Adhigamasutta — Arahattavagga — the eighth chapter of the Sixes, continuing the Second Fifty
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
Two matched six-item lists, cause and its direct reversal, returning to this chapter's paired pattern after AN 6.78's single positive list
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The theme of skill in progress and regress as conditions for further development recurs widely across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — abstract in its first half, naming categories of skill rather than concrete practices
Why this discourse
AN 6.79 returns to this chapter's paired blockage/reversal pattern after AN 6.78's single list, and shares a structural family resemblance with AN 6.71 earlier in this collection: a mendicant's ability to “acquire more skillful qualities or increase the skillful qualities they've already acquired” depends on three kinds of skill — in progress, regress, and means — joined to three further habits of enthusiasm, protection, and persistence.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Without skill in progress, regress, and means, and without generating enthusiasm, protecting what's achieved, and persisting in the task, a mendicant cannot acquire or increase skillful qualities; possessing all six makes that acquisition and increase possible.
Three skills of discernment, three habits of practice
The list splits cleanly into two halves of three: knowing what constitutes progress (āyakusala), regress (apāyakusala), and the means to develop further (upāyakusala) is a matter of discernment, while generating enthusiasm, protecting what has been achieved, and persisting in the task is a matter of sustained effort. Neither half alone is stated as sufficient.
A structural cousin of AN 6.71
This discourse's shape closely resembles AN 6.71's fourfold-discernment-plus-careful-practice structure earlier in this chapter's predecessor, though the specific categories named differ: AN 6.71 spoke of what worsens, steadies, distinguishes, and penetrates a given quality, while this discourse speaks of progress, regress, and means toward acquiring skillful qualities generally.
Protecting, not only acquiring
The discourse's third practical habit — protecting skillful qualities already achieved (anurakkhaṇā) — treats what has already been gained as something that can still be lost without ongoing care, not as a permanent possession once attained.
Key terms
āyakusala, apāyakusala, upāyakusala — “skilled in progress, skilled in regress, skilled in means” — the first three, discernment-based items.
chandaṁ janeti — “generates enthusiasm” — the fourth item, aimed at skillful qualities not yet achieved.
anurakkhaṇā — “protection” — the fifth item, guarding skillful qualities already achieved rather than assuming them secure.
sātaccakiriyā — “persisting in the task” — the sixth and closing item.
kusala dhamma — “skillful qualities” — the discourse's own general term for what is to be acquired and increased, left unspecified as to particular content.
The text
The discourse in full: three skills of discernment and three habits of practice that determine whether skillful qualities can be acquired or increased. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six things that prevent acquiring skillful qualities
§1“Mendicants, a mendicant who has six qualities is unable to acquire more skillful qualities or to increase the skillful qualities they’ve already acquired. What six? It’s when a mendicant is not skilled in progress, skilled in regress, or skilled in means. They don’t generate enthusiasm to achieve skillful qualities not yet achieved. They don’t protect skillful qualities they have achieved. And they don’t try to persist in the task. A mendicant who possesses these six qualities is unable to acquire more skillful qualities or to increase the skillful qualities they’ve already acquired.
Six things that enable it
§2A mendicant who has six qualities is able to acquire more skillful qualities or to increase the skillful qualities they’ve already acquired. What six? It’s when a mendicant is skilled in progress, skilled in regress, and skilled in means. They generate enthusiasm to achieve skillful qualities not yet achieved. They protect skillful qualities they have achieved. And they try to persist in the task. A mendicant who possesses these six qualities is able to acquire more skillful qualities or to increase the skillful qualities they’ve already acquired.”
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Self-check quiz
7 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 7
How does this discourse's list divide into two halves, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Discernment alone, or effort alone, is not stated as sufficient — both halves are required.
Question 2 of 7
What does this discourse's list determine, according to its opening line?
Correct: B. The discourse's own stated stakes, general rather than tied to one specific attainment.
Question 3 of 7
What earlier discourse does this one structurally resemble, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A shared discernment-plus-practice structure, applied to different specific categories.
Question 4 of 7
What does 'protecting' skillful qualities already achieved imply, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Ongoing care treated as necessary, not a one-time achievement.
Question 5 of 7
Is a setting stated for AN 6.79?
Correct: B. A bare formula, matching this chapter's other formulaic discourses.
Question 6 of 7
What does upāyakusala mean?
Correct: B. The third of the three discernment-based items.
Question 7 of 7
How does this discourse's structure compare to AN 6.78, immediately before it?
Correct: B. The chapter's default paired pattern resumes here.
