Sappurisānisaṁsasutta — Kammavagga — the twenty-fourth chapter of the Fours
Setting
None stated; the Kammavagga gives no location for this discourse, and it is addressed to the mendicants directly
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single statement of four benefits, stated once
Length
under a minute to read
Northern parallel
The fourfold set of ethics, immersion, wisdom, and freedom is widespread across the Nikāyas and Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, and significant mainly for what it closes
Why this discourse
Growth in noble ethics, immersion, wisdom, and freedom — the benefits of relying on a true person, and the exact fourfold set the entire Fours opened with at AN 4.1. This chapter, having spent its length on the four kinds of deeds and the practices that end them, closes by returning to the collection's own starting point, the second time in this series a chapter has closed this way.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Relying on a true person brings growth in four things: noble ethics, immersion, wisdom, and freedom.
The set that opened the Fours, closing a chapter
Ariyena sīlena vaḍḍhati, ariyena samādhinā vaḍḍhati, ariyāya paññāya vaḍḍhati, ariyāya vimuttiyā vaḍḍhati — growth in noble ethics, noble immersion, noble wisdom, noble freedom. This is, item for item, the same set AN 4.1 declared as what ‘both you and I’ had failed to understand across a long wandering: sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti. Where AN 4.1 stated the set as the whole collection’s opening claim, this discourse gives it as a benefit, something gained through a specific relationship rather than a summary of what awakening consists of.
A second echo of the same closing gesture
This is not the first time this series has watched a chapter close by returning to the Fours’ opening set. AN 4.150 closed the Ābhāvagga, many chapters back, with the identical four terms. Two chapters now, out of twenty-four, have chosen this same set for their final word — not a coincidence easily dismissed, but a recurring editorial gesture: whatever a chapter has spent its length exploring, closing on sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti returns the reader to the collection’s own stated center before moving on.
‘Relying on a true person’, and what it adds
Sappurisa, ‘true person’, was the vocabulary that opened AN 4.201 many chapters back and gave the previous paṇṇāsaka’s first chapter its name. This discourse borrows that same term for its final word, framing the fourfold set not as something a person arrives at alone but as a benefit ‘dependent on’, nissāya, a relationship with someone who already embodies it. The path from AN 4.237–238 needed a practice to walk; this discourse adds that the practice is also, in part, learned from a person.
The chapter and this paṇṇāsaka, at their close
The source colophon names this the fourth vagga of its group of five, Kammavaggo catuttho, following Sappurisavagga, Parisāvagga, and Duccaritavagga. One chapter remains to complete the paṇṇāsaka: the Āpattibhayavagga.
Key terms
ariya sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti — noble ethics, immersion, wisdom, and freedom — the identical fourfold set that opened the Fours at AN 4.1, given here as a benefit rather than a summary claim.
sappurisa — “true person” — the vocabulary that named the Sappurisavagga, reused here for the person one relies on to gain this discourse’s four benefits.
nissāya — “depending on, relying on” — the relationship this discourse frames as the source of growth, rather than solitary attainment.
ānisaṁsa — “benefit, advantage” — the frame this discourse gives the fourfold set, distinct from AN 4.1's framing of the same set as the whole collection's opening claim.
Kammavaggo catuttho — “the Kammavagga, the fourth” — the source colophon's label for this chapter, the fourth of five in its paṇṇāsaka.
The text
The discourse in full: the four benefits of relying on a true person. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The four benefits
§1“Mendicants, you can expect four benefits from relying on a true person. What four? Growth in noble ethics, immersion, wisdom, and freedom. You can expect these four benefits from relying on a true person.”
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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 benefits does this discourse name?
Correct: B. Identical, item for item, to the set that opened the Fours at AN 4.1.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's framing of the fourfold set differ from AN 4.1's?
Correct: B. The same content, a different frame.
Question 3 of 10
Where else has this series seen a chapter close on this identical fourfold set?
Correct: B. The second of twenty-four chapters to choose this set as its final word.
Question 4 of 10
What does the guide say this recurring closing gesture suggests?
Correct: B. Whatever a chapter has explored, this closing set returns to the collection's own foundation.
Question 5 of 10
Where did the term sappurisa, "true person", previously name a chapter in this series?
Correct: B. Reused here for the person one relies on to gain this discourse's benefits.
Question 6 of 10
What relationship does this discourse frame as the source of growth in the fourfold set?
Correct: B. Not something a person arrives at alone.
Question 7 of 10
What does the source colophon name this chapter?
Correct: B. Following Sappurisavagga, Parisāvagga, and Duccaritavagga in the same paṇṇāsaka.
Question 8 of 10
What chapter remains to complete this paṇṇāsaka after this one?
Correct: B. The fifth and last vagga of this group of five.
Question 9 of 10
What connects this discourse to AN 4.237 and AN 4.238, per the guide?
Correct: B. The path needs a practice and, this discourse suggests, a relationship as well.
Question 10 of 10
How many discourses does the Kammavagga contain in total?
Correct: B. Confirmed by the source colophon's ordinal, Ekādasamaṁ, at AN 4.242 itself.
