Upādānakkhandhasutta — Satipatthanavagga — the seventh chapter of the Nines
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
Five aggregates named in full, then the remedy compressed to an ellipsis, matching AN 9.65
Length
~30 seconds to read
The most foundational list in this chapter
The five grasping aggregates are among the most basic analytical categories in the entire tradition, describing the whole of clung-to experience
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — brief in text, but naming a genuinely foundational category
Why this discourse
The five grasping aggregates — form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness — are given up the same way as every obstacle in this chapter, by developing the four kinds of mindfulness meditation.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
To give up the five grasping aggregates — form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness — a mendicant should develop the four kinds of mindfulness meditation, the same remedy given throughout this chapter.
The most basic analytical category in the tradition
Where AN 9.63's weaknesses and AN 9.64's hindrances name specific obstacles to overcome, the five aggregates are something more fundamental still: the standard five-fold analysis of what a person actually is, the raw material any clinging whatsoever must cling to.
Naming what is grasped, not merely what obstructs
This shift in kind is worth noticing: most of this chapter's other lists name specific unwholesome states — hindrances, fetters, stinginess — but the aggregates themselves are not inherently unwholesome. What must be given up is the grasping (upādāna) itself, not form, feeling, perception, choices, or consciousness as such.
Continuing this chapter's compressed form
As at AN 9.65, the four-foundation remedy is here reduced to a bare ellipsis, relying on AN 9.63 and AN 9.64's full treatment to supply the missing detail.
Key terms
pañcupādānakkhandhā — “the five grasping aggregates” — this discourse's own title term, one of the most foundational analytical categories in the tradition.
rūpupādānakkhandho, vedanupādānakkhandho — “the grasping aggregate of form, of feeling” — the first two of the five, each named as an aggregate that can be clung to.
saññā, saṅkhārā, viññāṇa — “perception, choices, consciousness” — the remaining three aggregates, closing the standard five-fold analysis.
…pe… — the Pāli peyyāla marker, left untranslated as an ellipsis — marking where the four-foundation formula is compressed, as at AN 9.65.
cattāro satipaṭṭhānā — “the four kinds of mindfulness meditation” — the shared remedy, named but not spelled out in this discourse.
The text
The discourse in full, as it survives: five grasping aggregates given in full, then the remedy compressed to an ellipsis. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five grasping aggregates
§1“Mendicants, there are these five grasping aggregates. What five? The grasping aggregates of form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. These are the five grasping aggregates.
The remedy, compressed
§2To give up these five grasping aggregates you should develop the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. …”
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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 five grasping aggregates does this discourse name?
Correct: B. The most foundational analytical category in the tradition, describing the whole of clung-to experience.
Question 2 of 6
How does this list differ in kind from most of this chapter's other obstacle-lists?
Correct: B. A shift from naming specific unwholesome states to naming the raw material of experience itself.
Question 3 of 6
How is the four-foundation remedy presented in this discourse?
Correct: B. Continuing the compressed form begun at AN 9.65.
Question 4 of 6
What must be given up, according to the guide's reading of this discourse?
Correct: B. A precise distinction between the aggregates and the clinging that makes them a problem.
Question 5 of 6
What remedy does this discourse prescribe, matching this whole chapter?
Correct: B. The shared remedy running through all ten discourses in this chapter.
Question 6 of 6
Is a setting given for this discourse?
Correct: C. A bare doctrinal teaching, matching this whole chapter's method.
