Santuṭṭhitāsutta — 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 to three negated qualities reversed by their direct positive counterparts
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The pairing of contentment, situational awareness, and few wishes recurs widely across the Chinese Āgamas' treatment of moderate living; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the simplest antidote structure in this chapter so far, each antidote a bare negation reversed
Why this discourse
AN 6.114 names three qualities each already framed as an absence — lack of contentment, lack of situational awareness, having many wishes — reversed by simply removing the negation: contentment, situational awareness, and having few wishes, the most literal antidote structure this chapter has used since AN 6.108's conduct discourse.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
To give up lack of contentment, lack of situational awareness, and having many wishes, one should develop contentment, situational awareness, and having few wishes.
Named as absences, not active faults
Two of this discourse's three blocking items are explicitly framed as lacks (asantuṭṭhitā, asampajañña) rather than as present vices — a pattern this collection already met at AN 6.65's list of absences blocking non-return, though the specific qualities named here are different.
Few wishes, echoing this collection's ascetic ideal
Appicchatā, “having few wishes,” already appeared as the reversal of “many desires” at AN 6.84's closing discourse of Arahattavagga, connecting this discourse's third item to a theme already established earlier in the Second Fifty.
The simplest possible antidote form, again
As with AN 6.108's conduct discourse, this discourse's antidotes are each the bare positive counterpart of their named fault, requiring no separate explanation of why a particular remedy addresses a particular problem — contentment simply is the absence of its own lack.
Key terms
asantuṭṭhitā — “lack of contentment” — the discourse's opening item, framed as an absence.
asampajañña — “lack of situational awareness” — the second item, echoing satisampajañña already met as a positive pairing at AN 6.77.
mahicchatā — “having many wishes” — the third blocking item, reversed by its direct opposite.
appicchatā — “having few wishes” — the antidote to many wishes, already met as a reversal at AN 6.84 closing the previous chapter's predecessor.
santuṭṭhi, sampajañña — “contentment, situational awareness” — the first two antidotes, each the bare positive counterpart of its named lack.
The text
The discourse in full: lack of contentment, lack of situational awareness, and having many wishes, and their direct positive reversal. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Three things to give up
§1“Mendicants, there are these three things. What three? Lack of contentment, lack of situational awareness, and having many wishes. 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 contentment to give up lack of contentment, situational awareness to give up lack of situational awareness, and having few wishes to give up having many wishes. 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 are two of this discourse's three blocking items framed, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A pattern already met at AN 6.65's list of absences blocking non-return.
Question 2 of 6
Where else in this collection has 'having few wishes' (appicchatā) already appeared?
Correct: B. A connection to a theme already established earlier in the Second Fifty.
Question 3 of 6
How does the guide describe this discourse's antidote structure?
Correct: B. The most literal instance of this chapter's template since AN 6.108.
Question 4 of 6
What does asampajañña echo from earlier in this chapter's predecessor?
Correct: B. A term this collection has already used, here appearing in its negated form.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 6.114?
Correct: B. A bare formula, matching this chapter's other discourses.
Question 6 of 6
What does mahicchatā mean?
Correct: B. The third blocking item, reversed by appicchatā, its direct opposite.
