Paṭhamatajjhānasutta — Devatāvagga — the seventh chapter of the Sixes, continuing the Second Fifty
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A named six-item list — the five hindrances plus a wisdom clause — stated once as blocking the first absorption and once as its reversal
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The five hindrances (nīvaraṇa) as a standard list recur throughout the Chinese Āgamas and Abhidharma literature; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — a familiar list from elsewhere in the canon, but paired here with a distinct sixth clause on wisdom
Why this discourse
AN 6.73 is the first of a paired set closing this chapter, both titled ‘First Absorption’ and both naming six things that must be given up to enter the first jhāna. This discourse's six are the five classic hindrances — sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt — named together as one list, plus a sixth: the drawbacks of sensual pleasures not yet “truly seen clearly with right wisdom.”
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Without giving up the five hindrances and seeing clearly, with right wisdom, the drawbacks of sensual pleasures, the first absorption cannot be entered; giving up all six makes it attainable.
Five hindrances treated as one list item plus a wisdom clause
Where AN 6.66 earlier in this chapter split two hindrance-pairs into separate list items, this discourse names all five hindrances together as a single item, then adds a sixth, distinct requirement: that the drawbacks of sensual pleasures actually be seen with wisdom, not merely suppressed or avoided.
Suppression is not the same as seeing
The sixth item's insistence on wisdom (paññāya) implies that giving up the five hindrances by will or restraint alone, without also seeing their drawbacks clearly, is not what this discourse means by the phrase “giving up.” The first absorption's entry is tied here to insight into why sensual pleasure is unsatisfying, not merely to its temporary absence.
A companion discourse waiting immediately after
AN 6.74, sharing this discourse's exact title and closing formula, names an entirely different six things — three kinds of thought and three kinds of perception — as blocking the same first absorption. Two discourses, same target, same title, and (as with AN 6.65/6.66 earlier in this chapter) different content, not a restatement.
Why the hindrances specifically block the first jhāna
Each of the five hindrances is described elsewhere in the canon as directly opposed to one of the first absorption's own factors — sensual desire and ill will opposing applied and sustained thought's settling, restlessness and doubt opposing rapture and bliss, dullness opposing one-pointedness — though this discourse itself does not spell out that correspondence explicitly.
Key terms
kāmacchanda, byāpāda — “desire for sensual pleasures, ill will” — the first two of the five classic hindrances named in this discourse.
thīnamiddha, uddhaccakukkucca, vicikicchā — “dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, doubt” — the remaining three hindrances, completing the standard set of five.
kāmānaṁ ādīnavo paññāya sudiṭṭho — “the drawbacks of sensual pleasures truly seen clearly with wisdom” — the discourse's sixth, distinct requirement, beyond the five hindrances themselves.
paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ — “the first absorption” — the attainment both this discourse and AN 6.74 concern, though naming two different sets of six obstacles to it.
nīvaraṇa — “hindrance” — the standard term for the five-item set named together here as this discourse's first list item.
The text
The discourse in full: the five hindrances plus a sixth clause on wisdom, given up to enter the first absorption. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Without giving up six qualities
§1“Mendicants, without giving up these six qualities you can’t enter and remain in the first absorption. What six? Desire for sensual pleasures, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt. And the drawbacks of sensual pleasures have not been truly seen clearly with right wisdom. Without giving up these six qualities you can’t enter and remain in the first absorption.
After giving up six qualities
§2But after giving up these six qualities you can enter and remain in the first absorption. What six? Desire for sensual pleasures, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt. And the drawbacks of sensual pleasures have been truly seen clearly with right wisdom. After giving up these six qualities you can enter and remain in the first absorption.”
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Self-check quiz
Nine questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 9
What five items does this discourse name together as its first list item?
Correct: B. Named together as one item, unlike AN 6.66's earlier split treatment of two hindrance-pairs.
Question 2 of 9
What is this discourse's sixth, distinct requirement beyond the five hindrances?
Correct: B. A wisdom clause, not merely the hindrances' suppression.
Question 3 of 9
According to the guide, what does the sixth item's insistence on wisdom imply?
Correct: A. Entry to the first absorption is tied to insight, not merely temporary absence of the hindrances.
Question 4 of 9
What does AN 6.74, immediately following, name as blocking the same first absorption?
Correct: B. Same title, same target attainment, but different content — not a restatement.
Question 5 of 9
What earlier discourse in this chapter is cited as a contrast in how the hindrances are grouped?
Correct: B. AN 6.66 treated dullness-drowsiness and restlessness-remorse as separate items; this discourse groups all five as one.
Question 6 of 9
Is a setting stated for AN 6.73?
Correct: B. A bare formula, matching this chapter's other list-form discourses.
Question 7 of 9
What does vicikicchā mean?
Correct: B. The fifth of the five classic hindrances named in this discourse.
Question 8 of 9
According to the guide, why might the five hindrances specifically block the first jhāna?
Correct: B. A connection drawn from elsewhere in the canon, not stated explicitly in this particular discourse.
Question 9 of 9
What attainment do both AN 6.73 and AN 6.74 concern?
Correct: B. A shared target attainment, named identically in both discourses' titles.
