sutta » sn » sn35 » Saṁyutta Nikāya 35.92

Paṭhamadvayasutta

A Duality (1st)

“Dvayaṁ vo, bhikkhave, desessāmi.
“Mendicants, I will teach you a duality.

Taṁ suṇātha.
Listen …

Kiñca, bhikkhave, dvayaṁ?
And what is a duality?

Cakkhuñceva rūpā ca, sotañceva saddā ca, ghānañceva gandhā ca, jivhā ceva rasā ca, kāyo ceva phoṭṭhabbā ca, mano ceva dhammā ca—
It’s just the eye and sights, the ear and sounds, the nose and smells, the tongue and tastes, the body and touches, and the mind and ideas.

idaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, dvayaṁ.
This is called a duality.

Yo, bhikkhave, evaṁ vadeyya:
Mendicants, suppose someone was to say:

‘ahametaṁ dvayaṁ paccakkhāya aññaṁ dvayaṁ paññapessāmī’ti, tassa vācāvatthukamevassa.
‘I’ll reject this duality and describe another duality.’ They’d have no grounds for that,

Puṭṭho ca na sampāyeyya.
they’d be stumped by questions, and, in addition, they’d get frustrated.

Uttariñca vighātaṁ āpajjeyya.

Taṁ kissa hetu?
Why is that?

Yathā taṁ, bhikkhave, avisayasmin”ti.
Because they’re out of their element.”

Navamaṁ.