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Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 6.6

The Thoroughbred (2nd)

Dutiyaājānīyasutta — Āhuneyyavagga — the first chapter of the Sixes

Setting
None stated; the discourse continues from AN 6.1, whose setting at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove is understood to hold
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The same two-part simile as AN 6.5, with strength in place of beauty as the horse's sixth quality
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
As with AN 6.5, horse-similes for endurance recur elsewhere in the canon and its Northern counterparts; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the second of three near-identical discourses

Why this discourse

AN 6.6 repeats AN 6.5’s simile of the thoroughbred horse almost word for word, changing only the horse’s named sixth quality: balava, strong, in place of vaṇṇasampanna, beautiful. The mendicant side of the comparison is untouched. Read on its own this discourse might seem a mere variant; read as the middle term of a three-part set, it shows the tradition building a small series out of one fixed structure and a single changing element.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

As a fine royal thoroughbred is valued for enduring sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches, and for being strong, so a mendicant worthy of offerings endures sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and thoughts without being shaken.

What changed from AN 6.5, and what did not

Every clause of AN 6.6 matches AN 6.5’s wording exactly except one word: where AN 6.5 said the horse vaṇṇasampanno ca hoti, is possessed of beauty, AN 6.6 says balavā ca hoti, is possessed of strength. The mendicant-side conclusion, listing endurance across all six senses, is identical in both.

Strength as a distinct praise from beauty

Where beauty at AN 6.5 named an outward, visible mark of excellence, strength names a capacity — what the horse can do, not merely how it appears. Placed second in the set, this shifts the register of what makes bare endurance count for something: not only handsome bearing, but real power in reserve.

Reading the three as a single teaching, not three separate ones

Because AN 6.5, 6.6, and 6.7 differ by a single word each, they are best read together rather than as three independent teachings. Together they name three qualities — beauty, strength, speed — that a fine horse, and by extension an exemplary mendicant, might display beyond bare endurance, without claiming any one of the three is more essential than the others.

A structural note on this series

This kind of tight, near-repeating triad, differing by a single term, recurs elsewhere across the Aṅguttara wherever a simile or list has more than one natural variant worth stating in full rather than compressing. It is a different technique from the peyyāla — abbreviated-text — passages this series will meet later in the Sixes, which compress rather than restate.

Key terms

balavā — “strong,” “possessed of strength” — the horse's distinguishing sixth quality in this second version of the simile.
assājānīya — “thoroughbred horse” — the same central image as AN 6.5.
khama — “able to endure” — the shared quality of horse and mendicant, unchanged from AN 6.5.
rājāraha — “worthy of a king,” “fit to serve a king” — the horse's praise, unchanged from AN 6.5.
rañño aṅga — “a factor of kingship” — what a horse with these six qualities is reckoned to be, unchanged from AN 6.5.

The text

The discourse in full: the thoroughbred's six qualities, now including strength, and the parallel mendicant. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

The thoroughbred horse

§1“Mendicants, a fine royal thoroughbred with six factors is worthy of a king, fit to serve a king, and is reckoned a factor of kingship. What six? It’s when a fine royal thoroughbred can endure sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches. And it’s strong. A fine royal thoroughbred with these six factors is worthy of a king, fit to serve a king, and is reckoned a factor of kingship.

The parallel: a mendicant

§2In the same way, a mendicant with six qualities is worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods, worthy of hospitality, worthy of a religious donation, worthy of veneration with cupped palms, and is the supreme field of merit for the world. What six? It’s when a mendicant can endure sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas. A mendicant with these six qualities is worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods, worthy of hospitality, worthy of a religious donation, worthy of veneration with cupped palms, and is the supreme field of merit for the world.”

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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
What single word changes between AN 6.5 and AN 6.6?
Correct: B. Vaṇṇasampanna, beauty, becomes balavā, strong — everything else matches AN 6.5.
Question 2 of 10
Does the mendicant-side conclusion change between AN 6.5 and AN 6.6?
Correct: B. Only the horse's named sixth quality changes; the mendicant side is unchanged.
Question 3 of 10
How does the guide characterize the difference between 'beauty' and 'strength' as praise?
Correct: B. A shift in register from appearance to capacity.
Question 4 of 10
How should AN 6.5, 6.6, and 6.7 best be read, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A tight triad differing by one word each, meant to be read as a set.
Question 5 of 10
What technique does this triad use, compared to the peyyāla (abbreviated-text) passages met later in the Sixes?
Correct: B. This is full restatement with one changed term, not compression.
Question 6 of 10
What does balavā mean?
Correct: B. The horse's sixth quality at AN 6.6.
Question 7 of 10
Is AN 6.6 set at a newly stated location?
Correct: B. The bare continuation pattern holds through AN 6.9.
Question 8 of 10
What quality will AN 6.7, the third of this set, name as the horse's sixth quality?
Correct: C. Completing the set: beauty, strength, speed.
Question 9 of 10
What remains identical across all three thoroughbred discourses?
Correct: B. The shared structural core across AN 6.5, 6.6, and 6.7.
Question 10 of 10
What kind of image does the thoroughbred simile draw on?
Correct: B. As already established at AN 6.5.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousAN 6.5 · The Thoroughbred (1st)