Paṭhamanirayasutta — 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, opening a titled pair with AN 6.82
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The four acts of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying as a fixed ethical core recur throughout the Chinese Āgamas' precept material; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and direct, naming familiar precept-breaking acts rather than abstract categories
Why this discourse
AN 6.81 shifts register again: rather than meditative attainment or the acquisition of skillful qualities, its stakes are stated as bluntly as this collection ever states them — placed in hell, or in heaven, “as if delivered there.” Four familiar acts (killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying) are joined by two further items, corrupt wishes and wrong view, closing the list on an internal disposition rather than a further outward act.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying, joined by corrupt wishes and wrong view, places someone in hell; abstaining from the four acts, joined by few desires and right view, places someone in heaven.
Four acts, but not the standard five precepts
The list's first four items match four of the five lay precepts, but the fifth precept — abstaining from intoxicants — is absent, replaced instead by two items of internal disposition: corrupt wishes (pāpicchā) and wrong view (micchādiṭṭhi). The list's structure is four outward acts plus two inward orientations, not the standard five precepts restated.
'As if delivered there' — an unusually direct formula
The phrase “placed... as if delivered there” (nikkhitto evaṁ nirayeti) states the connection between conduct and destination with unusual bluntness for this collection, framing rebirth almost as an automatic mechanical consequence rather than a probabilistic tendency.
A titled pair with AN 6.82
This discourse and its immediate successor share the identical opening and closing formula and the identical first four items — killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying — differing only in their fifth and sixth items: corrupt wishes and wrong view here, versus greed and rudeness in AN 6.82. The pairing recalls this collection's other ‘first/second’ pairs, such as AN 6.73/6.74, where a shared title and target conceal a genuine difference in content.
Key terms
pāṇātipāta, adinnādāna, kāmesumicchācāra, musāvāda — “killing living creatures, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying” — the first four items, matching four of the five standard lay precepts.
pāpicchā — “corrupt wishes” — the fifth item, an inward orientation rather than an outward act.
micchādiṭṭhi — “wrong view” — the sixth and closing item, this discourse's own term for the disposition that (with AN 6.82) most distinguishes it from its paired companion.
appicchā, sammādiṭṭhi — “few desires, right view” — the reversal's fifth and sixth items, the direct opposites of corrupt wishes and wrong view.
nikkhitto evaṁ nirayeti / saggeti — “placed in hell / heaven, as if delivered there” — the discourse's own unusually direct formula connecting conduct to destination.
The text
The discourse in full: four acts plus corrupt wishes and wrong view delivering someone to hell, and their reversal delivering someone to heaven. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six things that deliver someone to hell
§1“Mendicants, someone with six qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there. What six? They kill living creatures, steal, commit sexual misconduct, and lie. And they have corrupt wishes and wrong view. Someone with these six qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there.
Six things that deliver someone to heaven
§2Someone with six qualities is placed in heaven as if delivered there. What six? They don’t kill living creatures, steal, commit sexual misconduct, or lie. And they have few desires and right view. Someone with these six qualities is placed in heaven as if delivered there.”
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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
What four acts open this discourse's six-item list?
Correct: B. Matching four of the five standard lay precepts, but not all five.
Question 2 of 7
Which standard lay precept is notably absent from this discourse's list, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Four acts plus two inward orientations, not the five precepts restated.
Question 3 of 7
How does the guide describe the discourse's formula 'placed in hell, as if delivered there'?
Correct: B. Blunt phrasing, distinct in directness from much of this collection's other formulas.
Question 4 of 7
How does AN 6.81 differ from its immediate companion, AN 6.82, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A titled pair recalling AN 6.73/6.74's shared-title, different-content structure.
Question 5 of 7
What does pāpicchā mean?
Correct: B. The fifth item, an inward disposition rather than an outward act.
Question 6 of 7
Is a setting stated for AN 6.81?
Correct: B. A bare formula, matching this chapter's other discourses.
Question 7 of 7
What are the reversal's fifth and sixth items?
Correct: B. The direct opposites of corrupt wishes and wrong view.
