Nirodhasutta — Khemavagga — the sixth chapter of the Nines
Setting
Not restated; understood to continue from AN 9.59
Speakers
Venerable Udāyī questioning Venerable Ānanda, by implication
Form
A single opening line and an ellipsis, the last of eight discourses in this chapter reduced this far
Length
A few seconds to read what exists
The last stub in the run
This discourse closes the eight-discourse run of minimal stubs begun at AN 9.53; its pair, AN 9.61, restores full treatment
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — trivial to read, marking a turning point in the chapter
Why this discourse
The source reduces this discourse to a single line — ‘they speak of “cessation”’ — opening this chapter's fifth and final term-pair, the last of eight consecutive discourses reduced to a single surviving line.
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 ‘cessation’ — qualifiedly at each of the first eight stages, definitively only at the ninth.
The last stub before full treatment returns
This discourse closes the longest run of minimal stubs met anywhere in this project: eight consecutive discourses (AN 9.53 through this one) surviving as no more than a single elided line each. Its pair, AN 9.61, breaks this pattern and restores full treatment.
A term this project has met in fuller form before
‘Nirodha,’ cessation, is one of the most central terms in the whole tradition — the third noble truth, and the closing term of AN 9.31's fully elaborated ‘progressive cessations.’ This discourse names the bare term itself, minimally, before its own progressive counterpart closes the run at AN 9.61.
What follows: a return to full elaboration
AN 9.61, immediately next, is not simply the last item in this pattern; it breaks the pattern deliberately, spelling out the full nine-stage formula one more time to close both this run of paired terms and, two discourses later, this chapter itself.
Key terms
nirodho — “cessation” — this discourse's own title term, opening this chapter's fifth and final pair.
…pe… — the Pāli peyyāla marker, left untranslated as an ellipsis — the source's own signal to supply the omitted content.
dukkhanirodho ariyasaccaṁ — “the noble truth of the cessation of suffering” — the same root term's most famous doctrinal use, the third noble truth, distinct from this discourse's narrower meditative application.
anupubbanirodho — “progressive cessation” — the paired term closing this run at AN 9.61, restoring full treatment.
nippariyāyena — “in a definitive sense” — 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 ‘cessation’. …”
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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 position does this discourse hold in this chapter's run of minimal stubs?
Correct: B. The longest such run met anywhere in this project, closing here.
Question 2 of 6
What does this discourse's term, ‘nirodha,’ name in its most famous doctrinal use elsewhere?
Correct: B. One of the most central terms in the whole tradition, applied here more narrowly to the nine attainments.
Question 3 of 6
What happens at this discourse's pair, AN 9.61?
Correct: B. A deliberate return to complete elaboration, closing both this run and setting up the chapter's own close.
Question 4 of 6
Where has this project already met ‘nirodha’ in fuller, elaborated form?
Correct: B. The same root term, given full nine-stage treatment earlier in this nipāta.
Question 5 of 6
How much of this discourse survives in the source?
Correct: B. Matching every other stub in this chapter's eight-discourse 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.
