Moranivāpapaṭhamasutta — Yodhājīvavagga — the fourteenth chapter of the Threes
Setting
Rājagaha, at the monastery of the wanderers in the peacocks’ feeding ground
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single formula, the first of three variations naming the ultimate goal
Length
≈30 seconds to read
Northern parallel
The threefold training of ethics, immersion, and wisdom as the complete path is a foundational theme across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the first of three closely related discourses, best read as a set
Why this discourse
The ultimate end, the ultimate sanctuary, the ultimate spiritual life, the ultimate goal — four superlatives stacked on one another, and then the discourse names what earns them: an adept’s full ethics, immersion, and wisdom. The first of three discourses at the peacocks’ feeding ground, each naming the same ultimate attainment by a different triad.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant with the entire, complete range of an adept's ethics, immersion, and wisdom has reached the ultimate goal, named four ways in a single stacked formula.
Four superlatives for one destination
Accantaniṭṭha, the ultimate end; accantayogakkhema, the ultimate sanctuary from the yoke; accantabrahmacārī, the ultimate spiritual life; accantapariyosāna, the ultimate goal. All four share the prefix accanta, utterly or absolutely, and the discourse piles them up rather than choosing one — the same intensifying technique this collection uses elsewhere for emphasis, applied here to describe a single destination from four angles at once.
The adept's version, not the trainee's
Asekha, translated “adept,” specifically names someone with nothing left to train in — an arahant, as opposed to a sekha, a trainee still practicing. The ethics, immersion, and wisdom named here are qualified as the adept's, meaning their entire, completed range, not a partial or developing version of the same three.
A setting named, unusually, for its wildlife
The monastery is named for the peacocks that evidently fed there, a small detail that grounds an otherwise abstract discourse in an actual, remembered place near Rājagaha. This same setting reappears for AN 3.144 and AN 3.145 immediately following, marking all three as a single occasion, or at least a single remembered location.
Ethics, immersion, wisdom: the collection's standard three
This triad, sīla, samādhi, paññā, is the same structure AN 3.90, already on this site, calls the three trainings — the higher ethics, the higher mind, and the higher wisdom. AN 3.143 restates the identical three qualities as already complete rather than as trainings still underway, applying the language of accomplishment this collection also uses in AN 3.138.
Three names, one goal
AN 3.143, AN 3.144, and AN 3.145 all open with the identical four-part superlative formula and differ only in what triad fills the third slot. Read as a set, they make the point that the highest attainment admits more than one true description — ethics/immersion/wisdom here, three demonstrations next, and right view/knowledge/freedom after that — without any of the three descriptions being declared more fundamental than the others.
Key terms
accantaniṭṭha, accantayogakkhema, accantabrahmacārī, accantapariyosāna — “the ultimate end, sanctuary, spiritual life, goal” — four superlatives, sharing the prefix accanta, utterly, stacked to describe one destination.
asekha — “an adept, one with nothing left to train in” — an arahant, as opposed to a sekha, a trainee.
sīlakkhandha, samādhikkhandha, paññākkhandha — “the entire body of ethics, immersion, wisdom” — this discourse's triad, qualified as the adept's complete, finished range.
moranivāpa — “the peacocks' feeding ground” — the setting shared by this discourse and its two immediate successors, near Rājagaha.
seṭṭho devamanussānaṁ — “the best among gods and humans” — the discourse's closing description of the mendicant who has reached this ultimate attainment.
The text
The discourse in full: the fourfold formula for the ultimate goal, and the triad of ethics, immersion, and wisdom that earns it. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The setting
§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, at the monastery of the wanderers in the peacocks’ feeding ground. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:
The ultimate goal
§2“Mendicants, a mendicant with three qualities has reached the ultimate end, the ultimate sanctuary from the yoke, the ultimate spiritual life, the ultimate goal. They are the best among gods and humans. What three? The entire spectrum of an adept’s ethics, immersion, and wisdom. A mendicant with these three qualities has reached the ultimate end, the ultimate sanctuary from the yoke, the ultimate spiritual life, the ultimate goal. They are the best among gods and humans.”
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Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What four superlatives does the discourse stack together?
Correct: A. All four sharing the prefix accanta, utterly or absolutely.
Question 2 of 10
What triad does this first discourse name as earning that ultimate goal?
Correct: B. The first of three triads this set of discourses will offer.
Question 3 of 10
What does "asekha" mean?
Correct: B. As opposed to sekha, a trainee, the qualities here are the adept's complete range.
Question 4 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: B. A setting shared with the two discourses immediately following.
Question 5 of 10
What does the guide say is notable about how the monastery is named?
Correct: B. A small detail marking a specific, remembered location.
Question 6 of 10
How does this discourse's triad relate to AN 3.90, already on this site?
Correct: B. Training language versus accomplishment language, applied to the same three qualities.
Question 7 of 10
What do AN 3.143, 3.144, and 3.145 share, and what differs between them?
Correct: B. Ethics/immersion/wisdom here, three demonstrations next, right view/knowledge/freedom after that.
Question 8 of 10
What point does the guide say this three-discourse set makes together?
Correct: B. Three genuinely different angles on a single destination.
Question 9 of 10
What formula does the discourse use to close its description of this mendicant?
Correct: A. Seṭṭho devamanussānaṁ, the closing superlative.
Question 10 of 10
What does "sīlakkhandha, samādhikkhandha, paññākkhandha" specifically qualify?
Correct: B. Not a partial or developing version, but the finished, complete range.
