Dutiyapaṭisambhidāsutta — Devatāvagga — the fourth chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The identical seven-item list as AN 7.38, restated as one named individual's personal attainment
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
Naming a senior disciple's personal attainment of a generally-taught quality recurs widely across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — the same content as AN 7.38, made concrete through a specific named example
Why this discourse
AN 7.39 restates AN 7.38's identical seven qualities, but shifts from a general teaching addressed to mendicants to a specific claim about Venerable Sāriputta's own realization — the same analytical capacities named generally in the discourse before this one, now grounded in one named individual's demonstrated attainment.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Having the same seven qualities already named at AN 7.38, Sāriputta realized the four kinds of textual analysis and lives having achieved them with his own insight.
Identical content, shifted from general to particular
Checked term by term, this discourse's seven qualities are the same recognizing sluggishness, constriction, scattering, and threefold observation of feelings, perceptions, and thoughts already given at AN 7.38. The only change is grammatical: third-person singular past tense about Sāriputta, rather than a general present-tense teaching to mendicants.
Sāriputta as a demonstrated case, not a new teaching
This discourse does not argue that Sāriputta's path to textual analysis differed from the general teaching; it instead offers him as confirmation that the general teaching actually works, grounding an abstract capacity in a concrete, already-attained example.
A pattern repeated across this chapter
AN 7.40 and 7.41, immediately following, will repeat this exact general-teaching-then-Sāriputta-example structure for a different attainment: mastery of the mind through skill in immersion.
Key terms
Sāriputta — one of the Buddha's chief disciples, named here as the concrete example of AN 7.38's general teaching successfully realized.
līnattaṁ cittassa, ajjhattaṁ saṅkhittaṁ, bahiddhā vikkhittaṁ — the same three named distortions of attention already met at AN 7.38, restated here as qualities Sāriputta himself recognized.
vedanā, saññā, vitakka — “feelings, perceptions, thoughts” — the same three objects of threefold observation already applied at AN 7.38.
sāmaṁ paccakkhāya — “with his own insight” — the discourse's closing phrase, identical to AN 7.38's own closing claim, now applied specifically to Sāriputta.
paṭisambhidā — “textual analysis” — the same fourfold attainment named at AN 7.38, here confirmed as something Sāriputta has actually realized.
The text
The discourse in full: the same seven qualities as AN 7.38, restated as Sāriputta's own attainment. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Sāriputta's seven qualities
§1“Mendicants, having seven qualities, Sāriputta realized the four kinds of textual analysis and lives having achieved them with his own insight. What seven? It’s when Sāriputta truly understood: ‘This is mental sluggishness’. He truly understood internally constricted mind as ‘internally constricted mind’. He truly understood externally scattered mind as ‘externally scattered mind’. He knew feelings, perceptions, and thoughts as they arose, as they remained, and as they went away. The patterns of qualities—suitable or unsuitable, inferior or superior, or those with a portion of dark or bright—were properly grasped, focused on, borne in mind, and penetrated with wisdom. Having these seven qualities, Sāriputta realized the four kinds of textual analysis and lives having achieved them with his own insight.”
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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
How does this discourse's content compare to AN 7.38's, checked term by term?
Correct: B. The same content, grounded in one named individual's attainment.
Question 2 of 6
What role does Sāriputta play in this discourse, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A concrete example grounding an abstract capacity.
Question 3 of 6
What pattern does this discourse establish, continued later in this chapter?
Correct: B. A structural device this chapter uses more than once.
Question 4 of 6
What three objects receive the identical threefold observation already met at AN 7.38?
Correct: B. The same three objects of experience already named in the general teaching.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 7.39?
Correct: B. A bare formula, following AN 7.38 immediately before it.
Question 6 of 6
What is the only significant change between AN 7.38 and this discourse?
Correct: B. The same content, differently grammatically framed.
