Nigaṇṭhasutta — Ākaṅkhavagga — the eighth chapter of the Tens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single ten-item list, named for a specific rival tradition
Length
under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief but historically pointed
Why this discourse
Unlike most of this project's critical lists, which describe an unnamed “bad mendicant” or generic wrong views, this discourse names a specific rival ascetic movement outright — the Jains — and lists ten qualities the Buddha attributes to them.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Jain ascetics have ten bad qualities: they are faithless, unethical, without conscience or prudence, devoted to untrue persons, self-glorifying and put-others-down, attached to their own views, deceptive, and have corrupt wishes and bad friends.
A rare named polemic
Most of this canon's critical material targets unnamed “wanderers of other religions” or an unspecified “bad mendicant,” but this discourse names the Nigaṇṭha, the Jain ascetics who followed Nāṭaputta (Mahāvīra), one of the most historically identifiable rival traditions the Buddha's teaching career engaged with directly.
An identical list transplanted
Several of the ten items — faithless, unethical, without conscience or prudence, devoted to untrue persons, bad friends — are drawn from the same stock vocabulary of failing qualities used generically elsewhere in this project (for instance, several items in AN 10.76's descending chain), here specifically attributed to one named group rather than left unnamed.
Read as historical record, not doctrine to adopt
This discourse is best understood as evidence of how early Buddhist and Jain communities related to and characterized each other in a period of active competition for lay support and prestige, rather than as a teaching about any timeless spiritual principle — a rare direct trace of interreligious rivalry preserved in the canon itself.
Key terms
Nigaṇṭha — “Jain ascetic,” literally “one without ties” — the followers of Nāṭaputta (Mahāvīra), and this discourse's own title and named subject.
assaddhā, dussīlā — “faithless, unethical” — the first two of the ten qualities attributed to Jain ascetics.
kuhakā, pāpicchā, pāpamittā — “deceptive, with corrupt wishes and bad friends” — the final three qualities closing the list.
attukkaṁsakaparavambhakā — “they glorify themselves and put others down” — one of the more socially pointed items in the list.
sandiṭṭhiparāmāsī ādhānaggāhī duppaṭinissaggī — “attached to their own views, holding them tight, and refusing to let go” — the item most directly aimed at doctrinal rigidity.
The text
The discourse in full: the ten bad qualities attributed to Jain ascetics. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Ten bad qualities of Jain ascetics
§1“Mendicants, Jain ascetics have ten bad qualities. What ten? They’re faithless and unethical, without conscience or prudence, and devoted to untrue persons. They glorify themselves and put others down. They’re attached to their own views, holding them tight, and refusing to let go. They’re deceptive, with corrupt wishes and bad friends. Jain ascetics possess these ten bad qualities.”
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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
Who does this discourse's ten-item list of bad qualities specifically name?
Correct: B. One of this project's rare instances of naming a specific rival tradition.
Question 2 of 5
According to the guide, how is most of this canon's critical material typically framed, by contrast?
Correct: B. This discourse's naming of the Jains outright is the exception, not the rule.
Question 3 of 5
According to the guide, how should this discourse best be read?
Correct: B. A trace of interreligious rivalry preserved in the canon, not a doctrine to generalize.
Question 4 of 5
Which of these qualities is attributed to Jain ascetics in this discourse?
Correct: B. One of the ten items, aimed at doctrinal rigidity.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
