Dutiyaakkhantisutta — Akkosakavagga — the twenty-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
two paired five-item lists, identical structure to AN 5.215
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, a variant restatement
Why this discourse
The second of this pair of intolerance discourses, keeping AN 5.215's opening and closing items unchanged but replacing its middle item — enmity and many faults — with something more specifically emotional: cruelty and remorse.
Reading guide
The same frame, a different middle
As in AN 5.215, most people find an intolerant person unlikable and disagreeable, and the same closing sequence of confused death and rebirth in hell applies. What changes is the middle item: here the intolerant person is luddo (cruel, savage) and vippaṭisārī (remorseful, full of regret).
Cruelty and remorse, a different register from enmity and fault
Where AN 5.215's ‘much enmity and many faults’ described intolerance's outward relational effects, this discourse's ‘cruel and remorseful’ names something more internally emotional — harshness toward others, paired with regret directed at oneself.
Two consequences of the same root state
Read together, AN 5.215 and AN 5.216 suggest intolerance produces at least two distinct kinds of damage: a build-up of conflict and moral fault (5.215), and a corrosive cycle of harshness followed by regret (5.216) — not one single effect, but a family of related consequences.
The exact same positive mirror pattern
As in AN 5.215, tolerance's benefits are the clean negation: being found dear and agreeable, being neither cruel nor remorseful, dying without confusion, and rebirth in heaven.
Two discourses functioning as one teaching
This close pairing — identical frame, one item varied — is best read as a single teaching given in two complementary passes, each catching an aspect of intolerance the other's wording doesn't quite capture.
Key terms
luddo — “cruel, savage” — the middle drawback in this discourse's version, distinguishing it from AN 5.215's variant.
vippaṭisārī — “remorseful, full of regret” — paired with cruelty as the second half of this discourse's middle item.
aluddo, avippaṭisārī — “not cruel, not remorseful” — the positive counterpart, the clean negation.
akkhanti — “intolerance” — the shared title concept across both this discourse and AN 5.215.
khanti — “tolerance, patience” — the shared positive counterpart across both discourses.
The text
The discourse in full: the same structure as AN 5.215, with cruelty and remorse in place of enmity and fault. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five drawbacks of intolerance
§1“Mendicants, there are these five drawbacks of intolerance. What five? Most people find you unlikable and disagreeable. You’re cruel and remorseful. You feel lost when you die. And when your body breaks up, after death, you’re reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell. These are the five drawbacks to intolerance.
Five benefits of tolerance
§2There are these five benefits of tolerance. What five? Most people find you likable and agreeable. You’re neither cruel nor remorseful. You don’t feel lost when you die. And when your body breaks up, after death, you’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm. These are the five benefits of tolerance.”
· · ·
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 stays unchanged between this discourse and AN 5.215?
Correct: A. The frame stays the same; only the middle item varies.
Question 2 of 10
What middle item does this discourse use, replacing AN 5.215's 'enmity and many faults'?
Correct: A. Luddo and vippaṭisārī.
Question 3 of 10
What does 'luddo' mean?
Correct: A. The first half of this discourse's varied middle item.
Question 4 of 10
What does 'vippaṭisārī' mean?
Correct: A. The second half of this discourse's varied middle item, paired with cruelty.
Question 5 of 10
How does this discourse's middle item differ in register from AN 5.215's?
Correct: A. A different aspect of intolerance's damage.
Question 6 of 10
How should these two discourses, AN 5.215 and 5.216, best be read together?
Correct: A. A family of related consequences, not one single effect.
Question 7 of 10
What is the positive mirror for this discourse's middle item?
Correct: A. The clean negation of cruelty and remorse.
Question 8 of 10
What closing sequence does this discourse share with AN 5.215?
Correct: A. The final two items, unchanged between both discourses.
Question 9 of 10
What discourse follows, shifting to a new but related theme?
Correct: A. Another paired drawback/benefit discourse, on conduct more broadly.
Question 10 of 10
What chapter does this discourse belong to?
Correct: A. 'Abuse', this session's twenty-second chapter.
