Dutiyasattakasutta — Vajjisattakavagga — the third chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single seven-item list, sharing its opening four items with content already met repeatedly in this collection
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The pairing of relishing work, talk, sleep, and company with a mendicant's decline recurs throughout the Chinese Āgamas' monastic-conduct material; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — opens with content already familiar from earlier in this series, closing on three new items
Why this discourse
AN 7.24 names seven principles opening with content already met repeatedly in this collection — not relishing work, talk, sleep, or company — the same core already spelled out at AN 6.31 and AN 6.117–118 in the previous nipāta, now joined by three further items: no corrupt wishes, no bad friends, and not stopping halfway after a trifling distinction.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
As long as mendicants don't relish work, talk, sleep, or company, don't have corrupt wishes, don't keep bad friends, and don't stop halfway after some trifling attainment, they can expect growth, not decline.
Four items already met, checked against their earlier appearances
Not relishing work, talk, sleep, and company is, checked term by term, the same core already named at AN 6.31 (there, a trainee's causes of decline) and AN 6.117–118 (there, blocking meditation on the foundations of mindfulness) — a third context in which this same four-item core appears, now under the Vajjian non-decline framing.
Three further items, new to this recurring core
Corrupt wishes (pāpicchā), bad friendship (pāpamittatā), and stopping halfway after a trifling distinction extend the familiar four-item core into a full seven, adding concerns about aspiration, company, and premature satisfaction not present in either of the four-item core's earlier appearances.
A warning against premature satisfaction, this discourse's own contribution
The seventh item — not stopping halfway after achieving some trifling distinction (oramattena visesādhigamena antarā vosānaṁ āpajjati) — names a danger specific to progress itself: mistaking an early or partial attainment for the completed goal, and settling there rather than continuing further.
Key terms
kammārāmatā, bhassārāmatā, niddārāmatā, saṅgaṇikārāmatā — “relishing work, talk, sleep, and company” — the same core already met at AN 6.31 and AN 6.117–118, now appearing a third time under this chapter's non-decline framing.
pāpicchatā — “corrupt wishes” — the fifth item, falling under their sway.
pāpamittatā — “bad friendship” — the sixth item, echoing AN 7.10's own closing pair earlier in this book.
oramattena visesādhigamena antarā vosānaṁ āpajjati — “stops halfway after achieving some trifling distinction” — the seventh and closing item, a warning against mistaking partial progress for completion.
aparihāniyā dhammā — “principles that prevent decline” — this chapter's recurring framing, here applied to a list drawing on already-familiar content.
The text
The discourse in full: seven principles combining a familiar four-item core with three further items. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The seven principles
§1“Mendicants, I will teach you seven principles that prevent decline. Listen and apply your mind well … And what are the seven principles that prevent decline? As long as the mendicants don’t relish work, loving it and liking to relish it, they can expect growth, not decline. As long as they don’t enjoy talk … sleep … company … they don’t have corrupt wishes, falling under the sway of corrupt wishes … they don’t have bad friends, companions, and associates … they don’t stop half-way after achieving some trifling distinction, they can expect growth, not decline. As long as these seven principles that prevent decline last among the mendicants, and as long as the mendicants are seen following them, they can expect growth, not decline.”
· · ·
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 four-item core opens this discourse's list, and where has it already appeared in this collection?
Correct: B. A third context for this recurring four-item core, now under this chapter's non-decline framing.
Question 2 of 6
What three items does this discourse add beyond the familiar four-item core?
Correct: B. New concerns extending a familiar core into a full seven.
Question 3 of 6
What does the seventh item, 'stops halfway after achieving some trifling distinction,' warn against, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A specific danger arising from progress itself, not from failure to progress.
Question 4 of 6
Where else in this book has the sixth item, bad friendship, already appeared as a closing item?
Correct: B. A theme this book has already returned to once before.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 7.24?
Correct: B. A bare formula, following AN 7.23's fresh setting.
Question 6 of 6
What does pāpamittatā mean?
Correct: B. The sixth item on this discourse's seven-item list.
