None given — no place, audience, or occasion is named
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing “mendicants” collectively
Form
A one-sentence prose statement, restated by a six-line verse
Position
Book of the Ones, Chapter One, Iti 9 — greed revisited under the “complete understanding” formula
Length
under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — simple wording; interesting mainly for what it reuses from Iti 1
Why greed returns, in a new frame
Greed opened this entire collection at Iti 1. Here, near the end of this opening chapter, it returns — not under the “give up one thing, non-return guaranteed” formula it first appeared in, but under the fuller “complete understanding” sequence introduced at Iti 7. What makes this pairing especially interesting is what changes between the two treatments, and, just as tellingly, what does not.
Reading guide
The prose changes, the verse does not
The teaching statement here is entirely new: greed must be directly known, completely understood, grown dispassionate toward, and given up, in order to end suffering — the same fourfold sequence used at Iti 7 (for “the all”) and Iti 8 (for conceit). But the verse that follows is, word for word, the identical six-line verse already given at Iti 1: “When overcome by greed, beings go to a bad place...” down to the last line. The prose frame has been upgraded to the fuller formula; the verse has simply been carried over unchanged.
What this reuse suggests
One reasonable way to read this is that the verse was never meant to correspond precisely to one specific formula or the other — it states a general, memorable truth about greed (that it leads somewhere bad, that understanding it precedes giving it up, that giving it up ends return) which fits equally well whether the surrounding prose promises non-return specifically or the ending of suffering more broadly. The verse operates at a level of generality the more technical prose framing does not need to match exactly.
Two visits, two different demands
Greed is therefore the first of the three factors in Iti 8–10 to receive this kind of double treatment within the chapter (conceit being the other, at Iti 6 and Iti 8): named simply once, at the very start of the collection, then returned to near the end of this opening chapter under a more demanding four-part process. Read together, Iti 1 and Iti 9 suggest that even a factor introduced early and briefly is not, on that account, considered fully dealt with; it can be returned to and examined more thoroughly.
Not just non-return, but the end of suffering
The shift in reward matters here as much as the shift in method. Iti 1 promised non-return for giving up greed. Iti 9 promises the end of suffering itself for completely understanding it. Whether these are two different levels of accomplishment or two ways of describing the same underlying transformation, the text does not spell out — but the difference in language is exact and worth noticing rather than flattening into “the same thing twice.”
Key terms
lobha — “greed”: the same factor named first in the entire collection at Iti 1, examined here a second time under the fuller formula
pariññā — “complete understanding”: the deeper knowing this sutta requires of greed, beyond the simple “give it up” instruction of Iti 1
the reused verse — this sutta’s verse is identical, word for word, to the verse given for greed at Iti 1, despite the surrounding prose formula being different
dukkhassa anta — “the end of suffering”: the reward named in this sutta, in place of the non-return promised at Iti 1 for the same factor
virāga — “dispassion”: the step between understanding greed and giving it up, part of the fourfold sequence shared with Iti 7 and Iti 8
The text
The discourse in full: the opening frame, the Buddha’s one-sentence teaching, the verse that restates it (identical in wording to the verse given for greed at Iti 1), and the closing frame. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The teaching
§1This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
§2“Mendicants, without directly knowing and completely understanding greed, without dispassion for it and giving it up, you can’t end suffering. By directly knowing and completely understanding greed, having dispassion for it and giving it up, you can end suffering.” The Buddha spoke this matter. On this it is said:
The verse
§3“When overcome by greed
beings go to a bad place.
Having rightly understood that greed,
the discerning give it up.
Once they’ve given it up,
they never return to this world.”
§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
Which factor is examined in this discourse?
Correct: C. Greed, first introduced at Iti 1, returns here under the “complete understanding” formula.
Question 2 of 10
What is notable about this sutta’s verse compared to its prose teaching statement?
Correct: B. The reading guide highlights this exact reuse as worth noticing.
Question 3 of 10
What reward does this sutta promise for completely understanding greed?
Correct: D. This differs from Iti 1's specific promise of non-return.
Question 4 of 10
What four-step sequence does the prose teaching in this sutta require for greed?
Correct: A. The same fourfold sequence introduced at Iti 7 and applied to conceit at Iti 8.
Question 5 of 10
According to the reading guide, what is one reasonable explanation for why the verse is reused unchanged from Iti 1?
Correct: C. The reading guide offers this as a plausible, non-dogmatic reading.
Question 6 of 10
Which other factor in this chapter also receives two separate treatments, as greed does here and at Iti 1?
Correct: B. Conceit is the other factor given this double treatment within the chapter.
Question 7 of 10
According to the verse, what happens to beings “overcome by greed”?
Correct: D. Identical wording to the verse at Iti 1.
Question 8 of 10
Is any specific place, individual, or occasion named in this sutta?
Correct: C. Consistent with the rest of the Itivuttaka.
Question 9 of 10
How do “the discerning” give up greed, according to the verse?
Correct: B. As in Iti 1, understanding precedes the act of giving up, per the reused verse.
Question 10 of 10
What is the closing line of this discourse?
Correct: A. The same closing frame used throughout the Itivuttaka.
