The headman Bhadraka visits the Buddha at Uruvelakappa and asks for a teaching about suffering (dukkha). The Buddha says he will talk neither of the future nor of the past, but only of the present. By means of questioning Bhadraka, the Buddha makes him realise that sorrow and suffering come only through desire. For example, he would grieve if anything happened to his friends in Uruvelakappa, or to his son Ciravāsi, or to his wife; but he would not worry about those who were unknown to him and therefore unloved by him (S.iv.327 f).
The Commentary says (SA.iii.103) that in this sutta the sorrow of transmigration (vaṭṭadukkha) is described.