Sārajjasutta — Phāsuvihāravagga — the eleventh chapter of the Fives
Setting
None stated; the discourse continues from AN 5.1, whose setting at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove is understood to hold
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
five qualities, each explained by an identical contrast formula naming the insecurity it removes
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, with one recurring logical move to notice
Why this discourse
Phāsuvihāravagga opens not with the ease of jhāna or liberation, but with a more ordinary kind of comfort: the absence of self-consciousness. Five qualities are named — faith, ethics, learning, energy, and wisdom — and each is explained not by what it produces, but by the specific insecurity its presence removes.
Reading guide
A new chapter, and a different kind of ease
Phāsuvihāravagga takes its name from ‘living comfortably’, but this opening discourse addresses a more everyday form of comfort than the jhāna-based ease named later in this chapter: simple freedom from insecurity in front of one's spiritual companions.
A third variant of the five-quality pentad
Compare this discourse's list directly to two earlier five-quality lists in this nipāta: AN 5.1's sekhabala (faith, conscience, prudence, energy, wisdom) and AN 5.91's saddhā/sīla/suta/cāga/paññā (faith, ethics, learning, generosity, wisdom). This discourse's list — faith, ethics, learning, energy, wisdom — is a third distinct combination, sharing faith and wisdom with both earlier lists but assembling ethics, learning, and energy in a way neither did.
Sārajja, the quality being removed
Sārajja names insecurity, nervousness, or self-consciousness — not a moral failing exactly, but a kind of inward unease. Each of the five positive qualities is explained by what it removes, not by what it directly achieves.
One formula, five applications
Every item follows an identical template: the insecurity that belongs to lacking quality X does not belong to one who has X. Faith removes the faithless person's insecurity; ethics removes the unethical person's; and so through learning, energy, and wisdom — five parallel applications of the same logical move.
What comes next
AN 5.102 turns to something quite different: five circumstances, unrelated to actual misconduct, that can still cause a genuinely blameless monk to be suspected.
Key terms
sārajja — “insecurity, nervousness” — the absence this discourse's five qualities are said to produce.
sekhavesārajjakaraṇā dhammā — “things that make a trainee self-assured” — this discourse's title concept.
saddho / assaddha — faithful / faithless — the first pairing in this discourse's contrast formula.
bahussuto / appassuta — learned / of little learning — the third pairing.
The discourse in full: five qualities, each explained by the insecurity it removes. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five qualities, and the insecurity each removes
§1“Mendicants, these five qualities make a trainee self-assured. What five? It’s when a mendicant is faithful, ethical, learned, energetic, and wise. A person of faith doesn’t have the insecurities of someone who lacks faith. So this quality makes a trainee self-assured. An ethical person doesn’t have the insecurities of someone who is unethical. So this quality makes a trainee self-assured. A learned person doesn’t have the insecurities of a person of little learning. So this quality makes a trainee self-assured. An energetic person doesn’t have the insecurities of a lazy person. So this quality makes a trainee self-assured. A wise person doesn’t have the insecurities of someone who is witless. So this quality makes a trainee self-assured. These are the five qualities that make a trainee self-assured.”
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Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What Pali term names the 'insecurity' this discourse's five qualities remove?
Correct: A. The discourse's title concept.
Question 2 of 10
What five qualities are named?
Correct: A. A third distinct combination, compared to AN 5.1 and AN 5.91's lists.
Question 3 of 10
How does this list compare to AN 5.1's sekhabala pentad?
Correct: B. A distinct assembly of the same general terrain.
Question 4 of 10
How does it compare to AN 5.91's pentad?
Correct: B. Another distinct combination of overlapping terms.
Question 5 of 10
What structural template does each of the five items follow?
Correct: B. An identical contrast formula, repeated five times.
Question 6 of 10
What is the first quality, and its corresponding lack?
Correct: B. Saddho / assaddha opens the list.
Question 7 of 10
What is the last quality, and its corresponding lack?
Correct: C. Paññavā / duppañña closes the list.
Question 8 of 10
Is any of the five qualities explained by what it produces, rather than what insecurity it removes?
Correct: B. A consistent contrast-formula structure throughout.
Question 9 of 10
What chapter does this discourse open?
Correct: B. The eleventh chapter of the Fives.
Question 10 of 10
What does AN 5.102 turn to next?
Correct: B. Reputational risk, unrelated to actual misconduct.
