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Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 4.166

Both

Ubhayasutta — Paṭipadāvagga — the seventeenth chapter of the Fours

Setting
None stated; the Paṭipadāvagga gives no location for this discourse, and it is addressed to the mendicants directly
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The bare list of AN 4.161, then a ranking of each
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
Rankings of the four ways of practice by pleasantness and speed occur across the early collections; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — short, and the precision of its grading is easy to flatten in summary

Why this discourse

The chapter finally ranks the four ways of practice it opened with — and does it more carefully than a reader might expect. Painful and slow is inferior on both counts. Pleasant and swift is superior on both counts. But painful and swift is called inferior only because it is painful, and pleasant and slow only because it is slow. Two grades of shortfall, not one flat verdict, and the next two discourses depend on the difference.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

Of the four ways of practice, one is doubly inferior, two are inferior in one respect each, and one is doubly superior.

The grading, exactly as given

Painful and slow: said to be inferior in both ways — because it’s painful and because it’s slow. The formula names both defects and repeats the pairing to be sure it lands.

Painful and swift: said to be inferior because it’s painful. Nothing is held against its speed. The single word dukkhattā, because of its painfulness, carries the whole verdict.

Pleasant and slow: said to be inferior because it’s slow. The mirror case: nothing is held against how it feels, only against how long it takes.

Pleasant and swift: said to be superior in both ways — because it’s pleasant, and because it’s swift. The same doubling formula as the first case, inverted.

Why the distinction matters

It would be easy to summarize this discourse as ranking the four best to worst: pleasant-swift, then the two mixed cases in some order, then painful-slow. The text does not give an order for the two middle cases relative to each other, and it does not call either of them simply ‘inferior’ without qualification.

Each of the two middle cases is marked inferior on exactly one count and left unmarked, not praised but not condemned, on the other. That is a materially different claim from calling them inferior outright, and a reading guide should not collapse the difference for the sake of a tidier summary.

The formula’s care is the whole content of this short discourse. A ranking that distinguishes doubly-inferior from singly-inferior is doing more work than one that simply lists four grades from worst to best.

What this sets up

The next two discourses put this ranking under real pressure. AN 4.167 has Sāriputta ask Mahāmoggallāna which of the four he relied on for liberation, and Mahāmoggallāna answers: painful practice with swift insight — the path this discourse has just called inferior, on one count.

AN 4.168 reverses the question, and Sāriputta answers: pleasant practice with swift insight — the path graded superior in both ways here.

Reading AN 4.166 carefully in advance matters for exactly this reason. If a reader takes the loose summary — that painful-swift is simply ‘inferior’ — then Mahāmoggallāna’s answer in the next discourse reads as a stranger claim than it is. Read precisely, his path was marked down for one thing only, and that is a smaller distance to cross than ‘inferior’ unqualified would suggest.

What is not said

Nothing here says a practitioner chooses which of the four applies to them. AN 4.162 and AN 4.163 both described the four as determined by temperament, faculty strength, or which meditation is undertaken — not as options selected for their ranking.

So this discourse’s grading is descriptive of where each combination stands relative to the others, not a set of instructions about which to aim for. A person whose practice is, as things stand, painful cannot make it pleasant by wanting the better grade.

What the grading does supply is a way of holding the four without treating them as interchangeable, which is exactly what the two disciples’ discourses will need.

Key terms

hīna — “inferior” — the term applied to three of the four, with two different degrees: ubhayeneva hīnā, inferior in both ways, and inferior on one count only.
paṇīta — “superior”, excellent — applied only to pleasant practice with swift insight, and only in the doubled form.
dukkhattā — “because of painfulness” — the single word that carries the whole verdict against painful-swift practice.
dandhattā — “because of slowness” — the mirror word carrying the verdict against pleasant-slow practice.
ubhayeneva — “in both ways” — the intensifying formula reserved for the doubly inferior and doubly superior cases only.

The text

The discourse in full: the four named, then ranked, with the reasons stated for each. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

Four ways of practice

§1“Mendicants, there are four ways of practice. What four? Painful practice with slow insight, painful practice with swift insight, pleasant practice with slow insight, and pleasant practice with swift insight.

Judged by both measures

§2Of these, the painful practice with slow insight is said to be inferior in both ways: because it’s painful and because it’s slow. This practice is said to be inferior in both ways.

§3The painful practice with swift insight is said to be inferior because it’s painful.

§4The pleasant practice with slow insight is said to be inferior because it’s slow.

§5The pleasant practice with swift insight is said to be superior in both ways: because it’s pleasant, and because it’s swift. This practice is said to be superior in both ways. These are the four ways of practice.”

· · ·

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
How is painful and slow practice graded?
Correct: B. The formula names both defects and repeats the pairing.
Question 2 of 10
How is painful and swift practice graded?
Correct: B. Dukkhattā carries the whole verdict.
Question 3 of 10
How is pleasant and slow practice graded?
Correct: B. The mirror case to painful-swift.
Question 4 of 10
How is pleasant and swift practice graded?
Correct: B. The same doubling formula as painful-slow, inverted.
Question 5 of 10
What summary does the guide warn against?
Correct: B. The two middle cases are marked down on exactly one count and left unmarked on the other.
Question 6 of 10
Why does the guide call the formula’s care the whole content of the discourse?
Correct: B. A materially different claim from calling something inferior outright.
Question 7 of 10
What does this ranking set up in the next two discourses?
Correct: B. Two disciples reporting which of the four they actually used.
Question 8 of 10
Why does reading this discourse precisely matter for the next one?
Correct: B. His path was marked down for one thing only, a smaller distance than ‘inferior’ unqualified.
Question 9 of 10
Does a practitioner choose which of the four applies to them?
Correct: B. The grading is descriptive of standing, not a set of instructions about what to aim for.
Question 10 of 10
What does the grading supply instead?
Correct: B. Exactly what the two disciples’ discourses will need.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousAN 4.165 · Patience (2nd)