The Divinity” (Brahmā) names the highest deity of the Brahmanical cosmology the early texts operate within — praise from this figure functions as the highest conceivable outside endorsement, placed here beside the praise of ordinary gods to underline just how uncontested this freedom is.
A quiet counterpart
Read beside Ud 7.8, the next-but-one discourse in this chapter, a pattern becomes visible: several suttas in the Cūḷavagga simply show the Buddha watching a senior disciple meditate, and responding in verse to what he observes, without any dialogue at all. This discourse and Ud 7.8 (about Mahākaccāna) share almost the same frame, down to the sitting posture described, suggesting a deliberate grouping of “the Buddha watches a disciple meditate” scenes within this chapter.
Key terms
Aññāsikoṇḍañña — “Koṇḍañña Who Understood,” traditionally the first of the Buddha’s disciples to grasp the Dhamma, at the founding teaching told in SN 56.11.
taṇhāsaṅkhayavimutti (freedom through the ending of craving) — the specific attainment Koṇḍañña is described as reviewing, not newly reaching, in this discourse.
paccavekkhamāno (reviewing) — a canonical term for looking back over an attainment already achieved, distinguishing this quiet scene from the sudden liberations described elsewhere in this chapter.
mūla, chamā, paṇṇā (root, ground, leaves) — the three conditions a creeper needs to grow, all named as absent in the verse’s image of craving completely uprooted.
Brahmā (“the Divinity”) — the highest deity of the cosmology the early texts assume; the verse names praise from this figure as the highest conceivable outside endorsement.
The text
The discourse in full — a brief narrative frame with no recorded dialogue, closed by a six-line inspired utterance. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Reviewing a freedom already won
§1So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Now at that time Venerable Koṇḍañña Who Understood was sitting not far from the Buddha, cross-legged, with his body straight, reviewing the freedom through the ending of craving.
§2The Buddha saw him meditating there.
§3Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:
The verse
§4“There is no root or ground or leaves for them,
so where would creepers sprout from?
That attentive one is released from bonds:
who is worthy to criticize them?
Even the gods praise them,
and by the Divinity, too, they’re praised.”
· · ·
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What is Venerable Koṇḍañña Who Understood doing at the start of this discourse?
Correct: C. The text uses a specific term, paccavekkhamāno, for reflectively reviewing an attainment already reached.
Question 2 of 10
What does the reading guide say about the tense of Koṇḍañña's activity — is he attaining freedom here, or reviewing it?
Correct: B. The Pali term used, paccavekkhamāno, specifically means "reviewing," not "attaining."
Question 3 of 10
Where, according to the reading guide, does Koṇḍañña's honorific "Who Understood" (aññāsi) originate?
Correct: A. This discourse shows him much later, reflecting on an already well-established attainment.
Question 4 of 10
What three things does the verse say are absent, preventing any "creepers" from sprouting?
Correct: D. Craving is pictured throughout the canon as needing conditions to keep spreading, like a creeping vine.
Question 5 of 10
According to the reading guide, why does the verse remove all three conditions (root, ground, leaves) rather than describing pruning or trimming?
Correct: C. This distinguishes total eradication from ongoing maintenance or partial restraint.
Question 6 of 10
Who is named in the verse as praising the one who is "released from bonds"?
Correct: B. The verse actually asks rhetorically, "who is worthy to criticize them?" — the opposite of criticism.
Question 7 of 10
Does the Buddha speak directly to Koṇḍañña in this discourse?
Correct: A. The text records no dialogue at all, only the Buddha "seeing" and then speaking his heartfelt sentiment.
Question 8 of 10
What discourse elsewhere in this reading series tells the story of Koṇḍañña's original understanding at Varanasi?
Correct: D. That sutta records the moment the Buddha first exclaimed, "Koṇḍañña has understood!"
Question 9 of 10
According to the reading guide, what pattern connects this discourse to Ud 7.8, later in the same chapter?
Correct: C. The reading guide notes this as a deliberate grouping of similar scenes within the chapter.
Question 10 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: B. Not the site of Koṇḍañña's original understanding, but the same recurring setting used for most of this chapter.
