Nigaṇṭhasuttādi — a merged page, closing the twenty-eighth chapter of the Fives
Setting
None stated; the discourse continues from AN 5.1, whose setting at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove is understood to hold
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
a single five-item list leading to hell, run across nine named outsider groups — representing nine individually numbered discourses; no heaven statement is given for any of them
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — compressed, closing this chapter and continuing AN 5.293's asymmetric pattern
Why this discourse
Nine discourses stand behind one file, closing this chapter. AN 5.293 stated the hell-only pattern for a single outsider group, the Ājīvakas; this page runs the identical five precepts across nine further named groups — Jain ascetics, disciples of the shavelings, matted-hair ascetics, wanderers generally, followers of Māgaṇḍiya, trident-bearing ascetics, followers of the unobstructed, followers of Gotama, and performers of rituals for the gods — every one of them stated only in hell-bound form, with no matching heaven statement anywhere in the file.
Reading guide
Nine outsider groups, one formula
The identical five precepts from AN 5.286–293 — killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, consuming intoxicants — run once each across nine named non-Buddhist groups current in the period: Jain ascetics (nigaṇṭha), disciples of the shavelings, matted-hair ascetics, wanderers generally (paribbājaka), followers of Māgaṇḍiya, trident-bearing ascetics, followers of the unobstructed, followers of Gotama, and performers of rituals for the gods.
The asymmetry, continued at scale
Every one of these nine groups receives only the hell half of the formula, exactly as AN 5.293 gave for the Ājīvakas alone. No heaven statement appears for any of the nine categories in bilara-data's file for this stretch.
An identity worth flagging honestly
‘Followers of Gotama’ (gotamako) appears in this very list of outsider groups. ‘Gotama’ was the Buddha's own clan name, and this reading guide does not have a confident resolution for whether this item names a rival splinter group that took his name, a different teacher also called Gotama, or something else; it is recorded as a genuine puzzle rather than smoothed into false certainty.
What this page does not claim
As with AN 5.293, the absence of a heaven statement for these nine groups is not the same as an explicit denial that any of their members reach a good rebirth; the source simply does not state that case here, and this reading guide does not supply text the source withholds.
The chapter's own closing count
The colophon closing this file gives the ordinal Sattarasamaṁ, ‘the seventeenth’ — the total discourse count of this chapter from AN 5.286 through this page's final sutta-number, one plus six plus one plus nine, and closes immediately with Sikkhāpadapeyyālaṁ niṭṭhitaṁ, ‘the Sikkhāpadapeyyāla is finished’.
What follows
AN 5.303 opens the Rāgapeyyāla, this book's twenty-ninth and final chapter, already flagged as containing the single largest merged page in this entire project: an5.308-1152, covering eight hundred forty-five discourses at once.
Key terms
nigaṇṭha, jaṭilaka, paribbājaka — Jain ascetic, matted-hair ascetic, and wanderer — three of the nine outsider groups named on this page.
gotamako — “follower of Gotama” — an item this guide flags as a genuine, unresolved puzzle, given that Gotama was the Buddha's own clan name.
devadhammiko — “performer of rituals for the gods” — the ninth and final group named, closing the list.
Sattarasamaṁ — “the seventeenth” — the closing colophon's running count for this entire chapter, AN 5.286 through this page's final discourse.
Sikkhāpadapeyyālaṁ niṭṭhitaṁ — “the Sikkhāpadapeyyāla is finished” — the colophon closing this chapter, immediately after the count.
The text
The formula exactly as the source compresses it: nine outsider groups, each stated only in hell-bound form. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Nine outsider groups, all hell-bound
§1“A Jain ascetic … disciple of the shavelings … a matted-hair ascetic … a wanderer … a follower of Māgaṇḍiya … a trident-bearing ascetic … a follower of the unobstructed … a follower of Gotama … a performer of rituals for the gods … with five qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there. What five? They kill living creatures, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, and consume beer, wine, and liquor intoxicants. With these five qualities they’re placed in hell as if delivered there.”
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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
How many individually numbered discourses does this one page represent?
Correct: A. Confirmed by the nine groups named in the discourse's opening line.
Question 2 of 10
What nine groups does this page name?
Correct: A. Non-Buddhist ascetic and wanderer groups current in the period.
Question 3 of 10
What structural pattern does this page continue from AN 5.293?
Correct: A. Extending AN 5.293's single-group asymmetry across nine further groups.
Question 4 of 10
What genuine puzzle does the guide flag about 'gotamako', 'follower of Gotama'?
Correct: A. Gotama was the Buddha's own clan name, making this item's identity genuinely unclear.
Question 5 of 10
What does the guide explicitly say this page's hell-only pattern does NOT claim?
Correct: A. The source simply does not state the heaven case; the guide does not invent it.
Question 6 of 10
What does the closing colophon 'Sattarasamaṁ' confirm?
Correct: A. One (AN 5.286) plus six (287-292) plus one (293) plus nine (294-302) equals seventeen.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'Sikkhāpadapeyyālaṁ niṭṭhitaṁ' announce?
Correct: A. Immediately following the chapter's own discourse-count colophon.
Question 8 of 10
What chapter opens next, after this page closes the Sikkhāpadapeyyāla?
Correct: A. AN 5.303, this book's twenty-ninth and final chapter.
Question 9 of 10
How is AN 5.294 through AN 5.302 represented in bilara-data?
Correct: A. The source's own compression, followed here exactly.
Question 10 of 10
What five precepts does this page's formula name, unchanged from earlier in this chapter?
Correct: A. Identical content throughout this entire chapter, applied to progressively wider audiences.
