Dutiyaappiyasutta — Mettāvagga — the first chapter of the Eights
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A second matched pair of eight-item lists, same bare formula as AN 8.3, different items
Length
under 1 minute to read
A callback to AN 7.1
This list's own opening three items — desiring material things, honor, and status — are the identical Pāli terms that opened AN 7.1's blocking list a full nipāta earlier, though the five items that follow are entirely different
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and formulaic, no setting given
Why this discourse
AN 8.4 gives a second eight-item list of what makes a mendicant disliked — desiring material things, honor, and status, not knowing moderation or the proper time, impure conduct, talking too much, and insulting one's companions — and its direct reversal, sharing its opening three terms with the very first discourse of the Sevens.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant who desires material things, honor, and status, knows neither moderation nor the proper time, has impure conduct, talks a lot, and insults and abuses their spiritual companions is disliked; the eight direct opposites make a mendicant liked.
A paired discourse, not a repeat
This is the second of a Paṭhama/Dutiya pair with AN 8.3, following a pattern this project has met many times before: the same bare formula and structure, but a genuinely different eight items, not a restatement of the first discourse's list.
The same three opening terms as AN 7.1
This list's first three items — lābhakāmo, sakkārakāmo, anavaññattikāmo, desiring material things, honor, and status — are word-for-word the same three that opened the very first discourse of the Sevens. What follows them here is entirely different: not conscience, prudence, wishes, and view, but moderation, timing, purity of conduct, restraint in speech, and abstaining from insult.
A more social, less doctrinal list than AN 8.3's
Where AN 8.3's blocking list leaned toward inner disposition — conscience, wishes, view — this one leans toward observable conduct in community: knowing when and how much, keeping bodily and verbal conduct clean, and not talking too much or abusing one's companions.
Key terms
lābhakāmo, sakkārakāmo, anavaññattikāmo — “desires material things, honor, and status” — the first three items, identical in Pāli to the opening of AN 7.1's own blocking list.
akālaññū, amattaññū — “knows neither the proper time nor moderation” — the fourth and fifth items, naming a failure of social and practical judgment.
asuci — “impure” — the sixth item, describing conduct rather than an inner state.
bahubhāṇī — “talks a lot” — the seventh item, a fault of excess in speech.
akkosakaparibhāsako sabrahmacārīnaṁ — “insults and abuses their spiritual companions” — the eighth and closing item, the most directly harmful of the eight.
The text
The discourse in full: a second eight-item list of what makes a mendicant disliked, and its reversal. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Eight qualities that make a mendicant disliked
§1“Mendicants, a mendicant with eight qualities is disliked and disapproved by their spiritual companions, not respected or admired. What eight? It’s when a mendicant desires material things, honor, and status. They know neither moderation nor the proper time. Their conduct is impure, they talk a lot, and they insult and abuse their spiritual companions. A mendicant with these eight qualities is disliked and disapproved by their spiritual companions, not respected or admired.
Eight qualities that make a mendicant liked
§2A mendicant with eight qualities is liked and approved by their spiritual companions, and respected and admired. What eight? It’s when a mendicant doesn’t desire material things, honor, and status. They know moderation and the proper time. Their conduct is pure, they don’t talk a lot, and they don’t insult and abuse their spiritual companions. A mendicant with these eight qualities is liked and approved by their spiritual companions, and respected and admired.”
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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 this discourse relate to AN 8.3, the discourse before it?
Correct: B. A familiar paired-discourse pattern, not a restatement.
Question 2 of 6
What do this list's opening three items share with AN 7.1, the first discourse of the Sevens?
Correct: B. A word-for-word callback across two different nipātas.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, how does this list's character differ from AN 8.3's?
Correct: B. A more social, less doctrinal list than its predecessor.
Question 4 of 6
What is the eighth and closing item of this blocking list?
Correct: B. The most directly harmful of the eight, closing the list.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting given for this discourse?
Correct: C. A bare formula, matching AN 8.3's own lack of a restated setting.
Question 6 of 6
What does akālaññū, amattaññū mean?
Correct: B. The fourth and fifth items, naming a failure of practical judgment.
