Appahāyasutta — Sītivagga — the ninth 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 set of discourses sharing one list restated across several framings
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The three fetters removed at stream-entry (sakkāyadiṭṭhi, vicikicchā, sīlabbataparāmāsa) recur throughout the Chinese Āgamas and Abhidharma literature; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — names the three fetters removed at stream-entry, technical but foundational terms
Why this discourse
AN 6.89 opens a set of three discourses — this one, AN 6.90, and AN 6.91 — all naming the identical six things, reframed each time: what must be given up to become “accomplished in view” (this discourse), what one already accomplished in view has given up (AN 6.90), and what one accomplished in view can no longer give rise to (AN 6.91). Unlike the AN 6.86–88 triplet's shared formula around different content, this trio shares identical content under three different verbs.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Without giving up substantialist view, doubt, misapprehension of precepts and observances, and forms of greed, hatred, and delusion that lead to rebirth in places of loss, one cannot become accomplished in view; giving up all six makes that accomplishment possible.
The three fetters, plus a fourth compressed item
Sakkāyadiṭṭhi (substantialist view), vicikicchā (doubt), and sīlabbataparāmāsa (misapprehension of precepts and observances) are the standard three fetters removed at stream-entry; the discourse's sixth item compresses “forms of greed, hate, and delusion that lead to rebirth in places of loss” into what functions as one further blocking category.
One list, three framings across this chapter
Checked term by term, AN 6.89, 6.90, and 6.91 name the identical six things — not a case of shared title masking different content, as with this collection's several 'same title' traps, but the reverse: identical content restated under giving-up (prescriptive), already-given-up (descriptive of the accomplished), and cannot-give-rise-to (a stronger claim of impossibility, taken up at AN 6.91).
Accomplished in view, this discourse's own term for the target
Diṭṭhisampanna, “accomplished in view,” is this set's standard term for the stream-enterer — someone who has directly seen the four noble truths and thereby removed the three fetters, though not yet the higher fetters removed only at the further stages of awakening.
Key terms
sakkāyadiṭṭhi — “substantialist view” — the first of the three fetters removed at stream-entry, belief in a fixed, substantial self.
vicikicchā, sīlabbataparāmāsa — “doubt, misapprehension of precepts and observances” — the second and third fetters, completing the standard set of three.
apāyagamanīyaṁ rāgaṁ dosaṁ mohaṁ — “forms of greed, hate, and delusion that lead to rebirth in places of loss” — the sixth, compressed item, distinct from the three fetters proper.
diṭṭhisampanna — “accomplished in view” — this set's standard term for the stream-enterer, one who has directly seen the four noble truths.
diṭṭhisampadā — “accomplishment in view” — the attainment this discourse's list is said to enable, once all six items are given up.
The text
The discourse in full: the three fetters plus rebirth-bound greed, hate, and delusion, given up to become accomplished in view. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six things to give up
§1“Mendicants, without giving up six things you can’t become accomplished in view. What six? Substantialist view, doubt, misapprehension of precepts and observances, and forms of greed, hate, and delusion that lead to rebirth in places of loss. Without giving up these six things you can’t become accomplished in view.
The result of giving them up
§2After giving up six things you can become accomplished in view. What six? Substantialist view, doubt, misapprehension of precepts and observances, and forms of greed, hate, and delusion that lead to rebirth in places of loss. After giving up these six things you can become accomplished in view.”
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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 three items open this discourse's list, forming the standard three fetters?
Correct: B. The three fetters removed at stream-entry, a standard technical set.
Question 2 of 7
How does AN 6.89's relationship to AN 6.90 and 6.91 differ from the AN 6.86–88 triplet's pattern, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Same six items, three different verbs and framings — the inverse of the earlier triplet's pattern.
Question 3 of 7
What does diṭṭhisampanna mean, and who does it refer to?
Correct: B. The standard term for stream-entry used throughout this set of discourses.
Question 4 of 7
What does this discourse's sixth item compress into one category?
Correct: B. A fourth blocking category beyond the three fetters proper.
Question 5 of 7
Is a setting stated for AN 6.89?
Correct: B. A bare formula, opening this set of three discourses.
Question 6 of 7
What does sīlabbataparāmāsa mean?
Correct: C. The third of the three fetters, completing the standard set.
Question 7 of 7
What has NOT yet been removed at the stage this discourse's list describes, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Stream-entry removes the three fetters, not every remaining defilement.
