Parinibbānasutta — Sāmaññavagga — the fifth chapter of the Nines
Setting
Not restated; understood to continue from AN 9.48
Speakers
Venerable Udāyī questioning Venerable Ānanda, by implication
Form
A single opening line and an ellipsis, matching AN 9.48's minimal survival exactly
Length
A few seconds to read what exists
A distinct term, equally minimal treatment
‘Parinibbāna’ usually names the final passing of an arahant, distinct from bare ‘nibbāna’ — but the source treats this discourse exactly as tersely as AN 9.48
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — trivial to read, more interesting for the term it names than for its own text
Why this discourse
The source reduces this discourse to a single line — ‘they speak of “full extinguishment”’ — followed by an ellipsis and the marker ‘eighth,’ applying the same qualified-versus-definitive template established at AN 9.42 through AN 9.47 to a term that elsewhere in the canon usually names an arahant's final passing away, not merely the ending of defilements during life.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
By the pattern established throughout this chapter, reaching any of the nine progressive attainments is what the Buddha meant by ‘full extinguishment’ — qualifiedly at each of the first eight stages, definitively only at the ninth — though, as at AN 9.48, the source no longer spells this out.
A term that usually means something more final
Elsewhere in the canon, ‘parinibbāna,’ full extinguishment, typically names an arahant's final passing away at death — the complete cessation of the five aggregates, distinct from the extinguishment of defilements an arahant already experiences while still alive. This chapter's series applies the term instead to the same nine meditative attainments as every other term here, a usage worth noticing as distinct from the more familiar sense.
Equally minimal, despite the distinct meaning
Despite ‘parinibbāna’ carrying a more specific and consequential meaning elsewhere, the source treats this discourse exactly as tersely as AN 9.48's bare ‘nibbāna’ — one line, an ellipsis, and the ordinal ‘eighth.’ The economy applies uniformly, regardless of how weighty the individual term might be.
A run continuing toward its close
This is the second of three consecutive discourses reduced to a single line in this way; AN 9.50 follows identically, before AN 9.51 restores full treatment to close both this chapter and the entire First Fifty.
Key terms
parinibbānaṁ — “full extinguishment” — elsewhere in the canon usually naming an arahant's final passing away at death, applied here to the nine meditative attainments like every other term in this chapter.
…pe… — the Pāli peyyāla marker, left untranslated as an ellipsis — the source's own signal to supply the omitted, already-familiar content.
aṭṭhamaṁ — “eighth” — the bare ordinal closing this discourse, marking its place among the chapter's ten discourses.
pariyāyena — “in a qualified sense” — not present in this discourse's own text, supplied by inference from the pattern at AN 9.42 through AN 9.47.
nippariyāyena — “in a definitive sense” — likewise supplied by inference, reserved for the ninth attainment throughout this chapter.
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 ‘full 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
What does ‘parinibbāna’ usually name elsewhere in the canon?
Correct: B. A more final and specific meaning than bare ‘nibbāna’.
Question 2 of 6
How does this discourse apply the term instead?
Correct: B. This chapter's consistent method, applied here to a usually more consequential term.
Question 3 of 6
How does the source's treatment of this discourse compare to AN 9.48's?
Correct: B. The same minimal economy applied uniformly across this stretch of the chapter.
Question 4 of 6
What is this discourse's place within the chapter's closing run?
Correct: B. AN 9.48 and AN 9.50 share this same minimal form; AN 9.51 closes the chapter and the First Fifty in full.
Question 5 of 6
What ordinal number marks this discourse's place?
Correct: B. Following AN 9.48's ‘seventh’ in sequence.
Question 6 of 6
Where does the qualified-versus-definitive content this discourse implies come from?
Correct: B. The same source of inference used for AN 9.48.
