Vaṇijjāsutta — Upāsakavagga — the eighteenth 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
single five-item list, no positive mirror
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, but with genuine interpretive nuance
Why this discourse
One of this collection's most frequently cited discourses on lay livelihood: five trades a lay follower shouldn't take up — weapons, living beings, meat, intoxicants, and poison — extending the five precepts' logic from personal conduct into economic life.
Reading guide
Five prohibited trades
Trading in weapons (sattha), living creatures (satta), meat (maṁsa), intoxicants (majja), and poison (visa) — a short, bare list, with no positive mirror and no explanation given.
A genuinely debated phrase: 'trade in living creatures'
Sattavaṇijjā, literally ‘trade in beings’, has traditionally been read in more than one way: as trading in animals destined for slaughter, or as trading in human beings (slave-trading). The text itself doesn't specify which is meant, and this guide states that ambiguity honestly rather than picking one reading as certain.
Extending precept-logic into livelihood
Each of these five trades connects naturally to the five precepts: weapons and living-creature trade to the precept against killing, meat trade to the same concern once removed, intoxicant trade to the fifth precept directly, and poison to killing again — livelihood, not only personal conduct, brought under the same basic ethical framework.
No explanation, deliberately terse
Unlike AN 5.174's detailed explanation of why breaking the precepts generates fear and enmity, this discourse offers no reasoning at all — simply a bare prohibition, among the shortest discourses in this entire nipāta.
Right livelihood, applied to lay economic life
This discourse is best read as this collection's lay-specific application of the broader principle of right livelihood (sammā-ājīva) from the eightfold path — naming concrete trades rather than an abstract principle.
Key terms
vaṇijjā — “trade” — this discourse's title concept, the five prohibited kinds named.
satthavaṇijjā — “trade in weapons” — the first prohibited trade.
sattavaṇijjā — “trade in living creatures” — a phrase read variously as animal trade or the slave trade; the text itself doesn't specify.
maṁsavaṇijjā — “trade in meat” — the third prohibited trade.
majjavaṇijjā, visavaṇijjā — “trade in intoxicants” and “trade in poison” — the fourth and fifth prohibited trades.
The text
The discourse in full: five trades a lay follower should not engage in. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five trades not to engage in
§1“Mendicants, a lay follower should not engage in these five trades. What five? Trade in weapons, living creatures, meat, intoxicants, and poisons. A lay follower should not engage in these five trades.”
· · ·
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 trades does this discourse name as prohibited for a lay follower?
Correct: A. This discourse's bare five-item list.
Question 2 of 10
How does this guide treat the ambiguous phrase 'sattavaṇijjā'?
Correct: A. Traditionally read both ways, with no textual resolution given.
Question 3 of 10
What does this discourse offer, unlike AN 5.174?
Correct: A. Among the shortest discourses in this entire nipāta.
Question 4 of 10
What broader principle does this discourse apply to lay economic life?
Correct: A. Naming concrete trades rather than stating an abstract principle.
Question 5 of 10
How does this discourse's list connect to the five precepts?
Correct: A. Extending precept-logic from personal conduct into livelihood.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'majjavaṇijjā' mean?
Correct: A. The fourth prohibited trade, connecting to the fifth precept.
Question 7 of 10
What structural form does this discourse take?
Correct: A. One of this nipāta's briefest, most direct discourses.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'satthavaṇijjā' mean?
Correct: A. The first prohibited trade in this list.
Question 9 of 10
What connects poison trade to the five precepts' logic?
Correct: A. Poison, like weapons, facilitates killing.
Question 10 of 10
What chapter does this discourse belong to?
Correct: A. 'A Lay Follower', this session's eighteenth chapter.
