Amatasutta — Khemavagga — the sixth chapter of the Nines
Setting
Not restated; understood to continue from AN 9.53
Speakers
Venerable Udāyī questioning Venerable Ānanda, by implication
Form
A single opening line and an ellipsis, matching AN 9.53's minimal survival
Length
A few seconds to read what exists
A term already familiar from this chapter's neighbors
The deathless (amata) already appeared as the shared closing formula at AN 9.16 and AN 9.34's own affliction-test; here it receives its own dedicated, if minimal, discourse
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — trivial to read, its interest lying in the term itself
Why this discourse
The source reduces this discourse to a single line — ‘they speak of “freedom from death”’ — applying the same nine-stage template as AN 9.52 to amata, the deathless, a term already met repeatedly elsewhere in this nipāta as the culmination other teachings point toward.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
By the pattern established at AN 9.52, reaching any of the nine progressive attainments is what the Buddha meant by ‘freedom from death’ — qualifiedly at each of the first eight stages, definitively only at the ninth.
A term this nipāta has already used repeatedly
Unlike some of this chapter's other terms, amata isn't a new introduction: it closed AN 9.16's nine perceptions as their ‘objective and culmination,’ and it closed AN 9.14's chain of questions the same way. This discourse gives the term its own dedicated treatment, however minimal, rather than using it only as a closing flourish for something else.
Second of four remaining paired terms
Following AN 9.52-53's safe/reaching-safe pair, this discourse opens the second of this chapter's five term-pairs — deathless and reaching the deathless — continuing the same structural rhythm.
The same honest minimalism
As throughout this run, the guide does not invent content the source omits. What can be said with confidence is supplied by inference from AN 9.52's fully spelled-out template, not from anything unique to this particular discourse's own surviving text.
Key terms
amataṁ — “freedom from death, the deathless” — this discourse's own title term, already met as a closing formula at AN 9.14 and AN 9.16.
…pe… — the Pāli peyyāla marker, left untranslated as an ellipsis — the source's own signal to supply the omitted content.
amatogadhā amatapariyosānā — “their objective and culmination is freedom from death” — AN 9.16's own use of this same term as a closing flourish, distinct from this discourse's dedicated treatment.
pariyāyena — “in a qualified sense” — not present in this discourse's own text, supplied by inference from AN 9.52's template.
nippariyāyena — “in a definitive sense” — likewise supplied by inference, reserved for the ninth attainment throughout this stretch of the nipāta.
The text
The discourse exactly as it survives in the source: one line and an ellipsis. Nothing has been added. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The discourse in full, as it survives
§1“Reverend, they speak of ‘freedom from death’. …”
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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 term does this discourse define?
Correct: B. A term already met elsewhere in this nipāta as a closing formula.
Question 2 of 6
Where has this exact term already appeared earlier in this nipāta?
Correct: B. Used there as a closing flourish; here given its own dedicated, if minimal, discourse.
Question 3 of 6
What pair of terms does this discourse open, continuing this chapter's structure?
Correct: B. The second of this chapter's five term-pairs.
Question 4 of 6
How much of this discourse survives in the source?
Correct: B. Matching AN 9.53's equally minimal survival.
Question 5 of 6
Where does this discourse's implied content come from?
Correct: B. The same source of inference used throughout this run of stubs.
Question 6 of 6
At which stage alone would freedom from death be achieved in a definitive sense, following this chapter's pattern?
Correct: C. The consistent ninth-stage pattern held throughout this entire stretch of the nipāta.
