Kūṭasutta — Balavagga — the second 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
The sekhabala restated, a ranking claim for wisdom, and a single architectural simile
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
Wisdom ranked as the culminating member of a training set is a widespread structural claim across the Chinese Āgamas and Abhidharma; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — a short discourse, memorable chiefly for its image
Why this discourse
Every earlier discourse using the sekhabala or the standard powers has treated the five as a set, with no member singled out. This discourse breaks that pattern: of the five powers of a trainee, it says, the power of wisdom is the chief. It holds and binds everything together, the way the roof-peak of a bungalow holds and binds the whole structure. It is a small claim with a large consequence for how to read every list of five that has come before it in this chapter and the last.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Of the five powers of a trainee, wisdom is called the chief — the member that holds and binds all the others together, illustrated by a bungalow’s roof-peak.
What ‘chief’ is not claiming
The discourse does not say wisdom can stand in for the other four, or that a person could have wisdom alone and dispense with faith, conscience, prudence, and energy. A roof-peak does not replace the walls; it is the point where the walls, already built, are held together and given a single shape. The claim is architectural, about function within a completed structure, not substitutive.
Why this ranking, and not a different one
AN 5.2 already defined wisdom, of these five, in the narrowest and most specific terms — not general intelligence but a particular insight into arising and passing away. This discourse’s ranking makes sense against that earlier definition: the kind of wisdom named is exactly the kind that would let a person see whether their own faith, conscience, prudence, and energy are actually functioning as claimed, rather than being taken on trust. A capstone that surveys what it caps is a coherent image for that specific job.
A simile that will return
The bungalow-peak image is not unique to this discourse. AN 5.16, four discourses ahead, repeats it word for word for the standard five powers rather than the sekhabala — the same architectural claim made twice, once for each of this chapter’s two five-item lists. Reading the two together shows that the ranking survives the switch between lists; whichever five items are in play, wisdom is what the discourse calls chief.
Where the chapter goes from here
AN 5.13 pivots the chapter to the standard five faculties/powers — faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, wisdom — already flagged as distinct from the sekhabala at AN 4.163 and AN 5.1. This is the last discourse in the Fives, so far, to use the sekhabala terms.
Key terms
kūṭa — “peak, roof-ridge” — the architectural term giving this discourse its title and its central image.
kūṭāgāra — “bungalow, peaked house” — a building with a ridged roof, the structure the simile compares the five powers to.
saṅgāhika — “that which holds together” — one of the two verbs applied to both the roof-peak and to wisdom among the five powers.
saṅghātaniya — “that which binds together” — the second of the paired verbs, reinforcing rather than duplicating the first.
agga — “chief, foremost” — the ranking word applied to wisdom, a claim this discourse is the first in the chapter to make about any single member of a five-item list.
The text
The discourse in full: the sekhabala restated, wisdom named chief, and the bungalow simile that explains why. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Wisdom, the chief power
§1“Mendicants, there are these five powers of a trainee. What five? The powers of faith, conscience, prudence, energy, and wisdom. These are the five powers of a trainee. Of these five powers of a trainee, the power of wisdom is the chief. It holds and binds everything together.
The simile
§2It’s like a bungalow. The roof-peak is the chief point, which holds and binds everything together. In the same way, of these five powers of a trainee, the power of wisdom is the chief. It holds and binds everything together.
The injunction
§3So you should train like this: ‘We will have the trainee’s powers of faith, conscience, prudence, energy, and wisdom.’ That’s how you should train.”
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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 claim does AN 5.12 make that no earlier discourse using a five-item power list has made?
Correct: A. Wisdom is singled out as chief — a first for this chapter's power lists.
Question 2 of 10
What image explains wisdom's role as chief?
Correct: B. Kūṭa, the roof-peak — the discourse's title and central simile.
Question 3 of 10
Does the discourse claim wisdom can replace the other four powers?
Correct: B. A roof-peak doesn't replace the walls; it holds what is already built together.
Question 4 of 10
How does the guide connect this ranking to AN 5.2's earlier definition of wisdom?
Correct: B. A capstone that surveys what it caps fits that specific, narrow definition.
Question 5 of 10
Where does this same bungalow-peak simile reappear later in the chapter?
Correct: B. The identical claim, made for each of the chapter's two five-item lists in turn.
Question 6 of 10
What does AN 5.13, the next discourse, do?
Correct: B. AN 5.12 is the chapter's last use of the sekhabala terms so far.
Question 7 of 10
What two verbs are applied to both the roof-peak and to wisdom?
Correct: A. Paired, reinforcing terms rather than a single word repeated.
Question 8 of 10
What are the five powers named in this discourse?
Correct: B. Still the sekhabala at this point in the chapter, not yet the standard bala.
Question 9 of 10
What closing injunction does AN 5.12 share with AN 5.1?
Correct: B. The chapter's opening injunction formula recurs here.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.12 set?
Correct: B. Consistent with the chapter's pattern so far.
