Daṭṭhabbasutta — 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
Five question-and-answer pairs, one per power, each naming a different fourfold list as the place that power 'should be seen'
Length
~2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
Cross-mapping the powers onto other core doctrinal fours is a structural device widespread across the Chinese Āgamas and Abhidharma; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — short lines, but each answer opens onto a large body of material this series has already covered
Why this discourse
AN 5.14 defined the five powers one at a time, in isolation. This discourse does something more ambitious: it asks, for each power, where should it be seen, and answers with a different major fourfold category every time — stream-entry, right effort, mindfulness meditation, absorption, the noble truths. Five powers, five distinct fours. The discourse is, in effect, a compressed map of how one five-item list touches five different regions of the wider teaching.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Faith should be seen in the four factors of stream-entry; energy in the four right efforts; mindfulness in the four kinds of mindfulness meditation; immersion in the four absorptions; wisdom in the four noble truths.
A map, not five new definitions
This discourse does not redefine any of the five powers — AN 5.14 already did that. Instead it answers a different question: not what is this power, but where is it visible, in practice, at scale. The verb daṭṭhabba, should be seen, treats each power as something observable in a larger, already familiar structure rather than as an abstraction requiring further definition.
Four fours, briefly placed
The sotāpattiyaṅga, already discussed at AN 4.52, are the qualities of a stream-enterer; the sammappadhāna, discussed at AN 4.69, are the four right efforts; the satipaṭṭhāna, discussed at AN 4.274, are the four kinds of mindfulness meditation; and the four absorptions were discussed at length already this chapter, at AN 5.14 and, before that, AN 4.163. Each of those earlier pages does the explaining; this discourse only does the pointing.
The fifth pairing, left unglossed elsewhere
Wisdom’s placement in the four noble truths is the one pairing this series has not yet given its own dedicated page. That is worth noting rather than papering over: the four noble truths are foundational enough in the wider canon that this series, so far concerned with the numbered discourses specifically, has had less occasion to treat them as their own subject. This discourse is, so far, the fullest treatment they have received here.
What the five pairings add up to
Read together, the five answers cover an unusually wide swath of the aids to awakening in a single short discourse: stream-entry factors, right efforts, mindfulness meditation, absorption, and the noble truths. A mendicant who has developed the five powers, on this discourse’s account, is not developing five isolated skills but is visibly active across most of the frameworks this whole tradition organizes its practice around.
Key terms
sotāpattiyaṅga — “factor of stream-entry” — the fourfold set faith is located within here, already discussed at AN 4.52.
sammappadhāna — “right effort” — the fourfold set energy is located within, already discussed at AN 4.69.
satipaṭṭhāna — “establishment of mindfulness” — the fourfold set mindfulness is located within, already discussed at AN 4.274.
daṭṭhabba — “should be seen” — the verb giving this discourse its title, treating each power as observable within a larger structure rather than requiring further definition.
ariyasacca — “noble truth” — the fourfold set wisdom is located within; unlike the other four sets, not yet given its own dedicated page in this series.
The text
The discourse in full: the five powers named, then each located within a different fourfold category. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The five, named
§1“Mendicants, there are these five powers. What five? The powers of faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom.
Faith, in the four factors of stream-entry
§2And where should the power of faith be seen? In the four factors of stream-entry.
Energy, in the four right efforts
§3And where should the power of energy be seen? In the four right efforts.
Mindfulness, in the four kinds of mindfulness meditation
§4And where should the power of mindfulness be seen? In the four kinds of mindfulness meditation.
Immersion, in the four absorptions
§5And where should the power of immersion be seen? In the four absorptions.
Wisdom, in the four noble truths
§6And where should the power of wisdom be seen? In the four noble truths.
Closing
§7These are the five powers.”
· · ·
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 question does AN 5.15 ask about each of the five powers?
Correct: B. A map of visibility, not a set of new definitions.
Question 2 of 10
Where should the power of faith be seen, according to this discourse?
Correct: B. Already discussed at AN 4.52.
Question 3 of 10
Where should the power of energy be seen?
Correct: B. Sammappadhāna, already discussed at AN 4.69.
Question 4 of 10
Where should the power of wisdom be seen?
Correct: C. The one pairing this series has not yet treated as its own dedicated subject.
Question 5 of 10
Does this discourse redefine any of the five powers?
Correct: B. A different question is being asked here: not what, but where visible.
Question 6 of 10
According to the guide, why has the four noble truths pairing not been given its own dedicated page elsewhere in this series?
Correct: B. This discourse is, so far, the fullest treatment they have received in this series.
Question 7 of 10
Where was the four-absorption formula, used here for immersion, already discussed at length in this series?
Correct: B. This discourse points to material already covered rather than re-explaining it.
Question 8 of 10
What does the guide say a mendicant who has developed all five powers is doing, on this discourse's account?
Correct: B. An unusually wide swath of the aids to awakening covered in one short discourse.
Question 9 of 10
What form does the discourse take?
Correct: B. Kattha ca... daṭṭhabbaṁ, asked and answered five times in a row.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.15 set?
Correct: B. Consistent with the chapter's pattern so far.
