Paṭhamapaṭisambhidāsutta — Devatāvagga — the fourth chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single seven-item list, stated once with no reversal, the first of a brief/Sāriputta-example pair
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The four kinds of textual analysis (paṭisambhidā) as a standard technical set recur throughout the Chinese Āgamas and Abhidharma literature; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — names precise technical distinctions in mental observation, denser than this chapter's other discourses
Why this discourse
AN 7.38 names seven qualities of precise mental observation — recognizing sluggishness, an internally constricted mind, an externally scattered mind, watching feelings, perceptions, and thoughts arise and pass, and properly grasping the whole pattern of qualities encountered — that let a mendicant soon realize the four kinds of textual analysis through their own insight.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant who recognizes sluggishness, an internally constricted mind, an externally scattered mind, and who watches feelings, perceptions, and thoughts arise and pass while properly grasping the whole pattern of qualities encountered, will soon realize the four kinds of textual analysis.
Paṭisambhidā, a specific analytical attainment
The four kinds of textual analysis — of meaning, of the teaching, of language, and of eloquent expression — are a standard set of analytical capacities in this literature, treated here as reachable through sustained precise attention rather than through learning alone.
Three named obstacles to attention, immediately followed by their remedy
The list's first three items each name a specific way attention can go wrong — sluggish, too internally constricted, or too externally scattered — framed as things to truly understand rather than simply avoid, implying accurate recognition of a distorted state is itself part of the practice.
Watching three processes arise, remain, and pass
The middle three items apply an identical threefold observation — as they arise, as they remain, as they go away — to feelings, perceptions, and thoughts in turn, a repeated analytical structure applied across three different objects of experience.
Key terms
paṭisambhidā — “textual analysis” — the fourfold analytical attainment (meaning, teaching, language, eloquent expression) this discourse's seven qualities are said to produce.
līnattaṁ cittassa — “mental sluggishness” — the first quality, recognizing a specific way attention can go wrong.
ajjhattaṁ saṅkhittaṁ, bahiddhā vikkhittaṁ — “internally constricted mind, externally scattered mind” — the second and third qualities, two further specific distortions.
uppādañca vayañca — “as they arise... as they go away” — the threefold observation applied to feelings, perceptions, and thoughts in turn.
suggahitā... sumanasikatā... suppaṭividdhā paññāya — “properly grasped... borne in mind... penetrated with wisdom” — the seventh and closing quality, a comprehensive grasp of the whole pattern of qualities encountered.
The text
The discourse in full: seven qualities of precise mental observation leading to textual analysis. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Seven qualities leading to textual analysis
§1“Mendicants, a mendicant with seven qualities will soon realize the four kinds of textual analysis and live having achieved them with their own insight. What seven? It’s when a mendicant truly understands: ‘This is mental sluggishness’. They truly understand internally constricted mind as ‘internally constricted mind’. They truly understand externally scattered mind as ‘externally scattered mind’. They know feelings as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. They know perceptions as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. They know thoughts as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. The patterns of qualities—suitable or unsuitable, inferior or superior, or those with a portion of dark or bright—are properly grasped, focused on, borne in mind, and penetrated with wisdom. A mendicant with these seven qualities will soon realize the four kinds of textual analysis and live having achieved them with their own insight.”
· · ·
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 paṭisambhidā name, and what does this discourse claim produces it?
Correct: B. A specific technical set of analytical capacities.
Question 2 of 6
What do the first three items on this discourse's list have in common, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Accurate recognition of distorted states, not merely their avoidance.
Question 3 of 6
What threefold observation applies to feelings, perceptions, and thoughts in the middle three items?
Correct: B. A repeated analytical structure applied across three objects of experience.
Question 4 of 6
What does the discourse open a pair with, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A brief/Sāriputta-example pair, a pattern this chapter will repeat.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 7.38?
Correct: B. A bare formula, following AN 7.37 immediately before it.
Question 6 of 6
What does the seventh and final quality involve?
Correct: B. A comprehensive analytical grasp, closing the list.
