Catutthavinayadharasutta — Vinayavagga — the eighth chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single-paragraph bare list, sharing four opening items with AN 7.75-77 but structurally different in its middle: two items replace what is elsewhere a single fifth item plus a separate four-absorptions item
Length
under 1 minute to read
The set's real outlier
Unlike AN 7.75-77's fifth-item variants, which all keep the four-absorptions item as a separate sixth item, this discourse's past-life recollection and clairvoyance together occupy both the fifth and sixth slots, dropping the four-absorptions item entirely
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — brief but structurally distinct from its three siblings, worth checking carefully rather than assuming it simply swaps one word
Why this discourse
AN 7.78 gives the fourth and structurally most different of this chapter's variants: rather than adding recollection of past lives and clairvoyance as one more item alongside the four absorptions, this discourse uses them to fill both the fifth and sixth slots, dropping the four-absorptions item that every other discourse in this set of eight keeps.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant who knows the four categories of offense, recollects their many past lives in detail, understands with clairvoyance how beings pass on according to their deeds, and realizes undefiled freedom in this very life is an expert in the monastic law — with no separate mention of the four absorptions at all.
The same four opening items, then a real structural difference
Knowing what is an offense, what is not, what is light, and what is serious open this discourse exactly as they open AN 7.75-77. But where those three discourses each name one fifth item and then add the four absorptions as a separate sixth item, this discourse instead gives recollection of past lives as its fifth item and clairvoyance as its sixth — two of the higher knowledges standing in for both slots at once, with no room left for the four-absorptions item its siblings all share.
Two higher knowledges, not one variable quality
Recollecting many kinds of past lives, complete with features and details, and understanding through purified, superhuman clairvoyance how sentient beings are reborn according to their deeds are both counted among the higher knowledges (abhiññā) elsewhere in the canon — here paired together as what distinguishes this fourth variant from its three siblings, rather than either one alone filling the usual single variable slot.
Why this variant reads differently from the other three
AN 7.75-77's three variants all describe qualities a mendicant might cultivate through ethical and meditative discipline in fairly ordinary terms — restraint, textual mastery, firmness. This fourth variant instead reaches for two specifically supernormal knowledges, giving this discourse's picture of an “expert in the monastic law” a noticeably different, more exalted character than its three siblings.
Key terms
āpatti, anāpatti, lahukā āpatti, garukā āpatti — “an offense, not an offense, a light offense, a serious offense” — the shared four opening items.
anekavihitaṁ pubbenivāsaṁ anussarati — “recollects their many kinds of past lives, with features and details” — this discourse's fifth item, filling the slot that ethical restraint, textual mastery, or firmness occupy in the other three variants.
dibbena cakkhunā visuddhena atikkantamānusakena — “with clairvoyance that is purified and superhuman” — this discourse's sixth item, replacing the four-absorptions item found in AN 7.75-77.
yathākammūpage satte pajānāti — “understands how sentient beings pass on according to their deeds” — what the clairvoyance in this discourse's sixth item actually discerns.
abhiññā — “higher knowledge” — the broader canonical category both past-life recollection and clairvoyance belong to, not named explicitly in this discourse's own text but useful context for its two central items.
The text
The discourse in full, a single bare list. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Seven qualities of an expert in the monastic law
§1“Mendicants, a mendicant with seven qualities is an expert in the monastic law. What seven? They know what is an offense. They know what is not an offense. They know what is a light offense. They know what is a serious offense. They recollect their many kinds of past lives, with features and details. With clairvoyance that is purified and superhuman, they understand how sentient beings pass on according to their deeds. They realize the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life, and live having realized it with their own insight due to the ending of defilements. A mendicant with these seven qualities is an expert in the monastic law.”
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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 are this discourse's fifth and sixth items?
Correct: B. Two higher knowledges, together replacing the pattern found in this set's other three variants.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, how does this discourse structurally differ from AN 7.75-77?
Correct: B. A genuine structural difference, not just a substituted word.
Question 3 of 6
Is the four-absorptions item present anywhere in this discourse?
Correct: B. A real absence, not merely a different phrasing of the same content.
Question 4 of 6
What broader canonical category do past-life recollection and clairvoyance both belong to, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A recognized category of supernormal attainments, though not named explicitly within this discourse's own text.
Question 5 of 6
According to the guide, what character does this variant give to "expert in the monastic law" compared to its three siblings?
Correct: B. A shift toward the supernormal, distinct from the more ordinary qualities described elsewhere in the set.
Question 6 of 6
What is this discourse's relationship to AN 7.82?
Correct: B. The same structurally distinct variant, appearing again with a different framing verb.
