Vedagūsutta — Samaṇavagga — the ninth chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single elided sentence, the sixth in this chapter's set of eight wordplay discourses
Length
a few seconds to read
A shift from washing to knowing
After AN 7.88-89's washing imagery, this discourse moves to a cognitive image instead: vedagū, someone who has gone to the end of knowledge
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, marking a change in register from this set's two previous discourses
Why this discourse
AN 7.90 gives the sixth discourse in this set, deriving “knowledge master” (vedagū) from vidita, “known,” shifting away from AN 7.88-89's washing imagery toward a cognitive image of complete understanding, again applied to the same seven defilements.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
It is specifically because of knowing seven things — the same substantialist view, doubt, misapprehension of precepts and observances, greed, hate, delusion, and conceit named in full at AN 7.85 — that one becomes a vedagū, a knowledge master.
Vedagū: one who has reached the end of knowledge
Vedagū literally suggests someone who has gone (gata) to the far end of knowledge (veda) itself, not merely someone who knows a great deal but someone whose knowledge has reached its completion — a title of finality rather than ongoing accumulation.
A shift in register from the two washing discourses
Having moved through breaking, quelling, barring out, and two variations on washing, this discourse changes the underlying image entirely: rather than removing the seven defilements through force or purification, it frames their removal as a matter of complete understanding, knowing them so thoroughly that they no longer operate.
Two discourses remain, moving toward distance
As the sixth of this set's eight discourses, this one is followed by AN 7.91 and 7.92, both built on ārakattā, “being remote,” shifting the register once more from knowing toward simple distance — the seven defilements not just understood but left far behind.
Key terms
vedagū, vidita — “knowledge master”, “known” — the sound-linked pair this discourse's wordplay turns on.
veda, gata — “knowledge”, “gone” — the two roots combining in vedagū itself, suggesting one who has gone all the way to knowledge's own end.
sakkāyadiṭṭhi, vicikicchā, sīlabbataparāmāso — “substantialist view, doubt, misapprehension of precepts and observances” — elided here, given in full at AN 7.85.
rāgo, doso, moho, māno — “greed, hate, delusion, conceit” — the remaining four items, likewise elided.
chaṭṭhaṁ — “the sixth” — this discourse's own closing ordinal marker in the source text.
The text
The discourse in full, a single elided sentence. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Why one is called a knowledge master
§1“Mendicants, it’s because of knowing seven things that you become a knowledge master …”
· · ·
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 verb does this discourse connect to “knowledge master” (vedagū)?
Correct: B. A cognitive image, marking a shift from this set's earlier washing imagery.
Question 2 of 6
What does “vedagū” literally suggest, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Completion rather than mere accumulation of knowledge.
Question 3 of 6
How does this discourse's image differ from AN 7.88-89's, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A shift from washing/purification imagery to cognitive completion.
Question 4 of 6
What do the two discourses following this one in the set share as their common root?
Correct: B. AN 7.91 and 7.92 both derive their titles from being remote or distant.
Question 5 of 6
What is this discourse's own closing marker in the source text?
Correct: B. Confirming its place as the sixth discourse in this set of eight.
Question 6 of 6
How many discourses in this set remain after this one?
Correct: B. AN 7.91 and AN 7.92 close out the full set of eight.
