Sekhasutta — Devatāvagga — the fourth chapter of the Sixes
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
Two matched six-item lists, cause and its direct reversal, in a single short discourse
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
This theme of decline versus non-decline for a trainee recurs across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and formulaic, opening a chapter that will return to this decline theme repeatedly
Why this discourse
The chapter titled ‘Deities’ opens, somewhat unexpectedly, with no deity at all: a bare six-item list of what causes a sekha, a trainee, to decline, paired immediately with its six-item reversal. The deities the chapter is named for arrive at the very next discourse, AN 6.32, which restates closely related material through a nighttime visitor.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A trainee mendicant declines by relishing work, talk, sleep, and company, failing to guard the sense doors, and eating too much; they avoid decline by the six direct opposites of these.
A specific target: the trainee, not every mendicant
Unlike AN 6.21's causes of decline, stated for “a mendicant” generally, this discourse specifies sekhassa bhikkhuno, a trainee mendicant — someone who has entered the path (the same term defined at AN 5.1's reading guide earlier in this series) but not yet completed it. The list may be aimed specifically at this population because a trainee, unlike an arahant, still has something at stake in these six habits.
Four familiar items, two new ones
Work, talk, sleep, and company repeat the trio-plus-one already met at AN 6.14, 6.15, 6.17, and 6.21. The two new items — not guarding the sense doors (indriyesu aguttadvāratā) and eating without moderation (bhojane amattaññutā) — extend the pattern from social and attentional habits to the specific discipline of sense-restraint and eating, both recurring elsewhere in the canon's standard descriptions of a well-trained mendicant's daily conduct.
Compression as the discourse's whole method
Nothing here is elaborated: no story, no closing verse, no explanation of why any one item matters. The entire discourse is the bare naming of six causes and six reversals, back to back, trusting the reader to recognize each item from its appearance elsewhere or its self-evident sense.
Opening a chapter that returns to this theme
AN 6.31 is the first of several discourses in this chapter concerned with what preserves or undermines a mendicant's practice — AN 6.32 and 6.33 restate closely related six-item lists via a deity's report, and AN 6.40, later in the chapter, asks the same question of the entire teaching's long-term survival rather than one mendicant's progress.
Key terms
sekha — “trainee” — one who has entered the path but not completed it, already defined at AN 5.1 earlier in this series.
indriyesu aguttadvāratā — “not guarding the sense doors” — the fifth cause of decline, new to this discourse compared to AN 6.14/6.15/6.17/6.21.
bhojane amattaññutā — “not knowing moderation in eating” — the sixth cause, likewise new to this discourse.
parihāna — “decline” — unchanged from AN 6.21/6.22, now applied specifically to a trainee.
aparihāna — “non-decline” — the direct reversal named in this discourse's second half.
The text
The discourse in full: six causes of a trainee's decline, and their six reversals. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six causes of a trainee's decline
§1“These six things lead to the decline of a mendicant trainee. What six? They relish work, talk, sleep, and company. They don’t guard the sense doors, and they eat too much. These six things lead to the decline of a mendicant trainee.
Six causes of non-decline
§2These six things don’t lead to the decline of a mendicant trainee. What six? They don’t relish work, talk, sleep, and company. They guard the sense doors, and they don’t eat too much. These six things don’t lead to the decline of a mendicant trainee.”
· · ·
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 population does this discourse specifically address, unlike AN 6.21?
Correct: B. Sekhassa bhikkhuno — someone who has entered the path but not completed it.
Question 2 of 10
Which four of the six causes of decline repeat items already met earlier in this chapter's predecessor?
Correct: B. Already met at AN 6.14, 6.15, 6.17, and 6.21.
Question 3 of 10
What two items are new to this discourse's list?
Correct: B. Extending the pattern into sense-restraint and eating discipline specifically.
Question 4 of 10
What is the discourse's entire method, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Compression is the whole method — no elaboration is offered.
Question 5 of 10
How does this discourse set up the rest of the chapter, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A recurring concern across several discourses in this chapter.
Question 6 of 10
What does indriyesu aguttadvāratā mean?
Correct: B. The fifth cause of decline, new to this discourse.
Question 7 of 10
Is a setting stated for AN 6.31?
Correct: B. A bare formula opening the chapter, despite its title 'Deities'.
Question 8 of 10
Why might this list target the trainee specifically, rather than every mendicant, according to the guide?
Correct: B. An arahant has nothing further to decline from in the relevant sense.
Question 9 of 10
What does bhojane amattaññutā mean?
Correct: B. The sixth cause of decline, new to this discourse's list.
Question 10 of 10
What is notable about the chapter's title, 'Deities' (Devatāvagga), compared to its opening discourse?
Correct: B. A chapter title that describes its later content more than its opening.
