Ekāsanikasutta — 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 single abbreviated line
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — extremely short, compressed by the source itself
Why this discourse
This chapter's catalog turns from dwelling and posture to eating practices: taking only one sitting's worth of food per day, rather than eating across multiple sittings — the first of three consecutive food-related practices closing out this catalog before AN 5.190's full restatement.
Reading guide
The catalog turns to food
AN 5.181–187 concerned dwelling-places and bodily posture; ekāsanika begins this catalog's final movement, toward how a mendicant eats — specifically, taking food only once per day, in a single sitting, rather than returning for a second helping later.
A discipline against habitual return
The practice isn't primarily about eating less in total, but about refusing to return to food once a sitting has ended — a discipline against the ordinary habit of eating whenever hunger or opportunity arises, replaced by a single bounded occasion each day.
The same compression, the same presupposition
As with the four discourses before it, the source reduces this one to a single abbreviated line, presupposing AN 5.181's full five-motive statement rather than restating it.
Connecting to lay practice elsewhere in this collection
Cross-ref AN 5.180's Gavesī, whose third self-imposed upgrade — eating in one part of the day, abstaining from food at night or the wrong time — closely parallels this practice, showing the same underlying discipline appearing as both a formal ascetic category here and a voluntary lay commitment there.
What follows
AN 5.189 continues this catalog's food-related turn, applied to refusing food offered once a meal has already begun.
Key terms
ekāsanika — “one who eats in one sitting” — this discourse's title concept, taking food only once per day.
pe — the standard abbreviation marker, reducing this discourse's content to a single line.
appicchataṁ — “few wishes” — part of the fifth, genuinely praiseworthy motive established at AN 5.181, presupposed here.
ekabhattika — “eating in one part of the day” — the closely related commitment Gavesī makes at AN 5.180.
dhutaṅga — the later commentarial term for the whole catalog of austere practices this chapter documents, including this one.
The text
The discourse as it survives in the source: a single abbreviated line. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Those who eat in one sitting
§1“These five eat in one sitting per day. …”
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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 does 'ekāsanika' describe?
Correct: A. This discourse's title concept.
Question 2 of 10
What shift does this discourse mark in the chapter's catalog?
Correct: A. The catalog's final movement, concerning food.
Question 3 of 10
What is this practice primarily a discipline against?
Correct: A. A single bounded occasion, rather than eating whenever opportunity arises.
Question 4 of 10
How much of this discourse survives in the source text?
Correct: A. Matching the same compression as AN 5.185-187.
Question 5 of 10
What earlier discourse in this collection parallels this practice in lay life?
Correct: A. Eating in one part of the day, abstaining from food at night.
Question 6 of 10
What discourse follows, continuing this catalog's food-related turn?
Correct: A. Refusing food offered once a meal has already begun.
Question 7 of 10
What does this discourse's single line presuppose?
Correct: A. Trusting the reader to supply the earlier pattern.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'ekabhattika' mean?
Correct: A. Gavesī's closely related lay commitment at AN 5.180.
Question 9 of 10
What chapter does this discourse belong to?
Correct: A. 'Wilderness Dwellers', this session's nineteenth chapter.
Question 10 of 10
What is this practice primarily NOT about, according to the guide?
Correct: A. A discipline against habitual return, not necessarily reduced quantity.
