The Dosa Sutta
On Abandoning Anger and Becoming a Non-returner (Anāgāmī)
Thus have I heard:
[180] The Blessed One, the Arahant, fully awakened, spoke this discourse. Therefore I have heard as follows:
“Bhikkhus (bhikkhu), when you abandon one particular quality, I guarantee you the attainment of Non-returning (anāgāmī). And what is that one quality?
It is this, bhikkhus: when you abandon anger (dosa) — a defiling force that harms beings and darkens the mind — then I guarantee you the attainment of Non-returning.”
After the Blessed One had spoken the meaning in prose, he expressed it in verse:
“Those who see clearly understand well how anger (dosa) — a destructive defilement that drives beings toward misery — ruins those who indulge in it. Having abandoned it, they do not return to this world ever again.”
This is what the Blessed One said; therefore I have heard it thus.
End of the Second Discourse on Anger (Dosa Sutta).
Short Pāli Glossary (concise, intensive)
- Dosa — anger, ill will; one of the three unwholesome roots.
- Anāgāmī — “Non-returner”; one who will not return to the sensual realm.
- Bhikkhu — monastic disciple; ordained follower of the Buddha.
- Arahant — one fully liberated; free from all defilements.