Dukkhānupassīsutta — Anusayavagga — the second chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The identical sevenfold structure as AN 7.16, compressed to a single changed opening clause via Pāli ellipsis
Length
under 30 seconds to read
Northern parallel
The application of the same liberation-classification structure to multiple meditation objects in sequence recurs across the Chinese Āgamas' abbreviation series; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — almost entirely elided, pointing back to AN 7.16 for its full content
Why this discourse
AN 7.17 restates AN 7.16's entire sevenfold structure — two full types plus five compressed variations of non-return — changing only the meditation object from impermanence to suffering, and compresses the entire discourse to barely more than its opening clause via the Pāli ellipsis “…pe…”.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The same seven outcomes already detailed at AN 7.16 for impermanence-meditation apply identically to suffering-meditation: full awakening in this life, ending simultaneous with death, or one of five manners of non-return.
Almost total compression
Where AN 7.16 spelled out its content across three sections, this discourse's source text gives only the opening clause — “meditates observing suffering in all conditions” — before eliding everything else with “…pe….” A reader who has read AN 7.16 can supply the entire remaining content without difficulty.
Suffering as the second of four objects
This tetrad, opened at AN 7.16 with impermanence, continues here with suffering, the second of the three characteristics already met together at AN 6.98–101 and AN 6.142 in the previous nipāta, now applied individually to this chapter's sevenfold liberation-classification.
The same care required, despite the brevity
Though this discourse's own text is nearly empty of content, the underlying teaching it represents is the full sevenfold classification already detailed at AN 7.16 — brevity here reflects compression, not a genuinely different or lesser teaching.
Key terms
dukkhānupassī — “observing suffering” — this discourse's own title and meditation object, replacing AN 7.16's impermanence.
…pe… — the Pāli ellipsis mark, standing in here for nearly the entirety of AN 7.16's sevenfold structure, unchanged beyond the opening clause.
dukkha — “suffering” — the second of the three characteristics, following impermanence at AN 7.16 and preceding not-self at AN 7.18.
sattamaṁ — “the seventh” — the source colophon's ordinal marking this discourse's position within its chapter.
āhuneyyā... anuttaraṁ puññakkhettaṁ lokassa — the same closing formula shared across AN 7.14 and this entire tetrad, assumed here without being spelled out.
The text
The formula exactly as the source compresses it: the same sevenfold structure as AN 7.16, applied to suffering. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The compressed formula
§1“Mendicants, these seven individuals are worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods, worthy of hospitality, worthy of a religious donation, worthy of greeting with cupped palms, and are the supreme field of merit for the world. What seven? First, take an individual who meditates observing suffering in all conditions. They perceive suffering and experience suffering. Constantly, continually, and without interruption, they apply the mind and fathom with wisdom. …”
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Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 6
What does this discourse's content represent?
Correct: B. The same seven outcomes, compressed to a changed opening clause.
Question 2 of 6
How compressed is this discourse's own text?
Correct: B. A reader who has read AN 7.16 can supply the entire remaining content.
Question 3 of 6
What position does suffering occupy within this tetrad's four meditation objects?
Correct: B. The second of four objects this tetrad applies to the same sevenfold structure.
Question 4 of 6
Does this discourse's brevity indicate a lesser or different teaching, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Compression, not reduction — the same content, differently presented.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 7.17?
Correct: B. A bare formula, as compressed as the rest of this discourse's content.
Question 6 of 6
What does dukkhānupassī mean?
Correct: B. This discourse's own title and meditation object.
