The Buddha, addressing Anuruddha by name with no narrative frame restated
Form
SN 37.5's own fivefold template with one term swapped
Length
Under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
A rough counterpart may exist in the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama (T99), though this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, best read alongside SN 37.5
Why this discourse
This discourse takes SN 37.5's own fivefold template — faithless, shameless, imprudent, [variable], and witless — and swaps in “acrimonious” (upanāhī, holding a grudge) for the fifth position. Unlike SN 37.5, this discourse drops Anuruddha's own clairvoyant framing narrative entirely, addressing him directly by name as though the conversation is already underway — the first sign that this vagga's own remaining fivefold discourses will be read as a set rather than as separately occasioned teachings.
Reading guide
A frame dropped, not merely compressed
Where SN 37.5 opened with Anuruddha's own approach, report, and question, this discourse begins directly with the Buddha's answer — not a peyyāla-compressed version of the frame, but its complete absence, since the answer itself still addresses Anuruddha by name.
The variable term this time: holding a grudge
Upanāhī names someone who nurses resentment after anger has already passed — distinct from kodhana's own immediate irritability at SN 37.5, this quality describes the aftermath of anger rather than its initial arising.
The formula's own core still given in full
Despite dropping the narrative frame, this discourse still spells out the complete fivefold list and the full rebirth-consequence clause on both ends — compression here targets the story around the teaching, not the teaching's own content.
The first of eight discourses varying one word
SN 37.6 through SN 37.13 will each swap a different quality into this same fifth slot, all built on SN 37.5's own template — this discourse opens that sequence.
Key terms
upanāhī — acrimonious, holding a grudge — this discourse's own variable fifth quality, distinct from kodhana's immediate anger at SN 37.5
assaddha... ahirika... anottāpī... duppañña — the four fixed qualities carried over unchanged from SN 37.5: faithless, shameless, imprudent, and witless
chaṭṭhaṁ — “sixth” — this discourse's own untranslated closing marker, its position within the nine-discourse series
kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā — “when their body breaks up, after death” — the rebirth-consequence clause, given here in full
apāyaṁ duggatiṁ vinipātaṁ nirayaṁ — “a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell” — the fourfold destination named for this pattern
The text
The complete discourse as bilara-data preserves it — the narrative frame dropped, the fivefold formula given in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“… They’re faithless, shameless, imprudent, acrimonious, and witless. …”
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Self-check quiz
5 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 5
What does this discourse drop entirely, compared to SN 37.5?
Correct: A. Not compressed but fully absent — the answer begins directly, still addressing Anuruddha by name.
Question 2 of 5
What does "upanāhī," this discourse's own variable fifth quality, mean?
Correct: A. Distinct from kodhana's immediate irritability — the aftermath of anger rather than its initial arising.
Question 3 of 5
Does this discourse compress the fivefold formula itself?
Correct: A. Compression here targets the narrative frame, not the teaching's own content.
Question 4 of 5
What sequence does this discourse open?
Correct: A. All built on SN 37.5's own template.
Question 5 of 5
How does this discourse address Anuruddha, compared to SN 37.5's own opening?
Correct: A. The first sign this vagga's remaining fivefold discourses are read as a set rather than separately occasioned teachings.
