Bhogasutta — Dīghacārikavagga — the twenty-third 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, drawbacks then benefits
Length
~2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, a genuinely balanced teaching
Why this discourse
A refreshingly even-handed teaching on wealth, addressed most plausibly to lay listeners: not a condemnation of riches, but a clear-eyed naming of what can take them away, paired with an equally clear naming of what they're genuinely good for.
Reading guide
Five things wealth is vulnerable to
Fire, water, kings, thieves, and unloved heirs — all of them able to claim a share of one's wealth. The list is notably impersonal: natural disaster, political power, crime, and even one's own family's discontent are treated as equally real threats to accumulated riches.
Wealth's vulnerability, not its inherent evil
Nothing in this list condemns wealth itself; it simply states plainly that wealth is never fully secure, subject to loss from multiple directions at once — a sober assessment rather than a moral judgment.
Five genuinely legitimate uses
Making oneself happy; making one's parents happy; making one's dependents — children, partners, and household staff — happy; making friends and colleagues happy; and establishing religious donations to ascetics and brahmins that lead toward heaven.
A widening circle of beneficiaries
Read in order, the five uses trace a widening circle: oneself, then parents, then one's own household and dependents, then friends and colleagues, and finally a religious donation extending beyond one's own immediate circle entirely — wealth's legitimate use moving outward, not staying confined to the individual.
A model for wealth this collection doesn't often give
Unlike some discourses elsewhere in this collection that treat material accumulation with real suspicion (see AN 5.213's concern with negligence, or AN 5.223's concern with over-accumulation in a monastic dwelling), this discourse offers a straightforwardly positive account of wealth properly used — worth reading alongside those more cautionary discourses, not in place of them.
Key terms
aggisādhāraṇā, udakasādhāraṇā bhogā — “wealth shared with fire, shared with water” — naming fire and flood as forces that can claim a portion of one's riches.
rājasādhāraṇā, corasādhāraṇā bhogā — “wealth shared with kings, shared with thieves” — political and criminal claims on accumulated wealth.
appiyehi dāyādehi sādhāraṇā bhogā — “wealth shared with unloved heirs” — the fifth and most personal vulnerability, one's own family.
puttadāradāsakammakaraporisa — “children, partners, bondservants, workers, and staff” — the household dependents named in the third legitimate use.
uddhaggikaṁ dakkhiṇaṁ — “an uplifting religious donation” — the fifth and outermost legitimate use, extending beyond one's immediate circle.
The text
The discourse in full: five things wealth is vulnerable to, and five legitimate uses for it. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five drawbacks of riches
§1“Mendicants, there are these five drawbacks of riches. What five? Fire, water, kings, thieves, and unloved heirs all take a share. These are the five drawbacks of riches.
Five benefits of riches
§2There are these five benefits of riches. What five? Riches enable you to make yourself happy and pleased, to make your mother and father; your children, partners, bondservants, workers, and staff, and your friends and colleagues happy and pleased, and to keep them all happy. And they enable you to establish an uplifting religious donation for ascetics and brahmins that’s conducive to heaven, ripens in happiness, and leads to heaven. These are the five benefits of riches.”
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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 five things does this discourse name as able to claim a share of one's wealth?
Correct: A. A notably impersonal list of threats to accumulated riches.
Question 2 of 10
Does this discourse's opening list condemn wealth itself?
Correct: A. A sober assessment of vulnerability, not a moral condemnation.
Question 3 of 10
What five legitimate uses of wealth does this discourse name?
Correct: A. A widening circle of legitimate beneficiaries.
Question 4 of 10
What pattern do the five legitimate uses trace, read in order?
Correct: A. Wealth's legitimate use moving outward, not staying confined to the individual.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'puttadāradāsakammakaraporisa' name?
Correct: A. The third legitimate use of wealth.
Question 6 of 10
What earlier discourses in this nipāta treat material accumulation with more suspicion?
Correct: A. Worth reading alongside this discourse's more positive account.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'appiyehi dāyādehi sādhāraṇā bhogā' mean?
Correct: A. The fifth drawback, naming one's own family as a source of loss.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'uddhaggikaṁ dakkhiṇaṁ' mean?
Correct: A. The fifth and outermost legitimate use of wealth.
Question 9 of 10
Who is this discourse most plausibly addressed to?
Correct: A. A genuinely balanced teaching on lay wealth.
Question 10 of 10
What chapter does this discourse belong to?
Correct: A. 'Long Wandering', this session's twenty-third chapter.
