Āhuneyyasutta — Sambodhivagga — the first chapter of the Nines
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The same bare list as AN 9.9, with one member swapped and a worthiness formula wrapped around it
Length
~30 seconds to read
Closing the chapter, and its own colophon
This discourse closes Sambodhivagga, the first chapter of the Nines; the source's own untranslated closing verse names all ten discourses of the chapter by their opening words
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, but easy to conflate with AN 9.9 without close reading
Why this discourse
The same eight familiar names from AN 9.9 recur — the perfected one and the one practicing for perfection, the non-returner, the once-returner, and the stream-enterer, each paired with the one practicing toward that fruit — but the ninth member changes from the ordinary person to gotrabhū, and the whole list is now framed as worthy of offerings, hospitality, donations, and greeting, the supreme field of merit for the world.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Nine individuals are worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods, worthy of hospitality, worthy of a religious donation, worthy of greeting with cupped palms, and are the supreme field of merit for the world: the same four pairs as AN 9.9, plus gotrabhū, rendered here as “a lamb of the flock,” in place of the ordinary person.
Same eight, a different ninth
This discourse repeats AN 9.9's four pairs exactly — perfected one, non-returner, once-returner, stream-enterer, each with the one practicing toward that fruit. Only the ninth member changes: not the ordinary person outright, but gotrabhū, one who stands at the very threshold of the noble path without having formally entered it.
A distinctive translation choice
Sujato's English renders gotrabhū — literally someone who has “become of the lineage” of the noble ones — as “a lamb of the flock,” an idiomatic image of belonging to the fold rather than a literal translation of the Pāli term. It names someone closer to entering the path than the plain ordinary person of AN 9.9, without yet being a stream-enterer.
Worthiness, and the chapter's own close
Where AN 9.9 simply says these nine are “found in the world,” this discourse wraps the list in the familiar worthy-of-offerings formula met repeatedly elsewhere in this project, naming the field of merit these nine represent for the world. With this discourse, Sambodhivagga, the first chapter of the Nines, closes; the source's own untranslated closing verse lists all ten discourses of the chapter by their opening words.
Key terms
āhuneyyā pāhuneyyā dakkhiṇeyyā añjalikaraṇīyā — “worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods, worthy of hospitality, worthy of a religious donation, worthy of greeting with cupped palms” — the worthiness formula wrapped around this discourse's nine, distinguishing it from AN 9.9's bare framing.
anuttaraṁ puññakkhettaṁ lokassa — “the supreme field of merit for the world” — the formula's closing phrase, naming what these nine represent for those who support them.
gotrabhū — literally “become of the lineage” — this discourse's own ninth member, rendered here as “a lamb of the flock,” replacing AN 9.9's plain ordinary person.
puthujjano — “the ordinary person” — AN 9.9's ninth member, absent here and replaced by gotrabhū.
sambodhivaggo paṭhamo — “the first chapter, Sambodhivagga, is finished” — the source's own untranslated colophon closing this chapter, followed by an uddāna verse naming all ten discourses.
The text
The discourse in full: the same nine-item classification as AN 9.9, its ninth member replaced and wrapped in the worthy-of-offerings formula. The source's own closing colophon and chapter-summary verse are untranslated in the English and are described rather than quoted here. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Nine worthy of offerings
§1“Mendicants, these nine individuals are worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods, worthy of hospitality, worthy of a religious donation, worthy of greeting with cupped palms, and are the supreme field of merit for the world. What nine? The perfected one and the one practicing for perfection. The non-returner and the one practicing to realize the fruit of non-return. The once-returner and the one practicing to realize the fruit of once-return. The stream-enterer and the one practicing to realize the fruit of stream-entry. And a lamb of the flock. These are the nine individuals who are worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods, worthy of hospitality, worthy of a religious donation, worthy of greeting with cupped palms, and are the supreme field of merit for the world.”
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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 do this discourse's nine individuals compare to AN 9.9's?
Correct: B. Same eight, one substitution, and a new frame.
Question 2 of 6
What ninth member replaces AN 9.9's ordinary person here?
Correct: B. Closer to entering the path than a plain ordinary person, without yet being a stream-enterer.
Question 3 of 6
How is this discourse's list framed, unlike AN 9.9's?
Correct: B. The familiar worthy-of-offerings formula, met repeatedly elsewhere in this project.
Question 4 of 6
What does this discourse close, and how does its own closing verse describe that?
Correct: B. The chapter's own closing colophon, left untranslated in the English.
Question 5 of 6
What English phrase does Sujato use for gotrabhū, and how literal is it?
Correct: B. A distinctive, idiomatic translation choice worth noting.
Question 6 of 6
Is a setting given for this discourse?
Correct: C. A bare formula, matching AN 9.9 immediately before it.
