Saññāsutta — Tikavagga — the eleventh chapter of the Sixes, continuing the Second Fifty
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
This chapter's shared template, applied here to perception — the second of three discourses restating one identical triad
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The threefold antidote of renunciation, good will, and harmlessness against sensual, malicious, and cruel perception recurs widely across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — identical content to AN 6.109, one register shifted
Why this discourse
AN 6.110 restates AN 6.109's exact content — sensual, malicious, and cruel, reversed by renunciation, good will, and harmlessness — changing only the register from thought (vitakka) to perception (saññā), the fourth appearance of this identical triad within this collection, now counting AN 6.74, 6.75, and 6.109.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
To give up sensual, malicious, and cruel perceptions, one should develop perceptions of renunciation, good will, and harmlessness, each antidote matched to its corresponding perception.
The fourth appearance of one exact triad
Checked word for word, this discourse's content is identical to AN 6.109's, with vitakka (thought) replaced throughout by saññā (perception) — the fourth time this collection has stated this exact kāma/byāpāda/vihiṁsā content, after AN 6.74, 6.75, and 6.109.
Thought and perception, distinguished elsewhere in this collection
AN 6.74's own reading guide already distinguished vitakka as the more active, verbal register of mental activity from saññā's more basic act of recognizing or labeling experience — a distinction this discourse's restatement preserves by keeping the two registers as genuinely separate discourses rather than merging them into one.
One register remaining
With thought and perception both now treated, AN 6.111 completes this three-discourse family by applying the identical content to dhātu, “element,” a term this discourse's own list has not yet used.
Key terms
kāmasaññā, byāpādasaññā, vihiṁsāsaññā — “sensual, malicious, and cruel perception” — identical to the blocking triad already met at AN 6.74, 6.75, and (as thought) AN 6.109.
nekkhammasaññā, abyāpādasaññā, avihiṁsāsaññā — “perceptions of renunciation, good will, and harmlessness” — identical in content to AN 6.109's antidote triad, restated for perception.
saññā — “perception” — this discourse's own register, the second of three this content is applied to across AN 6.109–111.
vitakka — “thought” — the register AN 6.109 applied this identical content to immediately before this discourse.
dhātu — “element” — the third and final register AN 6.111 will apply this content to next.
The text
The discourse in full: sensual, malicious, and cruel perceptions, and their three matched antidotes. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Three things to give up
§1“Mendicants, there are these three things. What three? Sensual, malicious, and cruel perceptions. These are the three things.
Three things to develop against them
§2To give up these three things you should develop three things. What three? You should develop perceptions of renunciation to give up sensual perceptions, perceptions of good will to give up malicious perceptions, and perceptions of harmlessness to give up cruel perceptions. These are the three things you should develop to give up those three things.”
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Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 6
How does this discourse's content compare to AN 6.109's, checked word for word?
Correct: B. One register swapped, otherwise word-for-word identical to its immediate predecessor.
Question 2 of 6
How many times has this collection now stated this exact kāma/byāpāda/vihiṁsā content, counting this discourse?
Correct: C. A content this collection returns to across multiple registers and contexts.
Question 3 of 6
What distinction does the guide draw on from AN 6.74's earlier reading guide?
Correct: B. A distinction maintained by treating thought and perception as genuinely separate discourses.
Question 4 of 6
What register remains to complete this three-discourse family?
Correct: B. AN 6.111 completes the family with a third register.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 6.110?
Correct: B. A bare formula, matching AN 6.109 immediately before it.
Question 6 of 6
What does vihiṁsāsaññā mean?
Correct: C. The third of the three blocking perceptions named in this discourse.
