Nibbānasutta — Sāmaññavagga — the fifth chapter of the Nines
Setting
Not restated; understood to continue from AN 9.47
Speakers
Venerable Udāyī questioning Venerable Ānanda, by implication
Form
A single opening line and an ellipsis; nothing more survives in the source
Length
A few seconds to read what exists
The most minimal discourse in this project so far
Where even the briefest earlier stubs kept a full first line, this one is reduced to the bare question and a source-side ellipsis, plus an ordinal number marking its place in the chapter
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — trivial to read, but worth understanding why it is this short
Why this discourse
The source itself reduces this discourse to a single line — ‘they speak of “extinguishment”’ — followed by an ellipsis and the bare marker ‘seventh,’ relying entirely on the reader to supply the same nine-stage qualified-versus-definitive structure already given in full at AN 9.42 through AN 9.47.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
By the pattern established at every discourse so far in this chapter, reaching any of the nine progressive attainments is what the Buddha meant by ‘extinguishment’ — qualifiedly at each of the first eight stages, definitively only at the ninth — though the source itself no longer bothers to spell this out.
A single line, and nothing more
Where AN 9.34's Meghiya narrative and AN 7.49's peyyāla each left only isolated stretches empty within an otherwise substantial discourse, this one is reduced in its entirety to one opening line, an ellipsis (‘…’), and a bare ordinal ‘seventh’ marking its numbered place among this chapter's ten discourses. Nothing else survives in the translated source.
Reading by inference, not by content
This page's honest content is genuinely thin, and the guide does not fabricate what the source omits. What can be said with confidence comes entirely by inference from the five immediately preceding discourses, all sharing the identical structure: this discourse very likely ran through the same nine attainments, calling each of the first eight a qualified instance of ‘extinguishment’ and the ninth a definitive one.
Why the source compresses this far
By the sixth discourse in an unbroken run sharing one template, a reciter's tradition evidently judged further spelled-out repetition unnecessary — the ellipsis marks not a loss of content but a deliberate economy, trusting the listener to have already internalized the pattern from AN 9.42 through AN 9.47.
Key terms
nibbānaṁ — “extinguishment” — this discourse's own title term and its only substantive word, standing in the source for the full nine-stage formula established earlier in this chapter.
…pe… — the Pāli peyyāla marker itself, left untranslated here as an ellipsis — the source's own signal that the reciter should supply the omitted, already-familiar content.
sattamaṁ — “seventh” — the bare ordinal closing this discourse, marking its numbered place among the chapter's ten discourses rather than offering any content of its own.
pariyāyena — “in a qualified sense” — not present in this discourse's own surviving text, but supplied by inference from the identical structure at AN 9.42 through AN 9.47.
nippariyāyena — “in a definitive sense” — likewise supplied by inference, reserved throughout this chapter for the ninth attainment alone.
The text
The discourse exactly as it survives in the source: one line, an ellipsis, and an ordinal number. Nothing has been added. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The discourse in full, as it survives
§1“Reverend, they speak of ‘extinguishment’. …”
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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 much of this discourse survives in the translated source?
Correct: B. Even briefer than earlier partial-ellipsis cases like AN 9.3 or AN 7.49.
Question 2 of 6
What does the guide do about the missing content?
Correct: B. Consistent with this project's standing rule against inventing text not in the source.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, why might the source compress this discourse so far?
Correct: B. Trusting listeners to have internalized the pattern from the discourses immediately before it.
Question 4 of 6
What term does this discourse's one surviving line define?
Correct: B. The bare term this whole run of discourses, AN 9.47 through AN 9.51, explores in variant forms.
Question 5 of 6
What does the bare ordinal ‘seventh’ at the end of this discourse mark?
Correct: B. A structural marker, not substantive content.
Question 6 of 6
Which earlier discourse in this chapter supplies the full structure this one relies on?
Correct: A. The immediately preceding run of discourses, sharing the identical qualified-versus-definitive template.
