Abhayasutta — Khemavagga — the sixth chapter of the Nines
Setting
Not restated; understood to continue from AN 9.55
Speakers
Venerable Udāyī questioning Venerable Ānanda, by implication
Form
A single opening line and an ellipsis, matching this chapter's other minimal stubs
Length
A few seconds to read what exists
Opening the third pair
Fearlessness (abhaya) and reaching it, the third of this chapter's five term-pairs, following safety and the deathless
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 “a place without fear”’ — applying the same nine-stage template once more, this time to fearlessness, opening this chapter's third term-pair.
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 ‘a place without fear’ — qualifiedly at each of the first eight stages, definitively only at the ninth.
A third pair, following the same rhythm
After safety (AN 9.52-53) and the deathless (AN 9.54-55), this discourse opens the third of this chapter's five term-pairs: fearlessness and reaching fearlessness, continuing the identical structural pattern without variation.
A term with real resonance elsewhere in this project
‘Abhaya,’ freedom from fear, echoes the five fears quelled by ethical restraint at AN 9.27 and AN 9.28 — though those discourses named specific, nameable worldly fears overcome by precepts and confidence, while this discourse applies the term instead to the nine meditative attainments, in keeping with this whole chapter's method.
The same honest brevity
As throughout this run, nothing is invented to fill the gap the source leaves. What can be said with confidence about this discourse's likely content comes entirely by inference from AN 9.52's fully spelled-out template.
Key terms
abhayaṁ — “a place without fear” — this discourse's own title term, opening this chapter's third pair.
…pe… — the Pāli peyyāla marker, left untranslated as an ellipsis — the source's own signal to supply the omitted content.
pañca bhayāni verāni vūpasantāni — “five fears and enmities... quelled” — AN 9.27 and AN 9.28's own, differently framed use of fearlessness, naming specific worldly fears rather than the nine attainments.
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 ‘a place without fear’. …”
· · ·
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 open a new pair around?
Correct: B. The third of this chapter's five term-pairs, following safety and the deathless.
Question 2 of 6
How does this discourse's use of ‘fearlessness’ compare to AN 9.27 and AN 9.28's?
Correct: B. A different application of a term with real resonance earlier in this nipāta.
Question 3 of 6
How much of this discourse survives in the source?
Correct: B. Matching every other stub in this chapter's run.
Question 4 of 6
What is this discourse's position among this chapter's five term-pairs?
Correct: B. Fearlessness and reaching fearlessness, continuing the established rhythm.
Question 5 of 6
What does the guide avoid doing with this discourse's missing content?
Correct: A. Consistent with this project's standing rule against inventing text not in the source.
Question 6 of 6
Where does this discourse's implied content come from?
Correct: B. The same source of inference used throughout this run of stubs.
