Reading guide
A third statement, a starker image
AN 5.171 framed the five precepts through timidity and self-assurance; AN 5.172 through household life specifically; this discourse frames them through their most consequential outcome — rebirth itself, in hell or heaven.
Placed as if delivered
The phrase yathābhataṁ nikkhitto, ‘placed as if delivered’, suggests something carried and set down without struggle or delay — an image of kammic consequence as close to automatic and unavoidable as anything in this collection.
Closing this opening triad
Together, AN 5.171–173 give this chapter's foundational content — the five precepts — three distinct framings in immediate succession: personal confidence, household context, and cosmic consequence. No further variation follows; the chapter moves on to other concerns starting at AN 5.174.
A blunt instrument, deliberately
Unlike AN 5.174's much more detailed explanation of why precept-breaking generates fear and enmity, this discourse offers no explanation at all — just the bare consequence, stated as flatly as possible.
What follows
AN 5.174 finally explains the mechanism behind these outcomes: how breaking each precept generates fear and enmity in this very life, not only in some cosmic hereafter.
Key terms
The text
Placed in hell
§1“Mendicants, a lay follower with five qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there. What five? They kill living creatures, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, and consume beer, wine, and liquor intoxicants. A lay follower with these five qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there.
Placed in heaven
§2A lay follower with five qualities is placed in heaven as if delivered there. What five? They don’t kill living creatures, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, or consume beer, wine, and liquor intoxicants. A lay follower with these five qualities is placed in heaven as if delivered there.”
Self-check quiz
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