Dutiyanirayasutta — 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, closing the titled pair opened by AN 6.81
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The pairing of greed with rudeness as a joint obstacle recurs in related forms across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and direct, sharing four of six items with the discourse immediately before it
Why this discourse
AN 6.82 repeats AN 6.81's opening formula, closing formula, and first four items — killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying — word for word, changing only the fifth and sixth: greed (giddha) and rudeness (anādariya) here, in place of corrupt wishes and wrong view. Checked side by side, the two discourses are near duplicates with one deliberate substitution.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying, joined by greed and rudeness, places someone in hell; abstaining from the four acts, joined by lack of greed and courtesy, places someone in heaven.
Four items shared exactly, two items substituted
Checked term by term against AN 6.81, the first four items of both lists are identical. Only the fifth and sixth change: AN 6.81 closed on corrupt wishes and wrong view, an internal orientation toward wanting and toward truth; this discourse closes on greed and rudeness, an internal orientation toward possessions and toward other people.
From doctrinal wrongness to interpersonal coarseness
Where AN 6.81's closing pair concerned wrong view, a distinctly doctrinal failure, this discourse's closing pair concerns rudeness (anādariya), a failure of ordinary consideration toward others. The two discourses, read together, suggest hell is reached by more than one route beyond the shared four acts — through distorted belief, or through simple lack of regard for other people.
Why the canon keeps such close pairs
As with AN 6.73/6.74 and AN 6.65/6.66 earlier in this collection, near-duplicate discourses differing in only one or two items are not redundancy to smooth over but a technique this series has now met repeatedly: the shared frame lets a small substitution carry the entire weight of what differs between the two teachings.
Key terms
pāṇātipāta, adinnādāna, kāmesumicchācāra, musāvāda — “killing living creatures, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying” — identical to AN 6.81's first four items.
giddha — “greedy” — the fifth item here, replacing AN 6.81's corrupt wishes.
anādariya — “rude,” lacking consideration — the sixth and closing item, replacing AN 6.81's wrong view.
agiddha, sādariya — “not greedy, considerate” — the reversal's fifth and sixth items, the direct opposites closing this discourse's heaven-bound list.
nikkhitto evaṁ nirayeti / saggeti — “placed in hell / heaven, as if delivered there” — identical to AN 6.81's formula, unchanged between the two discourses.
The text
The discourse in full: four acts plus greed and rudeness 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’re greedy and rude. 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’re not greedy or rude. 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
How many of AN 6.82's six items are identical to AN 6.81's, checked term by term?
Correct: B. Near-duplicate discourses, differing only in their fifth and sixth items.
Question 2 of 7
What replaces AN 6.81's 'corrupt wishes and wrong view' in this discourse's list?
Correct: B. One deliberate substitution, carrying the entire difference between the two discourses.
Question 3 of 7
How does the guide characterize the shift from AN 6.81's closing pair to this discourse's?
Correct: B. Two different routes to the same destination, beyond the shared four acts.
Question 4 of 7
According to the guide, what does this discourse's relationship to AN 6.81 illustrate?
Correct: B. A device already met at AN 6.65/6.66 and AN 6.73/6.74 earlier in this collection.
Question 5 of 7
Is a setting stated for AN 6.82?
Correct: B. A bare formula, identical in form to AN 6.81's.
Question 6 of 7
What does anādariya mean?
Correct: B. The sixth and closing item, replacing AN 6.81's wrong view.
Question 7 of 7
What is identical between AN 6.81 and AN 6.82's opening and closing formulas?
Correct: B. An unchanged shared frame around the one substituted pair of items.
