Dutiyakaṇhasappasutta — 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, elaborated with explicit gloss
Length
~1.5 minutes to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — genuinely difficult, worth reading with care
Why this discourse
This chapter closes on its most elaborated version of AN 5.229's comparison: a second set of five snake-qualities, now with an explicit gloss attached to three of them — making explicit what the first discourse left merely asserted, and worth engaging with directly rather than passing over.
Reading guide
A second set of five terms
This discourse names five different qualities of a black snake — irritable, holding grudges, venomous, fork-tongued, and treacherous — again applied directly to women with the identical terms and no separate argument.
This time, an explicit gloss
Unlike AN 5.229, this discourse goes further, explaining three of the five terms directly: a woman's ‘venom’ is explained as usually being ‘very lustful’; her ‘forked tongue’ as usually backbiting (pisuṇavācā, the same wrong-speech term named at AN 5.214); and her ‘treachery’ as usually being unfaithful in marriage.
What the specific glosses reveal
Read plainly, the three glossed vices — sexual desire, divisive speech, and marital infidelity — map closely onto exactly what a celibate male monastic community would fear most: sexual temptation itself, gossip threatening communal harmony, and betrayal undermining the lay-patronage relationships monastics depended on. The comparison reveals at least as much about the anxieties of its intended audience as it claims to reveal about its actual subject.
A qualifying word, easy to miss
Each gloss is introduced with yebhuyyena, ‘usually, for the most part’ — a hedge worth noting, even though it does nothing to soften the sweeping, ungrounded nature of the underlying claim.
Closing this chapter, and closing honestly
The chapter ends here, on its harshest note, with the colophon ‘Dasamaṁ. Dīghacārikavaggo tatiyo’ and an uddāna verse naming this chapter's ten discourses in brief, the same mechanism explained in full at AN 5.10. This guide closes its own treatment the same way it has approached every difficult passage across this project: honestly, without smoothing over what the text plainly says.
Key terms
kodhano, upanāhī — “irritable, holding grudges” — the first two of this discourse's second set of five shared terms.
ghoraviso, dujjivho — “venomous, fork-tongued” — the third and fourth terms, each given an explicit gloss below.
tibbarāgā — “very lustful” — the gloss given for ‘venom’.
pisuṇavācā — “backbiting, divisive speech” — the gloss given for ‘forked tongue’, the same wrong-speech term already named at AN 5.214.
yebhuyyena — “usually, for the most part” — the qualifying word introducing each of the three glosses.
The text
The discourse in full, closing this chapter and presented without alteration: a second set of five qualities, glossed. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five more drawbacks of a black snake
§1“Mendicants, there are these five drawbacks of a black snake. What five? It’s irritable, acrimonious, venomous, fork-tongued, and treacherous. These are the five dangers of a black snake.
The same five, applied to a woman, and explained
§2In the same way there are five drawbacks of a lady. What five? She’s irritable, acrimonious, venomous, fork-tongued, and treacherous. This is a lady’s venom: usually she’s very lustful. This is a lady’s forked tongue: usually she backbites. This is a lady’s treachery: usually she’s an adulteress. These are the five drawbacks of a lady.”
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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 qualities does this discourse's second list name for a black snake?
Correct: A. A different set of five terms from AN 5.229's list.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse go further than AN 5.229?
Correct: A. Making explicit what AN 5.229 left merely asserted.
Question 3 of 10
What gloss does this discourse give for 'venom'?
Correct: A. Tibbarāgā, the first of three explicit glosses.
Question 4 of 10
What gloss does this discourse give for 'forked tongue'?
Correct: A. Pisuṇavācā, reusing terminology already established elsewhere.
Question 5 of 10
What do the three glossed vices — lust, divisive speech, and infidelity — reveal, according to this guide?
Correct: A. Mapping closely onto exactly what a celibate male community would fear most.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'yebhuyyena' mean, and what does this guide say about it?
Correct: A. A qualifying word worth noting, though it doesn't resolve the underlying problem.
Question 7 of 10
What gloss does this discourse give for 'treachery'?
Correct: A. Aticārinī, the third of the discourse's explicit glosses.
Question 8 of 10
What colophon closes this chapter?
Correct: A. 'The tenth. The third chapter on long wandering.'
Question 9 of 10
How does this guide describe its own approach to closing this chapter's treatment?
Correct: A. The same consistent practice applied to every difficult passage in this project.
Question 10 of 10
What chapter comes next?
Correct: A. AN 5.231 begins this collection's twenty-fourth chapter.
