Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 46.25

Non-decline

Aparihāniyasutta — Udāyivagga

Setting
Not specified — an abbreviated narrative frame
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A brief formal naming, applying a new descriptive category to the seven awakening factors
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, applying a familiar canonical category to a new object

Why this discourse

“Principles that prevent decline” (aparihāniya dhammā) is a recognizable category elsewhere in the canon — famously applied to conditions for a community's own flourishing in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta — here applied instead to the seven awakening factors themselves, framing them as safeguards against spiritual regression rather than merely a path toward progress.

Reading guide

A category borrowed from elsewhere, applied here

“Aparihāniya dhammā” is most famously associated with the seven conditions for a community's own non-decline taught to the Vajjians in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta; this discourse applies the identical descriptive category to an entirely different object — not communal governance, but the individual awakening factors — confirmed by direct reading to be this discourse's own only content, without further elaboration of the parallel.

Key terms

aparihāniyā dhammā — “principles that prevent decline” — a category applied elsewhere in the canon to conditions for communal flourishing, here applied to the seven awakening factors instead
desessāmi... taṁ suṇātha — “I will teach you... listen” — the same formal opening already met at SN 46.22
sati... upekkhā — the seven awakening factors, named as this discourse's own instance of principles that prevent decline
pañcamaṁ — “the fifth” — the Pāli root's own closing numeral for this discourse
parihāni — “decline” or “deterioration” — the negative condition the seven awakening factors are here said to prevent

The text

The complete discourse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, I will teach you seven principles that prevent decline. Listen … And what are the seven principles that prevent decline? They are the seven awakening factors. What seven? The awakening factors of mindfulness, investigation of principles, energy, rapture, tranquility, immersion, and equanimity. These are the seven principles that prevent decline.”

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Self-check quiz

3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 3
What category, familiar from elsewhere in the canon, does this discourse apply to the seven awakening factors?
Correct: A. A category most famously associated elsewhere with conditions for a community's own flourishing.
Question 2 of 3
Where else in the canon is this category of "principles that prevent decline" most famously applied?
Correct: A. There applied to communal governance; here applied instead to an individual's own spiritual development.
Question 3 of 3
How does this discourse's own framing differ from a simple description of the awakening factors as a path toward progress?
Correct: A. A subtly protective, rather than purely progressive, framing of the same seven qualities.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 46.24 · Irrational Application of Mind