Aṅguttara Nikāya
VIII. Navaka Nipāta
III. Satt'Āvāsa Vagga

VIII. The Book of the Nines

Chapter III: Spheres of Beings

Sutta 23

Taṇhā Mūlaka Suttaṃ

Craving

[269]

Thus have I heard:

Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Savatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.

There he addressed the monks, saying: "Monks."

"Yes, lord," they replied; and the Exalted One said:

"Monks, I will teach the nine¹ conditions rooted in craving.

Listen, pay heed, I will speak."

"Yes, lord," they replied; and the Exalted One said:

"And what are the nine conditions rooted in craving?

Pursuit comes into being because of craving;
gain because of pursuit;
decision because of gain;
passion and desire to do because of decision;
tenacity because of passion and desire to do;
possession because of tenacity;
avarice because of possession;
hoarding² because of avarice;
and many a bad and wicked state of things
arises from the act of hoarding -
blows,
wounds,
strife,
contradiction,
retort,
quarrelling,
slander,
lies.³

These, monks, are the nine conditions that have their root in craving."

¹ This recurs at D. ii, 58; iii, 289; Vbh. 390. See Dial. ii, 55 f.

² Ārakkhā, the text omits, but has as v.l. -o and -ā; D. ii, and iii, loc. cit., -o, only; the Comy. -ā. Comy. adds: by concealing behind a door; by guarding it in a casket. E. J. Thomas, Life, 198.