Āraññikasutta — Araññavagga — the nineteenth 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-item list of motives, then a declaration of which is best, illustrated by a simile
Length
~2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, opening a new chapter with a template all ten discourses share
Why this discourse
This chapter opens with a genuinely important distinction: the same outward ascetic practice — here, living in the wilderness — can be undertaken from folly, vanity, mental illness, or mere imitation, and only one of five possible motives makes it praiseworthy. This template repeats, in varying detail, across all ten discourses in this chapter.
Reading guide
A new chapter, a shared template
The Araññavagga (“Wilderness Dwellers”) catalogs ten austere practices later systematized in the commentarial tradition as dhutaṅga. This opening discourse establishes a five-motive analysis that all ten discourses in this chapter apply, in progressively abbreviated form, to their own particular practice.
Five reasons for the same behavior
Stupidity and folly; corrupt, showy wishes; madness and mental disorder; because the practice is praised by the Buddhas and their disciples; or genuinely for the sake of having few wishes, contentment, self-effacement, seclusion, and simplicity — five entirely different motives that can produce the identical outward behavior.
Only the last is praised
Of these five, only the wilderness-dweller motivated by genuine renunciation — few wishes, contentment, simplicity — is called ‘the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest’ of the five. Notably, even the motive of imitating what ‘the Buddhas and their disciples praise’ falls short of this standard: praiseworthy practice, undertaken for the wrong internal reason, still isn't the best.
The milk-to-cream-of-ghee simile
Milk becomes curds, curds become butter, butter becomes ghee, and ghee becomes cream of ghee — the most refined product of a five-stage process — illustrating how the genuinely-motivated wilderness dweller stands to the other four as the most refined product stands to its raw material.
A template for the whole chapter
This same five-motive analysis and simile is repeated in full only once more, at this chapter's closing discourse, AN 5.190. The eight discourses in between apply it to eight further practices, in steadily more compressed form — the source text itself abbreviating what it considers already established here.
Form over motive, a recurring project theme
This concern with genuine internal motive over mere external form echoes earlier discourses in this collection, such as AN 5.165's five reasons for asking a question — the same underlying insight, that identical behavior can spring from very different, and not equally admirable, sources.
Key terms
āraññika — “a wilderness dweller” — this discourse's title concept, one who lives away from settled areas.
appicchataṁ, santuṭṭhiṁ, sallekhaṁ, pavivekaṁ — “few wishes, contentment, self-effacement, seclusion” — the genuine motive this discourse praises above the other four.
pāpiccho icchāpakato — “of corrupt, showy wishes” — one of the four lesser motives, practicing for appearance's sake.
vaṇṇitaṁ buddhehi buddhasāvakehi — “praised by the Buddhas and their disciples” — imitating praiseworthy behavior without the underlying genuine motive.
sappimaṇḍo — “cream of ghee” — the most refined product in this discourse's five-stage dairy simile, standing for the best of the five motives.
The text
The discourse in full: the five motives for wilderness dwelling, and the best of the five. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five kinds of wilderness dweller
§1“Mendicants, there are these five kinds of wilderness dwellers. What five? One may be a wilderness dweller because of stupidity and folly. Or because of corrupt wishes, being of wishful temperament. Or because of madness and mental disorder. Or because it is praised by the Buddhas and their disciples. Or for the sake of having few wishes, for the sake of contentment, self-effacement, seclusion, and simplicity. These are the five kinds of wilderness dwellers. But the one who dwells in the wilderness for the sake of having few wishes is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the five.
The best of the five, in simile
§2From a cow comes milk, from milk comes curds, from curds come butter, from butter comes ghee, and from ghee comes cream of ghee. And the cream of ghee is said to be the best of these. In the same way, the one who dwells in the wilderness for the sake of having few wishes is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the five.”
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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 chapter does this discourse open?
Correct: A. This session's nineteenth chapter.
Question 2 of 10
What five motives does this discourse name for living in the wilderness?
Correct: A. Five different motives that can produce the identical outward behavior.
Question 3 of 10
Which of the five motives does this discourse praise as best?
Correct: A. Even praiseworthy imitation falls short of this standard.
Question 4 of 10
What does the milk-to-cream-of-ghee simile illustrate?
Correct: A. A five-stage refinement process, mirroring the five motives.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'sappimaṇḍo' mean?
Correct: A. Standing for the best of the five motives.
Question 6 of 10
What does this chapter's shared template do across its remaining discourses?
Correct: A. The source text itself abbreviates what's already established here.
Question 7 of 10
What earlier discourse in this collection shares this concern with motive over external form?
Correct: A. The same underlying insight about identical behavior, different sources.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'pāpiccho icchāpakato' describe?
Correct: A. One of the four lesser motives named in this discourse.
Question 9 of 10
How many later discourses in this chapter restate the full five-motive analysis?
Correct: A. The rest apply the template in increasingly compressed form.
Question 10 of 10
What are dhutaṅga, as later commentarial tradition names them?
Correct: A. This chapter's ten discourses catalog practices later systematized under this term.
