Paṭhamajhānasutta — Upasampadāvagga — the twenty-sixth 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 paired block/enable statement, the same five items run twice
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, opening a seven-fold sequence continued at AN 5.257–263
Why this discourse
The same five stinginess domains from AN 5.254–255, now stated as a direct attainment condition: not giving them up blocks entry to the first absorption; giving them up enables it. This discourse opens a sequence that continues immediately at AN 5.257–263, where the identical formula is run against six further attainments in a single merged, peyyāla-compressed page.
Reading guide
From purpose to direct obstruction
AN 5.255 named these five domains as what the holy life is lived to abandon; this discourse states the consequence of not abandoning them directly: without giving up stinginess with dwellings, families, material things, praise, and the teachings, a mendicant cannot enter and remain in the first absorption.
A paired structure
The discourse states the block first, then the identical five items again as what, once given up, enables the same attainment — the same ‘without giving up ... but after giving up ...’ pairing this collection has used elsewhere for attainment-blocking formulas.
The first of seven parallel attainments
This discourse names only the first absorption. AN 5.257–263, a single merged page in the source, immediately extends the identical formula to six further attainments: the second, third, and fourth absorptions, and the fruits of stream-entry, once-return, non-return, and full awakening.
Why this belongs with the ordination triad above it
Read together with AN 5.251–253, this discourse and its extension complete a picture of why the chapter opened on ordination standards: the very domains a trainee must relinquish to progress in meditation are the same domains this chapter has just finished ranking, reframing, and now weaponizing against attainment itself.
What follows
AN 5.257–263 exists in the source as a single file covering seven sutta-numbers, not seven individual files; this reading guide presents it as one merged page, following the same treatment already used for the largest compressed blocks closing the Threes and Fours.
Key terms
paṭhama jhāna — “the first absorption”, the first of the four jhānas — this discourse's named attainment.
abhabbo — “incapable of” or “unable to” — the term marking the block, before the enable pairing reverses it to bhabbo.
upasampajja viharituṁ — “to enter and remain in” — the standard phrase for absorption attainment across this collection.
macchariya — “stinginess” — the identical five-domain formula carried over unchanged from AN 5.254–255.
bhabbo — “capable of” or “able to” — the term marking the enabling half of the pair, once the five domains are given up.
The text
The discourse in full: the five stinginess domains as a direct block, then as a direct enabler, of the first absorption. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
What blocks the first absorption
§1“Mendicants, without giving up these five qualities you can’t enter and remain in the first absorption. What five? Stinginess with dwellings, families, material things, praise, and the teachings. Without giving up these five qualities you can’t enter and remain in the first absorption.
What enables it
§2But after giving up these five qualities you can enter and remain in the first absorption. What five? Stinginess with dwellings, families, material things, praise, and the teachings. After giving up these five qualities you can enter and remain in the first absorption.”
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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 attainment does this discourse name?
Correct: A. The first of seven attainments this formula will eventually cover.
Question 2 of 10
What five items block entry to the first absorption, according to this discourse?
Correct: A. The identical five domains carried over from AN 5.254–255.
Question 3 of 10
What structure does this discourse use?
Correct: A. Without giving up the five, blocked; after giving them up, enabled.
Question 4 of 10
How does AN 5.257–263 extend this discourse's formula?
Correct: A. A single merged page in the source covering seven sutta-numbers.
Question 5 of 10
Why does this discourse and its extension connect back to AN 5.251–253?
Correct: A. The guide reads the chapter's two halves as forming one coherent picture.
Question 6 of 10
How does bilara-data represent AN 5.257–263?
Correct: A. Matching the merged-page treatment already used for the largest compressed blocks in the Threes and Fours.
Question 7 of 10
What term marks the 'blocked' half of this discourse's pairing?
Correct: A. Reversed to 'bhabbo' once the five domains are given up.
Question 8 of 10
What phrase does the discourse use for entering an absorption?
Correct: A. The standard absorption-attainment phrase across this collection.
Question 9 of 10
What did AN 5.255 name these same five domains as, one discourse earlier?
Correct: A. This discourse restates the consequence of not abandoning them, directly.
Question 10 of 10
How many total attainments does the seven-fold sequence beginning here eventually cover?
Correct: A. First absorption here, then second through fourth absorption and four fruits at AN 5.257–263.
