Aparapaṭhamajhānasutta — 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
the same paired block/enable statement as AN 5.256, one item substituted
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
not identified in this collection
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, opening a second parallel run through the same seven-attainment sequence
Why this discourse
AN 5.256's formula restated almost word for word, with a single substitution: the fifth item, stinginess with the teachings, is replaced by ingratitude and thanklessness. The other four stinginess domains — dwellings, families, material things, praise — carry over unchanged.
Reading guide
One item replaced
Where AN 5.256 named dwellings, families, material things, praise, and the teachings, this discourse keeps the first four and replaces the fifth: instead of stinginess with the teachings, the blocking and enabling condition is akataññutā akataveditā, ingratitude and thanklessness.
Not, strictly, a fifth stinginess
The source's frame sentence calls this set of five simply ‘qualities’ (dhamme), not ‘stinginesses’ (macchariyāni) as AN 5.254 explicitly did. Ingratitude is a distinct fault from stinginess, deliberately substituted into the same five-slot formula rather than presented as a sixth kind of stinginess.
Why ingratitude belongs beside stinginess here
Both faults share a common shape: a failure to acknowledge and pass on what has been received, whether a teaching, a kindness, or a benefit already given. Read beside AN 5.254's ranking of stinginess with the teachings as worst, this substitution suggests ingratitude is treated as functionally comparable — another way of refusing to honor what one has already been given.
Setting up a second merged page
Just as AN 5.256 opened the seven-fold sequence completed at AN 5.257–263, this discourse opens an identical seven-fold sequence, using the ingratitude variant, completed immediately after at AN 5.265–271.
What follows
AN 5.265–271, another merged page, runs this ingratitude-variant formula against the same six further attainments already covered at AN 5.257–263.
Key terms
akataññutā akataveditā — “ingratitude and thanklessness” — the substituted fifth item, replacing stinginess with the teachings.
dhamme — “qualities” — the frame term this discourse uses for its five-item set, deliberately not 'macchariyāni', stinginesses.
paṭhama jhāna — “the first absorption” — the same attainment named at AN 5.256, unchanged here.
kataññū katavedī — “grateful and thankful” — the positive counterpart implied by this discourse's negated fault, though not stated in this passage itself.
macchariya — “stinginess” — the four domains that do carry over unchanged from AN 5.256: dwellings, families, material things, and praise.
The text
The discourse in full: the same block/enable pairing as AN 5.256, with ingratitude replacing stinginess with the teachings. 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 lack of gratitude and thankfulness. 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 lack of gratitude and thankfulness. 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 single item does this discourse change from AN 5.256's formula?
Correct: A. The other four domains carry over unchanged.
Question 2 of 10
What four items carry over unchanged from AN 5.256?
Correct: A. Only the fifth item changes.
Question 3 of 10
What Pali term does this discourse use for its five-item set, and why does the guide flag it?
Correct: A. A deliberate substitution into the formula's slot, not a claim that ingratitude is a sixth stinginess.
Question 4 of 10
What common shape does the guide propose links stinginess and ingratitude here?
Correct: A. Read beside AN 5.254's ranking of withholding the teaching as the worst stinginess.
Question 5 of 10
What attainment does this discourse name?
Correct: A. Opening a second parallel run through the same seven-fold sequence.
Question 6 of 10
What merged page does this discourse's formula extend into next?
Correct: A. Mirroring exactly how AN 5.256 led into AN 5.257–263.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'akataññutā akataveditā' mean?
Correct: A. The substituted fifth item in this variant formula.
Question 8 of 10
What positive counterpart does the guide note is implied but not stated in this passage?
Correct: A. Named in the guide as the implied opposite, though the passage itself only negates the fault.
Question 9 of 10
What structure does this discourse share with AN 5.256?
Correct: A. Word for word except for the single substituted item.
Question 10 of 10
How many stinginess domains, strictly speaking, remain in this discourse's five-item set?
Correct: A. The guide's point about the frame term 'dhamme' rather than 'macchariyāni'.
