Asaddhammasutta — Samaṇavagga — the ninth chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single-sentence bare list, the negative mirror of the very next discourse
Length
under 1 minute to read
The negative of a familiar list
This discourse's seven bad qualities are the exact negation, item for item, of the seven-quality list this book has already met at AN 7.25, 7.43, and 7.67 — spelled out explicitly as its own negative statement for the first time here
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, best read directly alongside AN 7.94
Why this discourse
AN 7.93 names seven bad qualities — faithless, shameless, imprudent, unlearned, lazy, unmindful, and witless — the exact negation of the seven-quality list this book has already met three times before, now stated explicitly as its own negative list rather than left implicit.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
There are seven bad qualities: being faithless, shameless, imprudent, unlearned, lazy, unmindful, and witless — a bare list given with no elaboration, narrative, or explanation of any one item.
The negative of a list this book has met three times before
Faith, conscience, prudence, learning, energy, mindfulness, and wisdom form the seven-quality list already met at AN 7.25, restated at AN 7.43, and mapped onto a citadel's seven defenses at AN 7.67. This discourse names the exact negation of every one of those seven items, in the same order, spelling out explicitly what earlier discourses in this book left as an unstated contrast.
A bare list, deliberately unadorned
Unlike AN 7.25 and AN 7.67, which embed their seven qualities in narrative or extended simile, this discourse and its positive counterpart at AN 7.94 present their content with no elaboration at all — seven words, stated and then restated once in closing, trusting the reader to recognize their significance from context alone.
Set up as an immediate pair with AN 7.94
This discourse's entire function is to set up its own negation at AN 7.94, the very next discourse and the final one in this chapter — a bad-then-good pairing that closes this chapter by presenting the same seven-item structure from both directions in immediate succession.
Key terms
asaddhamma — “a bad quality”, more literally “not a true quality” — this discourse's own title, naming the negative counterpart to saddhamma.
assaddho, ahirīko, anottappī — “faithless, shameless, imprudent” — the first three of the seven bad qualities, negating faith, conscience, and prudence.
appassuto, kusīto — “unlearned, lazy” — the fourth and fifth items, negating learning and energy.
muṭṭhassati, duppañño — “unmindful, witless” — the sixth and seventh items, negating mindfulness and wisdom.
saddha, hirī, ottappa, bahussuta, āraddhavīriya, sati, paññā — “faith, conscience, prudence, learning, energy, mindfulness, wisdom” — the positive list this discourse's seven bad qualities negate item for item, already met at AN 7.25, 7.43, and 7.67.
The text
The discourse in full, a single bare list. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Seven bad qualities
§1“Mendicants, there are these seven bad qualities. What seven? Someone is faithless, shameless, imprudent, unlearned, lazy, unmindful, and witless. These are the seven bad qualities.”
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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 seven bad qualities does this discourse name?
Correct: B. A bare list of seven negative qualities, with no elaboration.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what positive list does this discourse negate item for item?
Correct: B. The exact negation, in the same order, of a list this book has met three times before.
Question 3 of 6
How is this discourse's content presented?
Correct: B. Seven words stated plainly, unlike AN 7.25 and 7.67's narrative or simile treatments of the positive version.
Question 4 of 6
What discourse immediately follows, presenting the exact positive counterpart to this discourse's list?
Correct: B. AN 7.94, closing this chapter with the positive mirror of this discourse's seven bad qualities.
Question 5 of 6
According to the guide, what is this discourse's overall function within this chapter?
Correct: B. A deliberate pairing with the discourse immediately following it.
Question 6 of 6
Which item negates “energy” (āraddhavīriya) from the positive list?
Correct: B. The fifth item in both lists, negating energetic effort with laziness.
