Sārajjasutta — Saddhammavagga — the sixteenth 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
two paired five-item lists, in the bare-list form
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, a direct restatement
Why this discourse
This discourse shares its exact Pali title, Sārajjasutta, with AN 5.101 — and the same underlying pentad, addressing the identical quality-set (faith, ethics, learning, energy, wisdom) in its simplest, barest form: what makes a mendicant timid, and what makes one self-assured.
Reading guide
Same title, same pentad, different framing
AN 5.101 (“Assurance”) addressed self-assurance specifically for a trainee (sekha), through a more elaborate contrast-formula. This discourse restates the identical underlying quality-set — faith, ethics, learning, energy, wisdom — for a mendicant generally, in the simplest possible bare-list form.
Overcome by timidity
Lacking faith, ethics, learning, energy, or wisdom, a mendicant is described as ‘overcome by timidity’ (sārajjaṁ okkanto) — a vivid phrase suggesting timidity as something one falls into or is overtaken by, rather than a trait one simply has.
Self-assured
Possessing all five, a mendicant is visārada, self-assured — a different Pali term from AN 5.101's vesārajja, though closely related in sense, both naming confident ease rather than anxious hesitation.
This nipāta's most-repeated pentad
Cross-ref this quality-set's full trail: as sekhabala at AN 5.2, and in various combinations at AN 5.101, and now here — arguably the single most-repeated content block across the entire nipāta, in one form or another.
What closes the chapter
AN 5.159 gives this nipāta's third Kosambī-set narrative discourse; AN 5.160 closes the chapter with a bare, more ambivalent list of things hard to relinquish once they arise.
Key terms
sārajjaṁ okkanto — “overcome by timidity” — the state a mendicant falls into, lacking the five qualities.
visārada — “self-assured” — the positive state, a term related to but distinct from AN 5.101's vesārajja.
saddhā, sīla, suta, vīriya, paññā — faith, ethics, learning, energy, wisdom — the same quality-set as AN 5.101's sekha-directed formula, restated here in bare form.
sekha — “trainee” — the specific audience of AN 5.101's version of this same quality-set.
Sārajjasutta — the exact Pali title shared by both this discourse and AN 5.101, though the English translated titles diverge (“Timidity” here, “Assurance” there).
The text
The discourse in full: what overcomes a mendicant with timidity, and what makes one self-assured. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Overcome by timidity
§1“Mendicants, a mendicant with five qualities is overcome by timidity. What five? It’s when a mendicant is faithless, unethical, with little learning, lazy, and witless. A mendicant with these five qualities is overcome by timidity.
Self-assured
§2A mendicant with five qualities is self-assured. What five? It’s when a mendicant is faithful, ethical, learned, energetic, and wise. A mendicant with these five qualities is 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 discourse shares this one's exact Pali title, Sārajjasutta?
Correct: A. Same Pali title, different English translated title.
Question 2 of 10
How do the two Sārajjasutta discourses differ?
Correct: A. Same underlying pentad, different framing and audience.
Question 3 of 10
What does 'sārajjaṁ okkanto' mean?
Correct: A. The state described when the five qualities are absent.
Question 4 of 10
What does 'visārada' mean?
Correct: A. The positive state, related to but distinct from AN 5.101's vesārajja.
Question 5 of 10
What five qualities make up this discourse's pentad?
Correct: A. Note: energy, not generosity — distinct from the AN 5.157 pentad.
Question 6 of 10
How does this discourse's pentad differ from AN 5.157's dukkathā pentad?
Correct: A. A related but distinct five-item quality-set.
Question 7 of 10
Who is AN 5.101's version of this quality-set specifically addressed to?
Correct: A. The audience distinguishing AN 5.101's framing from this discourse's.
Question 8 of 10
What term does AN 5.101 use for 'self-assurance', distinct from this discourse's term?
Correct: A. A closely related but distinct Pali term.
Question 9 of 10
What discourse follows, this nipāta's third narrative set at Kosambī?
Correct: A. After AN 5.100 and AN 5.106, both also set at Ghosita's Monastery.
