Paṭhamahitasutta — 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
A five-part accomplishment, each item paired with a failure to encourage others in it, opening a four-discourse unit closing the chapter
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
Ethics, immersion, wisdom, freedom, and the knowledge and vision of freedom correspond closely to the wǔfēn fǎshēn 五分法身, the 'five-part dharma body' of ethics, immersion, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge and vision of liberation, a formula well attested in Chinese Buddhist literature and commentary
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — introduces a new five-item set distinct from every list this chapter has used so far
Why this discourse
This discourse opens the chapter's final unit by dropping the powers entirely and introducing a different, and in some ways more consequential, five-item set: personal accomplishment in ethics, immersion, wisdom, freedom, and the knowledge and vision of freedom. A mendicant who has all five but keeps them to themselves — personally accomplished, but not encouraging others — is said to be practicing for their own welfare only. Attainment alone, on this account, is not the whole of what a mendicant's life is asked to do.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant personally accomplished in ethics, immersion, wisdom, freedom, and the knowledge and vision of freedom, but who does not encourage others to develop the same five, is practicing for their own welfare but not that of others.
A new list, worth naming precisely
Sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti, vimuttiñāṇadassana — ethics, immersion, wisdom, freedom, and the knowledge and vision of freedom — is a five-item sequence distinct from both the sekhabala and the standard bala this chapter has used so far. It closely resembles the fourfold sequence that opened AN 4.1 in the last nipāta — ethics, immersion, wisdom, freedom — with one further item appended: not just freedom itself, but the knowing and seeing that one is free.
A well-attested formula beyond this collection
This exact five-part sequence corresponds closely to what became known in Chinese Buddhist literature as the wǔfēn fǎshēn 五分法身, the ‘five-part dharma-body’: 戒 ethics, 定 immersion, 慧 wisdom, 解脫 liberation, and 解脫知見 the knowledge and vision of liberation. Where this reading guide has generally hedged its Northern-parallel claims across the collection, this is one of the more solid correspondences available: the same five items, in the same order, doing comparable work as a description of what a fully accomplished practitioner has attained.
The structure of the whole unit
AN 5.17 through 5.20 run through every logical combination of two variables: is the mendicant personally accomplished, and do they encourage others. AN 5.17 gives yes-and-no; AN 5.18, the next discourse, gives no-and-yes; AN 5.19 gives no-and-no; AN 5.20 gives yes-and-yes, closing the chapter. Reading all four in sequence is more informative than reading any one alone, since the four cases only become a complete picture together.
What this discourse implies, read on its own
It is worth sitting with what AN 5.17 is actually saying before the fuller picture arrives: personal attainment, however genuine, is explicitly described here as only half of welfare when it is not shared. The discourse does not call this a failure or a fault — it does not criticize the mendicant it describes — but it does decline to call their practice complete.
Key terms
sīlasampanno — “accomplished in ethics” — the first of five personal accomplishments named in this discourse.
vimutti — “freedom, liberation” — the fourth item, already met as the culmination of AN 4.1's own fourfold list in the previous nipāta.
vimuttiñāṇadassana — “the knowledge and vision of freedom” — the fifth item, added beyond AN 4.1's four: not only being free, but knowing and seeing that one is.
samādapeti — “encourages, instigates” — the verb whose absence, paired with personal accomplishment, defines this discourse's case.
attahita parahita — “one's own welfare, others' welfare” — the two variables this four-discourse unit runs through every combination of.
The text
The discourse in full: personal accomplishment in the five, without encouraging others in them. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Accomplished, but not encouraging others
§1“Mendicants, a mendicant with five qualities is practicing for their own welfare, but not that of others. What five? It’s when a mendicant is personally accomplished in ethics, immersion, wisdom, freedom, and the knowledge and vision of freedom. But they don’t encourage others in these qualities. A mendicant with these five qualities is practicing for their own welfare, but not that of others.”
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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 five items does AN 5.17 introduce, distinct from the powers used earlier in this chapter?
Correct: B. A new five-item sequence opening the chapter's closing unit.
Question 2 of 10
What does AN 5.17 say about a mendicant personally accomplished in all five but not encouraging others?
Correct: B. Attainment described as real, but only half of welfare when unshared.
Question 3 of 10
What Chinese Buddhist formula does the guide identify as a close correspondence to this five-item list?
Correct: B. One of the more solid Northern-parallel correspondences this reading guide identifies.
Question 4 of 10
How does this five-item list relate to AN 4.1's opening list from the previous nipāta?
Correct: B. Four items shared, with vimuttiñāṇadassana added as a fifth.
Question 5 of 10
What two variables does the AN 5.17–20 unit run through every combination of?
Correct: B. Four discourses, four logical combinations.
Question 6 of 10
What combination does AN 5.17 specifically describe?
Correct: B. Yes-and-no — the first of the four cases.
Question 7 of 10
Does AN 5.17 explicitly criticize or condemn the mendicant it describes?
Correct: B. A description of incompleteness, not a condemnation.
Question 8 of 10
What does AN 5.18, the next discourse, describe?
Correct: B. The second of the unit's four logical combinations.
Question 9 of 10
Is personal attainment described as false or fraudulent in this discourse?
Correct: B. Genuine accomplishment, explicitly described as only half of welfare when kept private.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.17 set?
Correct: B. Consistent with the chapter's pattern so far.
