Index to the Suttas of the Saɱyutta Nikāya
Khandha Vagga,
Nāga Saɱyutta

III. Khandha Vagga

PTS: Saɱyutta Nikāya Volume 3, Khandha-Vagga ed. by M. Léon Feer, London: Pali Text Society 1890. The html formatted Pali Text Society edition of the Pali text.
BJT: Saɱyutta Nikāya Volume 3, Khandha-Vagga The Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series Pali text.

The Pali text for individual suttas listed below is adapted from the Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series [BJT], not from the PTS version. Each translation is linked to it's Pali version and to the PTS, Sister Upalavanna, Olds and where available to the ATI Bhk. Thanissaro translation, and each of these is in turn linked back to each of the others. Many, but not all have been checked against the Pali Text Society edition, and many have been reformatted to include the original Pali (and/or organizational) phrase and sentence breaks.

PTS: The Kindred Sayings on Elements, translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids assisted by F.L. Woodward,
WP: The Book of the Aggregates, translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi
BD: The translations of M. Olds
ATI: The translations of Bhikkhu Thanissaro and others originally located on Access to Insight.

I. Nāga Saɱyutta, III.240

PTS: The Kindred Sayings on Nagas, III.192
WP: Connected Discourses on Nagas, I.1020

1. Suddhika Suttaɱ, III.240

The Buddha describes the four ways Nagas are born in a scheme ranking them from lowest to highest in order of purity.
"According to Scheme," (Bhk. Bodhi's: Simple Version), Pali: Suddhika, derives from Suddhi = pure. So the idea is, according to this understanding, the simple, pure description of the various ways Nāgas come to birth. But the different sorts of birth can also be seen as a hierarchy going from the most involved form of birth (from egg) to the least involved (spontaneous). Since this is precisely the point of the next sutta, the translation's of Woodward and Bhk. Bodhi do not seem justified. So far this describes the four sorts of birth of all beings, not just Nāgas.
Two forms of rebirth are not familiar here: 'sweat-born' and 'spontaneous'. Woodward quotes commentary that states that the 'sweat-born' are born through the pores. Bhk. Bodhi translates 'saṅsedajā' as 'moisture-born'. Both definitions are in PED. Birth through the pores is recognized by science, but strictly speaking birth via moisture is not. Insects that appear to have been born via water have in fact been born via eggs. There is a certain sort of frog that gives birth through the pores. It is one of the most nausiating sights ever to be seen, but presumably in other species, was apparently considered of a higher sort than being born via an egg or womb. [EDIT: For a little more on the various sorts of birth and the Pali terms for such see MN 9, Horner, ns 14-17; where the commentator's or translator's understanding is birth from moisture.] The 'spontaneously-born' disappear from one place without undergoing death and re-appear in another place without undergoing birth. This is the form of rebirth of the non-returner, but it obviously applies to other sorts of beings as well. Imagine the case of the untamed, uneducated, untrained common meditator who conceives the wish to spy on someone as if a fly on the wall ... and, snap fingers, there he is. And fly-wit that he now is, it is no easy thing to return to human birth. Splat!

PTS: According to Scheme, III.192
WP: Simple Version, I.1020

2. Paṇītatara Suttaɱ III.240

The Buddha describes the four ways Nagas are born and describes a scheme ranking them from lowest to highest.
Woodward's abridgment (which I have corrected while unabridging using his words and style) messes up and duplicates the first rank in the last rank of the order. (I give his original rendering in a footnote.) Bhk. Bodhi has maintained the proper hierarchy and complete wording but does not follow the Pali order from worst to best in his construction. It's a small thing, and what is usually found in the English, but the original Pali is better for assisting the memory. I have done a translation which I believe both follows more closely the Pali and makes the order clear: The worst is egg-birth, followed by womb-birth, sweat-birth and best, spontaneous birth. This order, which is the usual Pali way of listing hierarchies, is maintained by the suttas that follow this one.

PTS: Pre-eminent, III.192
BD: Passing Superior, Olds, trans. WP: Superior, I.1020

3. Uposatha Suttaɱ, III.241

A bhikkhu is told why some egg-born nagas keep the sabbath and escape the naga form.

PTS: Sabbath, III.192
WP: The Uposatha, I.1021

4. Dutiya Uposatha Suttaɱ, III.242

A bhikkhu is told why some womb-born nagas keep the sabbath and escape the naga form.

PTS: Sabbath 2, III.193
WP: 4-6: The Uposatha 2-4, I.1021

5. Tatiya Uposatha Suttaɱ, III.242

A bhikkhu is told why some sweat-born nagas keep the sabbath and escape the naga form.

PTS: Sabbath 3, III.193

6. Catuttha Uposatha Suttaɱ, III.242

A bhikkhu is told why some spontaneously-born nagas keep the sabbath and escape the naga form.