Anuggahitasutta — Pañcaṅgikavagga — the 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
A single sentence naming five supports for right view and the fruit they produce
Length
~30 seconds to read
Northern parallel
Pairing serenity and discernment (samatha/vipassanā) as jointly necessary supports is a standard doctrinal pairing across the Chinese Āgamas and Abhidharma; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, but pairing terms not yet combined this way elsewhere in this chapter
Why this discourse
Where AN 5.24 traced a chain of stages, this discourse names five things right view itself leans on: ethics, learning, discussion, serenity, and discernment. Two of these, samatha and vipassanā, serenity and discernment, are the classic meditative pair — calm and insight — named together here as jointly necessary supports rather than as sequential stages, which is a genuinely different relationship than the chain AN 5.24 just described.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Right view supported by ethics, learning, discussion, serenity, and discernment has freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom as its fruit and benefit.
Support, not sequence
AN 5.24's chain moved in one direction, each stage a precondition for the next. This discourse instead names five things right view leans on (anuggahitā) all at once, with no stated order among them. Ethics does not come before discussion here, and discussion does not come before serenity; all five are named together as what holds right view up, the way several posts might support one roof rather than one post leading to the next.
Two kinds of support, not one
The five split naturally into two kinds: ethics, learning, and discussion are things done largely in relation to others or to received teaching; serenity and discernment are internal meditative capacities. Right view, on this discourse's account, is not purely a private meditative achievement, nor purely a matter of study and conversation — it draws on both.
Two fruits, named together
The discourse names both cetovimutti, freedom of heart, and paññāvimutti, freedom by wisdom, as the joint fruit of a well-supported right view — not one or the other, but both together, each with its own benefit named separately in the Pāli though rendered together in translation.
Where the chapter goes from here
AN 5.26, next, turns from what supports right view to a related but distinct question: the specific occasions on which a mendicant's mind actually becomes freed, given as five concrete situations rather than five abstract supports.
Key terms
anuggahitā — “supported, leaned on” — the word giving this discourse its title, naming a relationship of mutual support rather than sequence.
sākacchā — “discussion” — the third support, placing conversation with others among what right view depends on.
samatha — “serenity” — the fourth support, the calming half of the classic calm-and-insight meditative pair.
vipassanā — “discernment, insight” — the fifth support, named alongside serenity as jointly necessary rather than as its successor.
cetovimutti paññāvimutti — “freedom of heart, freedom by wisdom” — the joint fruit named for a well-supported right view, each named separately though rendered together.
The text
The discourse in full: the five supports for right view, and the fruit they produce together. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, when right view is supported by five factors it has freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom as its fruit and benefit.
§2It’s when right view is supported by ethics, learning, discussion, serenity, and discernment. When right view is supported by these five factors it has freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom as its fruit and benefit.”
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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 say right view is supported by?
Correct: B. Five supports named together, not a sequence.
Question 2 of 10
How does the relationship between the five supports differ from AN 5.24's chain?
Correct: B. Support (anuggahitā), not sequence.
Question 3 of 10
What two kinds of support does the guide distinguish among the five?
Correct: B. Right view draws on both social/textual and meditative sources, on this account.
Question 4 of 10
What two fruits does the discourse name together?
Correct: B. Both named jointly as the fruit of a well-supported right view.
Question 5 of 10
What classic meditative pair appears among the five supports?
Correct: B. Named together as jointly necessary, not as sequential stages.
Question 6 of 10
How long is this discourse compared to AN 5.24?
Correct: B. One of the briefest discourses in this chapter.
Question 7 of 10
What does AN 5.26, the next discourse, turn to?
Correct: B. A related but structurally distinct question — occasions, not abstract supports.
Question 8 of 10
Does this discourse offer a simile to illustrate its claim?
Correct: B. Consistent with this discourse's terse, single-sentence form.
Question 9 of 10
Is ethics named among right view's supports here?
Correct: B. Sīla, learning, discussion, serenity, discernment — ethics named first.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.25 set?
Correct: B. Consistent with the pattern across this nipāta so far.
