None given — like almost every Itivuttaka discourse, no place, audience, or occasion is named
Form
A prose statement naming three qualities that free a mendicant from Māra’s dominion, followed by a single verse, with no separate closing frame line
Segments
12 (iti59:1.1–4.1)
Length
Under 1 minute to read
Parallel
No complete Chinese Itivuttaka survives for comparison; no specific parallel is asserted here
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — short and direct, naming the threefold training by its adept-level completion rather than describing it in detail
Why this discourse, fifty-ninth
Iti 59 is built a little differently from most of its neighbors: rather than naming three items of the same kind (three feelings, three searches, three defilements), it names three qualities whose complete possession — “the entire spectrum of the adept’s ethics, immersion, and wisdom” — frees a mendicant from “Māra’s dominion” entirely. This is the threefold training, named at its finished, fully developed stage rather than as a practice still underway.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant who has the complete, “adept’s” measure of three qualities — ethics, immersion, and wisdom — has “slipped free of Māra’s dominion” entirely, and “shines like the sun.”
A different kind of “three”
Most of the discourses in this run of ten name three items belonging to a single category — three feelings, three searches, three defilements, three cravings. Iti 59 instead names the three components of the threefold training: ethics (sīla), immersion or meditative concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (paññā). This is one of the most familiar frameworks in the entire tradition, usually presented as a path to be developed in sequence. Here it appears at its completed extreme — not “developing” the three, but possessing “the entire spectrum of the adept’s” measure of each.
“The adept’s” ethics, immersion, wisdom
The word “adept” matters. In the tradition’s standard vocabulary, a “trainee” is still developing the path, while an “adept” has completed it — someone with nothing further to train in. Specifying the adept’s ethics, immersion, and wisdom, rather than simply “ethics, immersion, and wisdom,” marks this discourse as describing the finished condition of full awakening, not a description of any stage along the way.
Māra’s dominion, and shining like the sun
“Māra’s dominion” frames the entire unawakened condition as territory under a single ruler’s control — the domain of death and of the forces that bind beings to further existence, the same figure named directly at Iti 57 and Iti 58. To “slip free” of this dominion through ethics, immersion, and wisdom is to step entirely outside its reach, and the discourse’s closing image — someone who “shines like the sun” — suggests not merely escape but a visible, radiant clarity in the one who has done so.
Key terms
ethics — the first of the three trainings (sīla), the foundation of the path.
immersion — the second (samādhi), meditative concentration.
wisdom — the third (paññā), direct understanding that completes the path.
the adept — one who has completed the threefold training (asekha), with nothing further to train in, as opposed to a “trainee” still developing it.
Māra’s dominion — the entire unawakened condition, framed as territory under the control of death and the forces binding beings to existence.
The text
The discourse in full — brief prose and a single verse, ending directly on the closing frame line without a separate final segment. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
§2“Mendicants, a mendicant with these three qualities has slipped free of Māra’s dominion and shines like the sun. What three? It’s when they have the entire spectrum of the adept’s ethics, immersion, and wisdom. A mendicant with these three qualities has slipped free of Māra’s dominion and shines like the sun.” The Buddha spoke this matter. On this it is said:
§3“Whoever has well developed ethics, immersion, and wisdom has slipped free of Māra’s dominion and shines like the sun.”
§4This too is a matter that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.
· · ·
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What three qualities free a mendicant from Māra’s dominion, according to this discourse?
Correct: B. “The entire spectrum of the adept’s ethics, immersion, and wisdom.”
Question 2 of 10
According to the reading guide, how does Iti 59’s threefold list differ in kind from most of the other discourses in this run?
Correct: C. Ethics, immersion, and wisdom form a path framework rather than a category of experience.
Question 3 of 10
What image closes the verse, describing the mendicant who has slipped free of Māra’s dominion?
Correct: A. The same phrase appears in both the prose statement and the verse.
Question 4 of 10
According to the reading guide, why does the word “adept” matter in this discourse?
Correct: D. The reading guide contrasts “adept” with “trainee.”
Question 5 of 10
What is the second of the three trainings named in this discourse?
Correct: B. Listed second, between ethics and wisdom.
Question 6 of 10
According to the reading guide, what does “Māra’s dominion” frame the entire unawakened condition as?
Correct: C. The same figure named directly at Iti 57 and Iti 58.
Question 7 of 10
How many segments make up this discourse, and how does its ending compare structurally to Iti 57’s?
Correct: A. Both Iti 57 and Iti 59 close at segment 4.1 rather than a separate 5.1.
Question 8 of 10
Does this discourse name a narrative setting?
Correct: D. The text moves directly from the opening formula to the teaching.
Question 9 of 10
What is the first of the three trainings named in this discourse?
Correct: B. Listed first: “ethics, immersion, and wisdom.”
Question 10 of 10
According to the reading guide, how is this discourse connected to Iti 57?
Correct: C. The reading guide draws this connection explicitly.
