Catutthahitasutta — 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
Both halves of AN 5.17's formula affirmed together, closing the four-discourse unit and the chapter
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number for this variant beyond the parallel already noted at AN 5.17
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — the unit's resolving case, closing the chapter on its most complete note
Why this discourse
The fourth combination is the one the whole unit has been building toward: a mendicant personally accomplished in ethics, immersion, wisdom, freedom, and the knowledge and vision of freedom, and encouraging others in the same five. This is the only one of the four cases the chapter does not qualify or leave partial. It closes both the four-discourse unit and the Balavagga itself, ending the chapter on the one combination that asks nothing to be weighed against anything else.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant personally accomplished in the five, and who encourages others in them too, is practicing for both their own welfare and that of others — the fourth and only unqualified case in the unit.
Why this case closes the sequence, not opens it
The chapter could have led with this case and treated the other three as deficient variations. It does the opposite, working through the partial cases first and arriving at completeness last. Read in the order given, the four discourses build a case for what wholeness requires, rather than starting from an ideal and cataloguing how one falls short of it.
What the whole unit has established
Across AN 5.17–20, the same five items — sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti, vimuttiñāṇadassana — and the same two variables, personal accomplishment and encouraging others, have generated all four possible combinations without exception. This discourse is not a new teaching so much as the completion of an argument spread across four discourses; reading it without the three before it would miss most of what it is doing.
The chapter's own closing colophon
As with AN 5.10 at the close of the first chapter, the source text appends a colophon here — Balavaggo dutiyo, ‘the second chapter, on powers’ — followed by the chapter’s own uddāna verse, the same kind of untranslated Pāli mnemonic already explained in full at AN 5.10 and not re-explained here.
What the next chapter takes up
The Fives continue with the Pañcaṅgikavagga, ‘With Five Factors’, the chapter that contains an-5.28.html, one of the two pages from this series’ earlier eighteen-page selection era. That existing page will be left as it is and linked into the index rather than rebuilt, exactly as flagged at the start of this chapter.
Key terms
catuttha — “fourth” — the ordinal in this discourse's title, marking the last of the unit's four combinations.
attahitāya ca…parahitāya ca — “for one's own welfare and for others' welfare” — both halves of the formula affirmed together, unique to this discourse in the unit.
Balavaggo dutiyo — “the second chapter, on powers” — the colophon closing this vagga, matching Sekhabalavaggo paṭhamo's form from AN 5.10.
uddāna — “mnemonic verse” — this chapter's own closing summary verse, explained in full at AN 5.10 and not repeated here.
dhamma — “quality” — the word this discourse uses for the five items, matching AN 5.17 and 5.18's usage rather than AN 5.19's aṅga.
The text
The discourse in full: personal accomplishment and encouraging others, affirmed together. The closing colophon and Pāli mnemonic verse are part of the source but are not translated text, and are described rather than reproduced here. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Accomplished, and encouraging others
§1“Mendicants, a mendicant with five qualities is practicing for both their own welfare and 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. And they encourage others in these qualities. A mendicant with these five qualities is practicing both for their own welfare and 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 case does AN 5.20 describe?
Correct: B. The fourth and only fully affirmed case in the unit.
Question 2 of 10
What outcome does this discourse attach to this case?
Correct: B. The only unqualified, fully positive outcome among the unit's four cases.
Question 3 of 10
Why does the guide say the chapter places this case last rather than first?
Correct: B. A deliberate ordering, not starting from an ideal and cataloguing shortfalls.
Question 4 of 10
How many of the unit's four logical combinations does AN 5.17–20 cover in total?
Correct: C. Own-only, others-only, neither, and both.
Question 5 of 10
What colophon closes this chapter, matching AN 5.10's form?
Correct: B. The same structural device, explained in full already and not repeated on this page.
Question 6 of 10
What chapter comes next, and what does the guide note about it?
Correct: A. Consistent with the plan flagged at the very start of this project.
Question 7 of 10
Is AN 5.20 best read as a standalone teaching or as part of a larger argument?
Correct: B. Reading it without the three before it would miss most of what it is doing.
Question 8 of 10
What word does AN 5.20 use for the five items?
Correct: B. A minor wording detail the guide notes across the unit.
Question 9 of 10
Does this discourse introduce any new item beyond the five already named at AN 5.17?
Correct: B. The identical list throughout the four-discourse unit.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.20 set?
Correct: B. Consistent with the chapter's pattern from AN 5.11 through its close.
