Untitled in the source — closing Rāgapeyyāla — the eleventh and final chapter of the Eights and AN 8 itself
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
Sixteen further defilements crossed against ten verbs and the three eightfold lists established at AN 8.118-120, compressing 480 individually numbered discourses into a single closing page
Length
~2 minutes to read the compressed text; the underlying 480 discourses this page stands for would take far longer read individually
The end of the Book of the Eights
This page's own closing colophon declares “the Book of the Eights is finished” — the final page of AN 8, and with it, 1,408 discourses across eleven chapters now complete
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — the largest single compression in this nipāta, worth reading slowly to see the full scale of what it represents
Why this discourse
AN 8.148–627 closes the Book of the Eights by taking sixteen further defilements — hate, delusion, anger, acrimony, disdain, contempt, jealousy, stinginess, deceitfulness, deviousness, obstinacy, aggression, conceit, arrogance, vanity, and negligence — and running each through ten verbs of insight and ending, crossed against the same three eightfold lists (path, mastery, liberation) established at AN 8.118–120, compressing 480 individually numbered discourses into this single closing page.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Each of sixteen further defilements — from hate and delusion through to negligence itself — should be met with the same treatment already given to greed: insight, complete understanding, complete ending, giving up, ending, vanishing, fading away, cessation, giving away, and letting go, each developed through the noble eightfold path, the eight dimensions of mastery, and the eight liberations.
Sixteen defilements, completing the seventeen-item list
Together with greed, already covered at AN 8.118–147, this page's sixteen further defilements complete a seventeen-item list this project has now met five times closing a nipāta: the same defilements, in the same order, closed AN 3, AN 4, AN 6, and AN 7 before this discourse closes AN 8 — strong confirmation that this list is the collection's own standard editorial template for closing a nipāta, not a coincidence repeated by chance.
Ten verbs this time, not nine
Where AN 8.121–147 crossed greed against nine verbs, this page's own count is ten — insight into negligence specifically named first, before the same nine verbs (understanding, ending, giving up, ending, vanishing, fading away, cessation, giving away, letting go) repeat for all sixteen defilements. Sixteen defilements times ten verbs times three eightfold lists equals exactly 480, matching the discourse range this page compresses.
The end of the Book of the Eights
This page's own closing line, following immediately after the final compressed formula, states plainly: “The Book of the Eights is finished.” With this page, AN 8's eleven chapters and 1,408 discourses — from AN 8.1's eight benefits of love through this closing peyyāla — are now complete, matching the project's earlier completions of AN 1 through AN 7.
Key terms
dosassa, mohassa, kodhassa, upanāhassa — “of hate, delusion, anger, acrimony” — the opening four of the sixteen defilements this page runs through the full treatment.
makkhassa, paḷāsassa, issāya, macchariyassa — “disdain, contempt, jealousy, stinginess” — four more of the sixteen, continuing the same seventeen-item list already met four times before in this project's earlier work.
māyāya, sāṭheyyassa, thambhassa, sārambhassa — “deceitfulness, deviousness, obstinacy, aggression” — continuing the list toward its close.
mānassa, atimānassa, madassa, pamādassa — “conceit, arrogance, vanity, negligence” — the final four defilements, negligence closing the full seventeen-item list (with greed) that opened this chapter.
aṭṭhakanipātapāḷi niṭṭhitā — “the Book of the Eights is finished” — the closing colophon, marking the end of AN 8's own 1,408 discourses.
The text
The discourse in full: sixteen defilements, each crossed against ten verbs and the three eightfold lists, closing the Book of the Eights. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Sixteen defilements, compressed
§1“Of hate … delusion … anger … acrimony … disdain … contempt … jealousy … stinginess … deceitfulness … deviousness … obstinacy … aggression … conceit … arrogance … vanity … for insight into negligence … complete understanding … complete ending … giving up … ending … vanishing … fading away … cessation … giving away … letting go of negligence these eight things should be developed.”
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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 does this page's compressed text stand for?
Correct: B. 16 x 10 x 3 = 480, matching the AN 8.148-627 range exactly.
Question 2 of 6
How does this page's defilement list relate to greed, already covered at AN 8.118-147?
Correct: B. Strong confirmation this seventeen-item list is the collection's own standard closing template.
Question 3 of 6
How many verbs does this page cross against each defilement, compared to AN 8.121-147's own count?
Correct: B. One additional verb (insight) compared to the greed page's own nine.
Question 4 of 6
What does this page's own closing colophon declare?
Correct: B. The final line of AN 8 itself, not merely this chapter.
Question 5 of 6
What is the last of the sixteen defilements named, closing the full seventeen-item list?
Correct: B. The final item, closing both this page's list and the seventeen-item list overall (with greed).
Question 6 of 6
Is a setting given for this discourse?
Correct: C. A bare formula, matching the compressed pages preceding it in this chapter.
