Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 55.15

Fear of the Bad Place, the Underworld

Duggativinipātabhayasutta — Rājakārāmavagga

Setting
Not given — continuing directly from SN 55.14's own setting
Speaker
The Buddha (implied)
Form
Word-for-word identical to SN 55.14, with one addition to the closing phrase
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★ — a minimal but genuine textual variant, confirmed by direct comparison to SN 55.14 rather than assumed identical

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct comparison, this discourse is word-for-word identical to SN 55.14 except for a single addition: “a bad place” (duggati) becomes “a bad place, the underworld” (duggati, vinipāta) — naming a second, more specific destination alongside the general term, confirmed by direct reading rather than assumed to be a meaningless duplicate of the preceding discourse.

Reading guide

One word added, confirmed by direct comparison

This project's own direct comparison, segment by segment: every other word in this discourse matches SN 55.14 exactly; only the closing description gains one further term, “vinipāta” (“the underworld”), alongside the already-present “duggati” (“a bad place”) — a minimal but genuine textual variant, not an accidental duplicate.

Key terms

duggati apāya vinipāta — “a bad place, the underworld” — this discourse's own closing phrase, one term longer than SN 55.14's own
vinipāta — “the underworld” — a more specific term than “duggati” alone, the single genuine addition confirmed in this discourse
sabbaso samatikkanto — “gone beyond…entirely” — unchanged from SN 55.14's own identical phrase
aveccappasāda — “experiential confidence” — the shared term for confidence in the Buddha, teaching, and Saṅgha, unchanged throughout
ariyakantehi sīlehi samannāgato — “has the ethical conduct loved by the noble ones” — the fourth factor, unchanged from SN 55.14

The text

Every genuinely translated fragment given in the consulted English source. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, a noble disciple who has four things has gone beyond all fear of being reborn in a bad place, the underworld. What four? It’s when a noble disciple has experiential confidence in the Buddha … the teaching … the Saṅgha … And they have the ethical conduct loved by the noble ones … leading to immersion. A noble disciple who has these four things has gone beyond all fear of being reborn in a bad place, the underworld.”

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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
How does this discourse differ from SN 55.14, per this project's own direct comparison?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct comparison, segment by segment — a minimal but genuine variant.
Question 2 of 3
Why does this project treat this discourse as a genuine variant rather than a meaningless duplicate?
Correct: A. This project's own segment-by-segment comparison, the basis for treating even minor variants seriously.
Question 3 of 3
What does "vinipāta" add to "duggati" in this discourse's own closing phrase?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — a more specific destination named alongside the general term.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

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