Reading guide
A new chapter, a new setting
The Kimilavagga opens with a full narrative reintroduction at Kimbilā, in the Freshwater Mangrove Wood — a location not previously used in this nipāta, and the only discourse in this chapter to open with a named questioner and dialogue frame.
A question already asked, reframed
Kimbila's question — why doesn't the true teaching last long after the Buddha's final quenching (parinibbāna)? — revisits the same underlying concern as AN 5.154–156's ‘decline of the true teaching’ trio, but shifts the diagnostic lens from specific transmission activities (listening, memorizing, reciting) to something more basic: respect itself.
Five objects of respect
The answer names five things whose absence, or presence, of gārava (respect) and appatissā/sappatissā (deference) among monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen determines the teaching's fate: the Teacher, the teaching itself, the Saṅgha, the training, and — notably, closing the list — one another.
Respect for each other, not only for institutions
The fifth item is worth pausing on: alongside respect for the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Saṅgha, and the training — four institutional or doctrinal objects — the list closes with something interpersonal: respect among the four assemblies themselves, for each other directly.
A companion typology to two later discourses
Cross-ref AN 5.205 and AN 5.206, later in this chapter: both name obstacles to spiritual effort built around doubt or attachment regarding these same objects — Teacher, teaching, Saṅgha, training — suggesting this five-part frame runs through more of this chapter than just its opening discourse.
Key terms
The text
Why the true teaching doesn't last
§1“What is the cause, sir, what is the reason why the true teaching does not last long after the final quenching of the Realized One?” “Kimbila, it’s when the monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen lack respect and reverence for the Teacher, the teaching, the Saṅgha, the training, and each other after the final quenching of the Realized One. This is the cause, this is the reason why the true teaching does not last long after the final quenching of the Realized One.”
Why it does last
§2“What is the cause, sir, what is the reason why the true teaching does last long after the final quenching of the Realized One?” “Kimbila, it’s when the monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen maintain respect and reverence for the Teacher, the teaching, the Saṅgha, the training, and each other after the final quenching of the Realized One. This is the cause, this is the reason why the true teaching does last long after the final quenching of the Realized One.”
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.