Ānisaṁsasutta — Ānisaṁsavagga — the tenth chapter of the Sixes, continuing the Second Fifty
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single six-item list, stated once with no paired negative half
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The benefits of stream-entry as a fixed enumerated set recur widely across the Chinese Āgamas' treatment of the noble stages; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, naming this chapter's own titular term directly
Why this discourse
AN 6.97 gives this chapter its name: ānisaṁsa, “benefit,” here the six concrete benefits of realizing the fruit of stream-entry — being bound for the true teaching, immunity from decline, limited suffering, distinct knowledge, and clear sight of causation, closing on the same causal insight already named as AN 6.95's reason for its own rejections.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Realizing the fruit of stream-entry brings six benefits: being bound for the true teaching, freedom from decline, only limited future suffering, distinct knowledge, and clear sight of causes and their arisen phenomena.
This chapter's own title, stated directly
Where AN 6.96 opened on rarity and left the chapter's titular term implicit, this discourse names ānisaṁsa outright as its subject — the clearest possible instance in this chapter of a discourse converging exactly with its chapter's own name, following a pattern already met with Arahattavagga and Sītivagga.
'Suffer only for a limited period' — not the ending of suffering
The discourse's third benefit does not claim the stream-enterer suffers no further at all, but that whatever suffering remains is bounded: at most seven more lives, the same ceiling already named at AN 6.92 earlier in this collection, under a different discourse and framing.
Causal insight, echoing AN 6.95's closing reason
The discourse's final benefit — having “clearly seen causes and the phenomena that arise from causes” — repeats word for word AN 6.95's own stated reason, closing the previous chapter, for why the accomplished cannot fall back on false theories of causation. The same insight functions there as an explanation and here as a named benefit in its own right.
Key terms
ānisaṁsa — “benefit” — this chapter's own title, and this discourse's central term, named directly for the only time so far in this chapter.
sotāpattiphala — “the fruit of stream-entry” — the attainment this discourse's six benefits are said to follow from.
saddhammaparāyaṇa — “bound for the true teaching” — the first benefit, an assured future orientation toward the teaching.
aparihānadhamma — “not liable to decline” — the second benefit, echoing the theme of irreversibility already met at AN 6.91.
hetu ca hetusamuppannā ca dhammā sudiṭṭhā — “causes and the phenomena that arise from causes have been clearly seen” — the sixth and final benefit, identical in wording to AN 6.95's closing reason.
The text
The discourse in full: six benefits of realizing the fruit of stream-entry. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six benefits of stream-entry
§1“Mendicants, these are the six benefits of realizing the fruit of stream-entry. What six? You’re bound for the true teaching. You’re not liable to decline. You suffer only for a limited period. You have distinct knowledge. You’ve clearly seen causes and the phenomena that arise from causes. These are the six benefits of realizing the fruit of stream-entry.”
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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 is notable about this discourse's relationship to its chapter's title, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A pattern already met with Arahattavagga and Sītivagga converging on their own titular terms.
Question 2 of 7
What does the third benefit, 'you suffer only for a limited period,' actually claim, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A bounded, not eliminated, remaining suffering — echoing AN 6.92's numerical ceiling.
Question 3 of 7
What does this discourse's final benefit share word for word with an earlier discourse?
Correct: B. The same causal insight, functioning as explanation there and as a named benefit here.
Question 4 of 7
What six benefits does this discourse list in total?
Correct: B. The discourse's own complete list of stream-entry's benefits.
Question 5 of 7
Is a setting stated for AN 6.97?
Correct: B. A bare formula, matching AN 6.96 immediately before it.
Question 6 of 7
What does aparihānadhamma mean, and what earlier discourse does it echo?
Correct: B. A continuation of stream-entry's irreversibility, already established earlier in this chapter's predecessor.
Question 7 of 7
Does AN 6.97 include a paired reversal or negative half?
