Passaddhisutta — Khemavagga — the sixth chapter of the Nines
Setting
Not restated; understood to continue from AN 9.57
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
A shift in the pairing pattern
The first three pairs contrasted a bare state with reaching it; this pair and the next instead contrast a bare state with a ‘progressive’ version of the same state
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — trivial to read, worth noticing the structural shift it introduces
Why this discourse
The source reduces this discourse to a single line — ‘they speak of “tranquility”’ — opening this chapter's fourth term-pair with a structural shift: rather than pairing with a ‘reaching’ counterpart, tranquility pairs with a ‘progressive’ one at AN 9.59.
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 ‘tranquility’ — qualifiedly at each of the first eight stages, definitively only at the ninth.
A quiet shift in this chapter's pairing pattern
The first three pairs in this chapter — safety, the deathless, fearlessness — each paired a bare state with the achievement of ‘reaching’ it (khema/khemappatta, and so on). This discourse breaks that pattern: rather than an ‘-appatta’ counterpart, passaddhi pairs with ‘anupubbapassaddhi,’ progressive tranquility, at AN 9.59.
Passaddhi, tranquility or calm, is standard vocabulary for the settling of bodily and mental activity that accompanies deepening absorption, related to but distinct from the samatha (stillness) more commonly paired with vipassanā (insight) elsewhere in the tradition.
Fourth of five pairs, one more remaining
With this discourse, four of this chapter's five terms are underway; only cessation, the fifth and final pair (AN 9.60-61), remains before this whole run of stubs closes and full treatment returns.
Key terms
passaddhi — “tranquility” — this discourse's own title term, opening this chapter's fourth pair with a shift to a bare/progressive pairing pattern.
…pe… — the Pāli peyyāla marker, left untranslated as an ellipsis — the source's own signal to supply the omitted content.
anupubbapassaddhi — “progressive tranquility” — the paired term explored next, at AN 9.59, this discourse's own counterpart.
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 ‘tranquility’. …”
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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 structural shift does this discourse introduce to this chapter's pairing pattern?
Correct: B. The first three pairs used bare/reaching; this pair and the next use bare/progressive.
Question 2 of 6
What does ‘passaddhi’ refer to?
Correct: B. Standard meditative vocabulary, related to but distinct from samatha.
Question 3 of 6
How many of this chapter's five term-pairs are underway or complete after this discourse?
Correct: C. Safety, the deathless, fearlessness, and now tranquility (opened, awaiting its pair at AN 9.59).
Question 4 of 6
What remains after AN 9.58 and AN 9.59, before this run of stubs closes?
Correct: B. The fifth and final pair, cessation and progressive cessation.
Question 5 of 6
How much of this discourse survives in the source?
Correct: B. Matching every other stub in this chapter's run.
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.
