Anupubbapassaddhisutta — Khemavagga — the sixth chapter of the Nines
Setting
Not restated; understood to continue from AN 9.58
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 title echoing two earlier discourses
‘Anupubba’, “progressive,” directly echoes the titles of AN 9.31 and AN 9.32, though this discourse's content and method are entirely this chapter's own
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — trivial to read, its interest lying in the title's resonance
Why this discourse
The source reduces this discourse to a single line — ‘they speak of “progressive tranquility”’ — closing the tranquility pair opened at AN 9.58, its title echoing ‘anupubba,’ “progressive,” already met in the titles of AN 9.31 and AN 9.32.
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 ‘progressive tranquility’ — qualifiedly at each of the first eight stages, definitively only at the ninth.
A title that echoes, without repeating content
‘Anupubba,’ progressive, is the same word opening the titles of AN 9.31 (“Progressive Cessations”) and AN 9.32 (“Progressive Meditations”), both foundational catalogues from ch.4. This discourse's title echoes that vocabulary, but its own content and method belong entirely to ch.6's Udāyī-to-Ānanda template, not to those earlier discourses' different framing.
Closing the fourth pair
This discourse completes the tranquility pair, passaddhi and anupubbapassaddhi, the fourth of this chapter's five term-pairs — though unlike the first three pairs' bare/reaching structure, this one and the next instead contrast a bare state with its own ‘progressive’ unfolding across the nine stages.
One term-pair left before full treatment returns
Only bare cessation, nirodha, remains at AN 9.60 before its own progressive counterpart, anupubbanirodha at AN 9.61, restores full treatment and closes this entire run of minimal stubs.
Key terms
anupubbapassaddhi — “progressive tranquility” — this discourse's own title term, closing the pair opened at AN 9.58.
…pe… — the Pāli peyyāla marker, left untranslated as an ellipsis — the source's own signal to supply the omitted content.
anupubbavihārā, anupubbanirodhā — “progressive meditations, progressive cessations” — AN 9.32 and AN 9.31's own titles, sharing this discourse's opening word without sharing its content or method.
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 ‘progressive 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 two earlier discourses does this discourse's title echo?
Correct: B. Both share the word ‘anupubba,’ “progressive.”
Question 2 of 6
Does this discourse share content or method with those two earlier discourses?
Correct: B. A shared word, not shared content — an echo, not a repetition.
Question 3 of 6
What pair does this discourse close?
Correct: B. The fourth of this chapter's five term-pairs.
Question 4 of 6
What term-pair remains after this discourse, before full treatment returns?
Correct: B. The fifth and final pair, closing this whole run of minimal stubs.
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.
