Samyutta Nikaya

The Nidānavagga, The Book of Causation, is named after its first saṃyutta, one of the deep royal saṃyuttas setting forth the radical philosophical vision of early Buddhism. The Vagga contains ten saṃyuttas, of which the first takes up almost half the volume. The other nine deal with less weighty topics, though it is possible the Dhātusaṃyutta, which is also devoted to first principles of Buddhist phenomenology, was intentionally included in the Vagga as a “junior partner” to the Nidānasaṃyutta. While this hypothesis must remain unconfirmable, what is beyond doubt is that with this Vagga we enter upon a very different terrain from that traversed in the Sagāthāvagga, a terrain where precise philosophical exposition takes priority over literary grace, inspirational charm, and moral edification.

The Khandhavagga, The Book of the Aggregates, continues along the trail of philosophical exposition opened up by The Book of Causation, but this time breaking into another major area of early Buddhist discourse, the five aggregates. Like its predecessor, the Khandhavagga is named after its opening saṃyutta, which dominates the entire collection. Though the Vagga contains thirteen saṃyuttas, none of the minor ones even approaches the length of the Khandhasaṃyutta, which in the PTS edition takes up 188 of the 278 pages in this volume. But even more, within this Vagga three minor saṃyuttas—SN 23, 24, and 33—focus on the aggregates as their point of interest. These chapters seem to be offshoots from the original Khandhasaṃyutta which at some point were broken off and made into autonomous saṃyuttas. Thus the theme of the five aggregates leaves its stamp throughout this whole collection.

The Saḷāyatanavagga, The Book of the Six Sense Bases, is the third great collection of connected discourses with a philosophical orientation. Like its two predecessors, the Vagga is dominated by its first chapter, the Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta, which takes up 208 of the 403 pages in the PTS edition of this volume. Its junior partner is the Vedanāsaṃyutta, which deals with another closely related theme of the Buddha’s teaching, feeling. Feeling assumes special importance because it serves as the main condition, in the doctrine of dependent origination, for the arising of craving. Feeling also finds a place among the four establishments of mindfulness, to be explored in Part V, and thus links theory with practice. The other saṃyuttas in this book do not have any intimate connection with the two major themes, but cover a wide variety of topics ranging from the weaknesses and strengths of women to the nature of the unconditioned.