Rāgapariññāsutta — Rāgapeyyāla — the thirteenth and final chapter of the Sixes
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single six-item list, developed for direct knowledge of one named defilement — the first of three such lists opening this chapter's massive closing peyyāla
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The pairing of a brief and an elaborated version of the six unsurpassable things recurs across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — brief in itself, but opening the mechanism behind this chapter's five hundred ten discourses
Why this discourse
Rāgapeyyāla, ‘Abbreviated Texts Beginning With Greed,’ opens this chapter and closes the entire Sixes: a bare instruction that “for insight into greed, six things should be developed,” naming the six unsurpassable things — already given in full at AN 6.30 in the earlier First Fifty — as the first of three lists this chapter will cross-multiply against defilements and verbs to generate five hundred ten discourses from a handful of sentences.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
For direct knowledge of greed, six things should be developed: the unsurpassable seeing, listening, acquisition, training, service, and recollection.
Content already given in full at AN 6.30
The six unsurpassable things (chaḷanuttariya) — dassanānuttariya, savanānuttariya, lābhānuttariya, sikkhānuttariya, pāricariyānuttariya, and anussatānuttariya — were already spelled out in full detail at AN 6.30, which itself completed the brief/elaborated pair begun at AN 6.8 in the earlier First Fifty. This discourse assumes that fuller treatment and simply names the list as a target for greed specifically.
The first of three lists this chapter will multiply
AN 6.141 and 6.142, immediately following, give two further six-item lists — the six recollections and six perceptions — each likewise developed “for direct knowledge of greed.” Together, these three lists become this chapter's entire combinatorial apparatus, crossed against verbs and further defilements across the pages that follow.
Why 'direct knowledge' specifically
Abhiññā, “direct knowledge,” is the first and most immediate of the several verbs this chapter will eventually apply to each list — a starting point of simply knowing a defilement clearly, before the fuller sequence of understanding, ending, and letting go developed at AN 6.143–169 and beyond.
Key terms
rāga — “greed” — the first defilement this entire chapter's apparatus addresses, and the term this chapter, Rāgapeyyāla, takes its name from.
abhiññā — “direct knowledge” — the first verb this chapter's lists are developed for, before nine further verbs are introduced at AN 6.143–169.
chaḷanuttariya — “the six unsurpassable things” — seeing, listening, acquisition, training, service, and recollection, already given in full at AN 6.30.
dassanānuttariya, savanānuttariya, lābhānuttariya — “the unsurpassable seeing, listening, acquisition” — the first three of the six unsurpassable things named in this discourse.
sikkhānuttariya, pāricariyānuttariya, anussatānuttariya — “the unsurpassable training, service, recollection” — the remaining three, closing this discourse's list.
The text
The discourse in full: the six unsurpassable things, developed for direct knowledge of greed. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six things developed for direct knowledge of greed
§1“For insight into greed, six things should be developed. What six? The unsurpassable seeing, listening, acquisition, training, service, and recollection. For insight into greed, these six things should be developed.”
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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
What six things does this discourse name as developed for direct knowledge of greed?
Correct: B. A list already given in full detail earlier in this collection.
Question 2 of 6
Where was this exact list already spelled out in full detail?
Correct: B. This discourse assumes that fuller treatment rather than repeating it.
Question 3 of 6
What role does this discourse play for the rest of this chapter, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The opening piece of a system generating five hundred ten discourses from a handful of lists.
Question 4 of 6
What does abhiññā mean, and what is its role in this chapter?
Correct: B. The starting point of a longer verb sequence developed across this chapter.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 6.140?
Correct: B. A bare formula, opening this chapter.
Question 6 of 6
What does this chapter's title, Rāgapeyyāla, mean?
Correct: B. This chapter's own name, describing its entire compressed method.
