Ubhatobhāgavimuttasutta — Sāmaññavagga — the fifth chapter of the Nines
Setting
Not restated; understood to continue from AN 9.44
Speakers
Venerable Udāyī questioning Venerable Ānanda
Form
The same template again, this time combining both of the two previous discourses' criteria at every stage
Length
~1 minute to read
A genuine combination, not just a third variant
This discourse doesn't introduce a new criterion; it explicitly requires both AN 9.43's direct experience and AN 9.44's wisdom-understanding together
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — brief, and best read as the payoff of the previous two discourses
Why this discourse
Udāyī asks what makes someone ‘freed both ways,’ and Ānanda answers by combining the previous two discourses' criteria explicitly: a mendicant who both directly experiences an attainment and understands it with wisdom is freed both ways in a qualified sense at each of the first eight stages, and in a definitive sense only at the ninth.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant who both meditates directly experiencing any of the nine attainments and understands it with wisdom is called freed both ways in a qualified sense at each of the first eight stages, and in a definitive sense only upon reaching the cessation of perception and feeling.
A deliberate synthesis, not a third option
This discourse isn't a third independent variant sitting alongside AN 9.43 and AN 9.44; it names its own formula as the literal conjunction of both — direct experience and wisdom-understanding, together, at every one of the nine stages — making the three-discourse sequence read almost like a syllogism: criterion one, criterion two, both criteria combined.
A category familiar from elsewhere in the canon
Unlike AN 9.44's somewhat looser use of ‘freed by wisdom,’ ‘ubhatobhāgavimutta’ is a well-established doctrinal category elsewhere in the canon, naming an arahant who has mastered both the formless attainments (or, in some accounts, all eight liberations) and full wisdom — here extended across all nine stages, qualified or definitive, following this chapter's consistent method.
Three discourses, one deliberate progression
Read together, AN 9.43 through AN 9.45 form a small deliberate unit within this larger chapter: experience alone, wisdom alone, then both united — a progression this chapter's remaining discourses, defining further distinct terms, don't repeat again.
Key terms
ubhatobhāgavimutto — “freed both ways” — this discourse's own title term, a well-established doctrinal category combining direct experience and wisdom.
kāyena ca phusitvā viharati, paññāya ca naṁ pajānāti — “they meditate directly experiencing... and they understand that with wisdom” — the explicit combination of AN 9.43's and AN 9.44's separate criteria.
pariyāyena — “in a qualified sense” — as throughout this chapter, marking each of the first eight stages as partial.
nippariyāyena — “in a definitive sense” — reserved for the ninth attainment alone.
āsavā parikkhīṇā honti — “their defilements come to an end” — the shared closing formula for the ninth and final stage.
The text
The discourse in full: the same nine-stage template, combining AN 9.43's and AN 9.44's separate criteria. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Freed both ways, at each of nine stages
§1“Reverend, they speak of one ‘freed both ways’. What is the one freed both ways that the Buddha spoke of?” “First, take a mendicant who, quite secluded from sensual pleasures … enters and remains in the first absorption. They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way. And they understand that with wisdom. To this extent the Buddha spoke of the one freed both ways in a qualified sense. …
§2Furthermore, take a mendicant who, going totally beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling. And, having seen with wisdom, their defilements come to an end. They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way. And they understand that with wisdom. To this extent the Buddha spoke of the one freed both ways in a definitive sense.”
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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 discourse's formula combine?
Correct: B. A deliberate synthesis of the two preceding discourses, not a third independent variant.
Question 2 of 6
How does ‘ubhatobhāgavimutta’ compare to AN 9.44's use of ‘paññāvimutta’?
Correct: B. A recognized category combining formless mastery and wisdom, here extended across all nine stages.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, how do AN 9.43 through AN 9.45 read together?
Correct: B. A small deliberate progression within the larger chapter.
Question 4 of 6
At which stage alone is someone ‘freed both ways’ in the definitive sense?
Correct: C. The consistent ninth-stage pattern held throughout this chapter.
Question 5 of 6
Does this chapter's remaining sequence of discourses repeat this three-part progression again?
Correct: B. A unique small unit within the larger ten-discourse chapter.
Question 6 of 6
Who speaks in this discourse?
Correct: B. The same two speakers continuing through this chapter.
