AN 8.7 — Devadatta's Failure | Ru-Yi Meditation Center

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

Overcome and overwhelmed by eight things that oppose the true teaching — gain, loss, fame, disgrace, honor, dishonor, corrupt wishes, and bad friendship — Devadatta is going to hell for an eon, irredeemable; mendicants should train to overcome the same eight whenever they encounter them.

A real crisis, given a doctrinal diagnosis

Unlike most of this chapter's bare formulas, this discourse opens with a specific, consequential setting: Vulture's Peak, immediately after Devadatta's departure from the community. The eightfold list that follows functions as the Buddha's own diagnosis of what led to that rupture.

Checking one's own failings and successes

Before naming Devadatta's eight failings, the Buddha opens with a more general principle: it's good for a mendicant to check their own failings and successes, and the failings and successes of others, from time to time — framing what follows as a case study rather than gossip about a fallen rival.

Bad friendship, closing a list of worldly conditions

The first six of the eight items are variations on gain, loss, fame, disgrace, honor, and dishonor — close cousins of the eight worldly conditions from AN 8.5–6. The list then adds two items beyond that set: corrupt wishes and, closing the list, bad friendship — the sole social cause named among seven conditions and dispositions.

Key terms

devadatto āpāyiko nerayiko kappaṭṭho atekiccho — “Devadatta is going to a place of loss, to hell, there to remain for an eon, irredeemable” — the discourse's own verdict, repeated after both the opening statement and the full eight-item list.

lābho, alābho, yaso, ayaso — “gain, loss, fame, disgrace” — the first four of the eight things that overcame Devadatta, echoing the eight worldly conditions of AN 8.5–6.

sakkāro, asakkāro — “honor, dishonor” — the fifth and sixth items, close cousins of fame and disgrace but named separately.

pāpicchatā, pāpamittatā — “corrupt wishes, bad friendship” — the seventh and eighth items, the only two not drawn from the worldly-conditions set, with bad friendship closing the list.

attanāva attano vipattiṁ paccavekkhituṁ — “to check their own failings” — part of the discourse's opening general principle, framing the case study that follows.

The text

The discourse in full: the general principle of checking one's own failings, then the eight things that overcame Devadatta. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

The setting, and a general principle

§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain, not long after Devadatta had left. There the Buddha spoke to the mendicants about Devadatta: “Mendicants, it’s good for a mendicant to check their own failings from time to time. It’s good for a mendicant to check the failings of others from time to time. It’s good for a mendicant to check their own successes from time to time. It’s good for a mendicant to check the successes of others from time to time. Overcome and overwhelmed by eight things that oppose the true teaching, Devadatta is going to a place of loss, to hell, there to remain for an eon, irredeemable.

The eight things that overcame Devadatta

§2What eight? Overcome and overwhelmed by gain … loss … fame … disgrace … honor … dishonor … corrupt wishes … bad friendship, Devadatta is going to a place of loss, to hell, there to remain for an eon, irredeemable. Overcome and overwhelmed by these eight things that oppose the true teaching, Devadatta is going to a place of loss, to hell, there to remain for an eon, irredeemable.

Overcoming the same eight, and its advantage

§3It’s good for a mendicant, whenever they encounter it, to overcome gain … loss … fame … disgrace … honor … dishonor … corrupt wishes … bad friendship.

§4What advantage does a mendicant gain by overcoming these eight things?

§5The distressing and feverish defilements that might arise in someone who lives without overcoming these eight things do not arise when they have overcome them. This is the advantage that a mendicant gains by overcoming these eight things.

The training

§6So, mendicants, you should train like this: ‘Whenever we encounter it, we will overcome gain … loss … fame … disgrace … honor … dishonor … corrupt wishes … bad friendship.’ That’s how you should train.”

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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

When and where is this discourse set?

Correct: B. A specific, consequential setting, unlike most of this chapter's bare formulas.

Question 2 of 6

What eight things overcame and overwhelmed Devadatta, according to this discourse?

Correct: B. Six variants on worldly conditions, plus corrupt wishes and bad friendship.

Question 3 of 6

What general principle does the Buddha state before naming Devadatta's specific failings?

Correct: B. A framing principle that turns the account into a case study, not gossip.

Question 4 of 6

According to the guide, how do six of the eight items relate to AN 8.5–6?

Correct: B. A partial overlap with the worldly-conditions list, plus two further items.

Question 5 of 6

What is the eighth and closing item of the list, the only purely social cause named?

Correct: B. Pāpamittatā, closing a list otherwise made of worldly conditions and corrupt wishes.

Question 6 of 6

What happens to the source's own description of the advantage of overcoming these eight things?

Correct: B. An internal peyyāla, another instance of this book's recurring self-abbreviation pattern.

Answered 0 of 6 · Correct 0

Devadatta’s Failure

Why this discourse