The Buddha teaches a repeated formula on floods, yokes, grasping, ties, underlying tendencies, hindrances, aggregates, and fetters, showing that the four right efforts should be developed for their direct knowledge, complete understanding, and giving up in this grouped discourse.

SN 49.35-44 Ten Discourses on Searches, Etc.

“Tisso imā, bhikkhave, esanā. Katamā tisso? Kāmesanā, bhavesanā, brahmacariyesanā imā kho, bhikkhave, tisso esanā.

Imāsaṁ kho, bhikkhave, tissannaṁ esanānaṁ abhiññāya pariññāya parikkhayāya pahānāya cattāro sammappadhānā bhāvetabbā. Katame cattāro? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu anuppannānaṁ …pe… uppannānaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ ṭhitiyā asammosāya bhiyyobhāvāya vepullāya bhāvanāya pāripūriyā chandaṁ janeti vāyamati vīriyaṁ ārabhati cittaṁ paggaṇhāti padahati.

Imāsaṁ kho, bhikkhave, tissannaṁ esanānaṁ abhiññāya pariññāya parikkhayāya pahānāya ime cattāro sammappadhānā bhāvetabbā”ti.

(Vitthāretabbaṁ.)

Dasamaṁ.

Esanāvaggo catuttho.

Tassuddānaṁ

Esanā vidhā āsavo,
Bhavo ca dukkhatā tisso;
Khilaṁ malañca nīgho ca,
Vedanā taṇhā tasinā cāti.

Reference Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0).

“Tisso imā, bhikkhave, esanā.

“Mendicants, there are these three searches.

Katamā tisso?

What three?

Kāmesanā, bhavesanā, brahmacariyesanā

The search for sensual pleasures, the search for continued existence, and the search for a spiritual path.

imā kho, bhikkhave, tisso esanā.

These are the three searches.

Imāsaṁ kho, bhikkhave, tissannaṁ esanānaṁ abhiññāya pariññāya parikkhayāya pahānāya cattāro sammappadhānā bhāvetabbā.

The four right efforts should be developed for the direct knowledge, complete understanding, finishing, and giving up of these three searches.

Katame cattāro?

What four?

Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu anuppannānaṁ …pe…

It’s when a mendicant generates enthusiasm, tries, makes an effort, exerts the mind, and strives so that bad, unskillful qualities don’t arise. …

uppannānaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ ṭhitiyā asammosāya bhiyyobhāvāya vepullāya bhāvanāya pāripūriyā chandaṁ janeti vāyamati vīriyaṁ ārabhati cittaṁ paggaṇhāti padahati.

so that skillful qualities that have arisen remain, are not lost, but increase, mature, and are completed by development.

Imāsaṁ kho, bhikkhave, tissannaṁ esanānaṁ abhiññāya pariññāya parikkhayāya pahānāya ime cattāro sammappadhānā bhāvetabbā”ti.

These four right efforts should be developed for the direct knowledge, complete understanding, finishing, and giving up of these three searches.”

(Vitthāretabbaṁ.)

(Tell in full as in SN 45.161–170.)

Dasamaṁ.

Esanāvaggo catuttho.

Tassuddānaṁ

Esanā vidhā āsavo,

Searches, discriminations, defilements,

Bhavo ca dukkhatā tisso;

states of existence, three kinds of suffering,

Khilaṁ malañca nīgho ca,

barrenness, stains, and troubles,

Vedanā taṇhā tasinā cāti.

feelings, craving, and thirst.

Topics & Qualities:

Craving

Craving

A driving ‘thirst’ that reaches out toward experiences, identities, or outcomes as the place to find satisfaction—“if only I had that.” It spins stories of lack, binds the mind to becoming, and invariably leads to suffering.

Also known as: wanting, yearning, longing, lit. thirst
Pāli: taṇha, abhijjhā
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Direct knowledge

Direct knowledge

A deep, firsthand realization or knowing that arises from personal experience, not from study or conceptual understanding; it is an immediate, unmediated apprehension of truth.

Also known as: experiential understanding, direct experience
Pāli: abhiñña
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Giving

Giving

The act of generosity, sharing, or offering to others without expecting anything in return. Giving is considered a foundational virtue in Buddhist practice, fostering selflessness and compassion.

Also known as: generosity, charity, donation, almsgiving, donating, philanthropy, providing with, gift with
Pāli: dāna
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Giving up

Giving up

The mental quality of renunciation and release from attachment. It delights in simplicity and freedom rather than in sensual pleasure. Giving up is not loss but the joyful abandoning of burden, opening the way to peace and insight.

Also known as: renunciation, relinquishment, letting go, abandonment
Pāli: nekkhamma
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Suffering

Suffering

Unpleasantness, discontentment, dissatisfaction, stress, pain, disease, i.e. mild or intense suffering that is inherent in conditioned existence.

Also known as: discomfort, unpleasantness, discontentedness, dissatisfaction, stress, pain, disease, distress, affliction
Pāli: dukkha
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Vigour

Vigour

Energetic effort and resilience in practice. It is the refusal to shrink back, the 'uphill' force that initiates and sustains wholesome actions against the gravity of habit.

Also known as: energy, effort, enthusiasm, zeal, application of will, persistence
Pāli: vīriya
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Last updated on July 27, 2026