Niddasavatthusutta — Anusayavagga — the second chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single seven-item list of sustained enthusiasms, closing this chapter
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The image of graduating from a training already completed recurs widely across the Chinese Āgamas' descriptions of the arahant's finished task; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and formulaic, closing this chapter with a compact seven-item list
Why this discourse
AN 7.20 closes this chapter with seven qualifications for graduation (niddasavatthu) — keen enthusiasm sustained toward undertaking the training, examining the teachings, getting rid of desires, retreat, rousing energy, mindfulness and alertness, and theoretical penetration — each qualified by the same closing clause: “and they don't lose these desires in the future.”
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant qualifies for graduation through seven keen enthusiasms sustained without loss into the future: for undertaking the training, examining the teachings, getting rid of desires, retreat, energy, mindfulness and alertness, and theoretical penetration.
Graduation as a specific technical image
Niddasavatthu, literally “grounds for being ten-less” or having completed schooling, names the point at which a mendicant no longer needs the guidance of a teacher for a fixed number of years — not a claim about age but about training having reached its completion.
Sustained, not merely momentary
Each of the seven items is qualified by the identical closing clause, “and they don't lose these desires in the future” — the discourse's concern is not whether a mendicant has ever shown enthusiasm for these seven things, but whether that enthusiasm persists without falling away.
Closing this chapter on a forward-looking note
Where this chapter's earlier discourses classified persons by attainment already reached (AN 7.14–19) or by conduct already shown (AN 7.11–13), this closing discourse frames its seven qualities prospectively — enthusiasms that must continue, not simply have occurred, ending the chapter on a note of ongoing practice rather than a fixed classification.
Key terms
niddasavatthu — “grounds for graduation” — this discourse's own title, naming the point training reaches completion without requiring further oversight.
sikkhāsamādāne tibbacchando — “keen enthusiasm to undertake the training” — the first of seven qualifications, each with an identical grammatical structure.
dhammanisantiyā, nekkhamme, pavivekāya — “examining the teachings, getting rid of desires, for retreat” — the second, third, and fourth qualifications.
vīriyārambhe, satisampajaññe, diṭṭhipaṭivedhāya — “rousing energy, mindfulness and alertness, theoretical penetration” — the fifth, sixth, and seventh qualifications, closing the list.
na cāyatiṁ taṁ chandaṁ vinodenti — “and they don't lose these desires in the future” — the identical closing clause qualifying all seven items, emphasizing persistence over mere occurrence.
The text
The discourse in full: seven sustained enthusiasms that qualify a mendicant for graduation. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Seven qualifications for graduation
§1“Mendicants, there are these seven qualifications for graduation. What seven? It’s when a mendicant has a keen enthusiasm to undertake the training … to examine the teachings … to get rid of desires … for retreat … to rouse up energy … for mindfulness and alertness … to penetrate theoretically. And they don’t lose these desires in the future. These are the seven qualifications for graduation.”
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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 niddasavatthu, this discourse's own title, name?
Correct: B. Not a claim about age, but about training reaching completion.
Question 2 of 6
What clause qualifies all seven items on this discourse's list?
Correct: B. A concern with ongoing persistence, not a one-time occurrence.
Question 3 of 6
What are the first three of the seven qualifications named?
Correct: B. The opening three of seven sustained enthusiasms.
Question 4 of 6
How does this discourse's framing compare to this chapter's earlier discourses, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A forward-looking close to a chapter otherwise concerned with existing classifications.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 7.20?
Correct: B. A bare formula, closing this chapter.
Question 6 of 6
What are the final two qualifications named in this discourse?
Correct: B. The sixth and seventh items closing this discourse's list.
