Part IV - The Book of the Six Sense Bases (Saḷāyatanavagga)

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.