Craving

SN 45.170 · Taṇhāsutta

Slender bamboo culms and delicate leaves in soft morning shade.

“Mendicants, there are these three cravings. What three? Craving for sensual pleasures, craving for continued existence, and craving for nonexistence. These are the three cravings.

The noble eightfold path should be developed for the direct knowledge, complete understanding, finishing, and giving up of these three cravings. What is the noble eightfold path? It’s when a mendicant develops right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion, which rely on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripen as letting go.

This is the noble eightfold path that should be developed for the direct knowledge, complete understanding, finishing, and giving up of these three cravings.”

Thirst

“Mendicants, there are these three thirsts. What three? Thirst for sensual pleasures, thirst to continue existence, and thirst to end existence.

For the direct knowledge, complete understanding, finishing, and giving up of these three thirsts … … which culminates in the removal of greed, hate, and delusion. … whose objective, destination, and culmination is freedom from death. … which slants, slopes, and inclines to extinguishment.

The noble eightfold path should be developed for the direct knowledge, complete understanding, finishing, and giving up of these three thirsts.”

Connections

Collection & context

Saṃyutta NikāyaThe collection containing this text
The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting

Teachings named in the text

Noble eightfold path

Books

The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta NikāyaBhikkhu Bodhi; Bhikkhu Bodhi (translator) · Complete collection edition

About this edition

Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato · SuttaCentral · CC0

This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.

Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.