Pabbajjāsutta — Sacittavagga — the sixth chapter of the Tens, opening the Second Fifty
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single training formula, then its guaranteed result
Length
~1 minute to read
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — dense but tightly parallel in structure
Why this discourse
Closing this chapter's own discourses, the Buddha gives a third variant of the ten-perception formula, this one framed explicitly as a training to be undertaken and named for the very moment of ordination, with an unusually direct guarantee attached to its success.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Mendicants should train so their minds stay as consolidated as they were at the moment of going forth, never overrun by unskillful qualities, and consolidated in ten perceptions — impermanence, not-self, ugliness, drawbacks, fairness and unfairness in the world, existence and nonexistence in the world, the world's origin and disappearance, giving up, fading away, and cessation — guaranteeing either enlightenment in this life or non-return.
A third variant, partly overlapping the first two
This list shares giving up, fading away, and cessation with AN 10.56, and impermanence and not-self with both AN 10.56 and 10.57, but introduces genuinely new material not seen in either: three paired perceptions about “the world” itself — its fairness and unfairness, its existence and nonexistence, its origin and disappearance.
Anchored to a specific moment, not a general ideal
Unlike AN 10.56 and 10.57's abstract lists, this discourse names a concrete reference point: the mental consolidation a mendicant had at the moment of pabbajjā, going forth itself, giving this discourse its title and framing the entire training as a matter of not losing ground already won.
A rare explicit guarantee
Where most of this chapter's teachings simply describe a practice, this discourse closes with an unusually direct promise: consolidation in these ten perceptions guarantees one of exactly two results, full enlightenment in this very life or, at minimum, non-return — language echoing the guaranteed outcomes already met elsewhere in this project, such as AN 10.46's Sakyan teaching.
Key terms
yathāpabbajjāparicitaṁ cittaṁ — “minds consolidated as they were when we went forth” — the discourse's own reference point, and the source of its title, pabbajjā.
lokassa samañca visamañca — “what is fair and unfair in the world” — one of three new paired perceptions about the world not seen in AN 10.56 or 10.57.
diṭṭheva dhamme aññā — “enlightenment in this very life” — the first of the two guaranteed results.
upādisese anāgāmitā — “non-return, if there's residue left behind” — the second, fallback guaranteed result.
lokassa bhavañca vibhavañca — “existence and nonexistence in the world” — the second of three new paired perceptions about the world introduced in this discourse.
The text
The discourse in full: the training formula and its guaranteed result. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
A training formula
§1“So you should train like this: ‘Our minds will be consolidated as they were when we went forth, and arisen bad unskillful qualities will not occupy our minds. Our minds will be consolidated in the perceptions of impermanence, not-self, ugliness, and drawbacks. Knowing what is fair and unfair in the world, our minds will be consolidated in that perception. Knowing existence and nonexistence in the world, our minds will be consolidated in that perception. Knowing the origin and disappearance of the world, our minds will be consolidated in that perception. Our minds will be consolidated in the perceptions of giving up, fading away, and cessation.’ That’s how you should train.
Its guaranteed result
§2When your minds are consolidated in these ten perceptions, you can expect one of two results: enlightenment in this very life, or if there’s residue left behind, non-return.”
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Self-check quiz
5 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 5
What reference point does this discourse's training formula name?
Correct: B. The discourse's own title and central image: not losing ground already won.
Question 2 of 5
According to the guide, which three paired perceptions are genuinely new, not seen in AN 10.56 or 10.57?
Correct: B. Three new pairs about the world itself, distinct from the shared material with the earlier two lists.
Question 3 of 5
What guaranteed result does this discourse promise for a mind consolidated in these ten perceptions?
Correct: B. An unusually direct guarantee, echoing similar promises elsewhere in this project.
Question 4 of 5
What does this discourse close, within AN 10 so far?
Correct: B. The last of this chapter's newly built pages, handing off to the existing AN 10.60.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
