Paṭhamakaṇhasappasutta — 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
an animal simile, applied directly rather than metaphorically
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — genuinely difficult, worth reading with care
Why this discourse
One of the most difficult discourses in this collection: five qualities of a venomous black snake are named, and then applied directly — not as metaphor, but as flat assertion — to women as a class. This guide states plainly what the text says, names exactly who it's addressed to, and doesn't soften or endorse it.
Reading guide
What the text actually says
The discourse names five qualities of a black snake — filthy, stinking, cowardly, frightening, and treacherous — and then states, using the identical five terms with no further argument, that a woman (mātugāma) has these same five qualities. There is no simile-marker softening the comparison; the same words are simply reapplied.
Who this is addressed to
The audience is explicit throughout: bhikkhave, mendicants — specifically celibate monks, for whom sexual attachment represented a direct threat to their vow. This is not a claim offered to laypeople, to married couples, or as a general statement about women's worth; it is a piece of monastic-disciplinary rhetoric, addressed to a narrow, specific audience with a specific anxiety.
Continuous with this chapter's disciplinary concern, not a new theme
Read immediately after AN 5.225–226 — the specific Vinaya rules on visiting families, and the causal chain from seeing to being overcome by lust — this discourse dramatizes the same underlying anxiety into simile form, rather than introducing an unrelated new subject.
Assertion without argument
Notably, this discourse offers no explanation for why these five qualities are said to apply; it simply names the shared terms as if the comparison were self-evidently true. AN 5.230, which follows, does eventually gloss what several of the terms are meant to mean — explanation that is itself no less worth examining critically.
Reading this honestly
This guide's practice throughout this project has been to state plainly what difficult source material actually says, without erasing it and without pretending it says something gentler than it does. This discourse is a genuine case in point: a demeaning, generalizing comparison, arising from a specific historical anxiety about celibacy, presented here for what it is rather than smoothed over.
Key terms
kaṇhasappa — “black snake” — this discourse's title concept, the source of the comparison directly applied to women.
asuci, duggandho — “filthy, stinking” — the first two of the five shared terms.
sabhīru, sappaṭibhayo — “cowardly, frightening” — the third and fourth shared terms.
mittadubbhī — “treacherous” — the fifth shared term, elaborated further in AN 5.230.
mātugāma — “woman, womenfolk” — the object of comparison, a common term for women in a monastic-disciplinary register.
The text
The discourse in full, presented without alteration: five qualities of a black snake, applied directly to women. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five drawbacks of a black snake
§1“Mendicants, there are these five drawbacks of a black snake. What five? It’s filthy, stinking, cowardly, frightening, and treacherous. These are the five dangers of a black snake.
The same five, applied to a woman
§2In the same way there are five drawbacks of a lady. What five? She’s filthy, stinking, cowardly, frightening, and treacherous. These are the five drawbacks of a lady.”
· · ·
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 this discourse literally do with its snake simile?
Correct: A. A flat, direct assertion, not a softened metaphor.
Question 2 of 10
Who is this discourse explicitly addressed to?
Correct: A. A narrow, specific monastic-disciplinary audience, not a universal claim.
Question 3 of 10
How should this discourse's comparison be understood, according to this guide?
Correct: A. Named plainly for what it is, without softening or endorsement.
Question 4 of 10
What five qualities does this discourse name for a black snake?
Correct: A. The five terms then reapplied directly to women.
Question 5 of 10
What earlier discourses in this chapter does this one continue from, rather than introduce as a new theme?
Correct: A. Dramatizing the same underlying monastic anxiety into simile form.
Question 6 of 10
Does this discourse explain why these five qualities are said to apply to women?
Correct: A. AN 5.230, which follows, eventually glosses some of the terms.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'mittadubbhī' mean?
Correct: A. The fifth shared term, elaborated further in AN 5.230.
Question 8 of 10
What has this guide's consistent practice been for genuinely difficult source material, according to this discourse's treatment?
Correct: A. Naming the material honestly, neither erased nor endorsed.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'mātugāma' mean?
Correct: A. The object of comparison throughout this discourse.
Question 10 of 10
What chapter does this discourse belong to?
Correct: A. 'Long Wandering', this session's twenty-third chapter.
