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Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 7.9

Giving Up

Pahānasutta — Dhanavagga — the first 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 7.8, elaborated with a statement of purpose and a closing formula already met in the Sixes
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The image of a fetter cut off 'at the root, like a palm stump' recurs widely across the Chinese Āgamas' descriptions of complete abandonment; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — restates AN 7.8's bare list with the fullest statement of purpose in this chapter so far

Why this discourse

AN 7.9 restates AN 7.8's identical seven fetters, but where that discourse simply named them, this one states outright that “the spiritual life is lived to give up and cut out these seven fetters,” then closes with the same formula already met at AN 6.105 and 6.106 in the previous nipāta: “cut off craving, cast off the fetters, and by rightly comprehending conceit has made an end of suffering.”

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

The entire spiritual life is lived to give up and cut out the seven fetters — attraction, aversion, views, doubt, conceit, desire to be reborn, and ignorance — cutting them off at the root so they can never arise again.

A stated purpose, not merely a list

AN 7.8 named these seven items with no further comment. This discourse opens by stating their removal as nothing less than the entire point of the spiritual life (brahmacariya) — the highest possible framing this literature gives to any single teaching.

'Cut off at the root, like a palm stump'

The discourse's central image for complete removal — “cut them off at the root, made them like a palm stump, obliterated them, so they are unable to arise in the future” — describes not weakening or suppressing a fetter but its total, irreversible elimination, a palm stump being unable to regrow once properly cut.

A closing formula carried over from the previous nipāta

This discourse's closing line — “cut off craving, cast off the fetters, and by rightly comprehending conceit has made an end of suffering” — is word for word the same formula already met closing both AN 6.105 and AN 6.106, applied there to a different pair of specific 3+3 lists and here to this discourse's own seven fetters.

Key terms

brahmacariya — “the spiritual life” — this discourse's framing for the entire purpose the seven fetters' removal serves.
mūlaghacca — “cut off at the root” — part of this discourse's central image for complete, irreversible removal.
tālāvatthukata — “made like a palm stump” — the same image, describing a removal so total that regrowth becomes impossible.
anurodha, virodha, diṭṭhi, vicikicchā, māna, bhavarāga, avijjā — identical to AN 7.8's seven fetters: attraction, aversion, views, doubt, conceit, desire to be reborn, and ignorance.
taṇhacchida, mānābhisamayā antamakāsi dukkhassa — “one who has cut off craving... by rightly comprehending conceit, made an end of suffering” — the closing formula shared word for word with AN 6.105 and AN 6.106 in the previous nipāta.

The text

The discourse in full: the purpose and complete removal of the seven fetters. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

The purpose of the spiritual life

§1“Mendicants, the spiritual life is lived to give up and cut out these seven fetters. What seven? The fetters of attraction, aversion, views, doubt, conceit, desire to be reborn, and ignorance. The spiritual life is lived to give up and cut out these seven fetters. When a mendicant has given up the fetters of attraction, repulsion, views, doubt, conceit, desire to be reborn, and ignorance—cut them off at the root, made them like a palm stump, obliterated them, so they are unable to arise in the future—they’re called a mendicant who has cut off craving, cast off the fetters, and by rightly comprehending conceit has made an end of suffering.”

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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 AN 7.9's treatment of the seven fetters differ from AN 7.8's, checked term by term?
Correct: B. Same list, elevated to the highest possible framing this literature gives a teaching.
Question 2 of 6
What does the image of a fetter 'cut off at the root, like a palm stump' describe, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Complete removal, not suppression or gradual weakening.
Question 3 of 6
Where else in this series has this discourse's closing formula already appeared?
Correct: B. An identical closing formula carried across the boundary between two nipātas.
Question 4 of 6
What does brahmacariya mean, and what role does it play in this discourse?
Correct: B. The highest possible framing this literature gives to a single teaching.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 7.9?
Correct: B. A bare formula, matching AN 7.8 immediately before it.
Question 6 of 6
What are the seven fetters named in this discourse?
Correct: B. The same list as AN 7.8, now elaborated with purpose and closing formula.
Answered 0 of 6 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousAN 7.8 · Fetters