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Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 5.38

Faith

Saddhasutta — Sumanavagga — the fourth 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
Five benefits stated for the faithful, then a single simile, then verses
Length
~2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
The banyan-tree image for a person who shelters many others recurs across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — shifts this chapter's focus from the gift to the giver's own quality of faith

Why this discourse

Having examined giving in general, giving at the right time, and giving food specifically, this discourse steps back to the quality underlying all of it: faith. A faithful gentleman, it says, is approached, shown sympathy, and taught Dhamma before an unfaithful one — and becomes, like a great banyan tree at a crossroads, a refuge for many kinds of people at once.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

True persons show sympathy to, approach, receive alms from, and teach Dhamma to the faithful before the unfaithful, and a faithful gentleman is reborn well and becomes a refuge for many people, like a great banyan tree for birds.

Priority, not exclusion

The Pāli formula is careful: paṭhamaṁ…no tathā assaddhaṁ, first to the faithful, not so much to the faithless. This is a claim about priority and degree, not a claim that the unfaithful are refused outright. Four times over, the same qualified structure repeats, marking a consistent difference of emphasis rather than a hard exclusion.

A tree for many kinds of bird

The banyan simile names its beneficiaries specifically: monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen, all four sheltered by the same tree. The image is not of a private resource but a public one, becoming valuable precisely by being available to more than one kind of visitor at once — matching the discourse's closing verse, where those that need shade go in the shade, those that need fruit enjoy the fruit, different needs met by the same single source.

Where the tree simile has appeared before

This is not the first tree image in this chapter: AN 5.24 used branches, foliage, shoots, bark, softwood, and heartwood to picture ethics supporting deeper attainments, and AN 5.40, closing this chapter, will use a similar image for a family supported by its head. Trees recur across this chapter as a preferred image for something that grows in layers and, once grown, supports more than itself.

Key terms

saddha kulaputta — “faithful gentleman” — this discourse’s subject, named by the quality of faith rather than by rank or wealth.
paṭhamaṁ…no tathā — “first…not so much” — the qualifying formula marking each benefit as a matter of priority, not exclusion.
mahānigrodha — “great banyan tree” — the discourse’s central simile, chosen for its capacity to shelter many different visitors at once.
paṭisaraṇa — “refuge” — the word applied both to the tree for birds and to the faithful gentleman for monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen.
puññakkhetta — “field of merit” — the closing verse’s description of those the faithful gentleman associates with, echoing the same term used for the Saṅgha at AN 5.32.

The text

The discourse in full: the five benefits of faith, the banyan simile, and the closing verses. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, a faithful gentleman gets five benefits. What five? The true persons in the world show sympathy first to the faithful, not so much to the unfaithful. They first approach the faithful, not so much the unfaithful. They first receive alms from the faithful, not so much the unfaithful. They first teach Dhamma to the faithful, not so much the unfaithful. When their body breaks up, after death, the faithful are reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm. A faithful gentleman gets these five benefits.

The banyan tree

§2Suppose there was a great banyan tree at a level crossroads. It would become a refuge for birds from all around. In the same way, a faithful gentleman becomes a refuge for many people—monks, nuns, laywomen, and laymen.

The closing verses

§3With its branches, leaves, and fruit, a great tree with its strong trunk, firmly-rooted and fruit-bearing, supports many birds.

§4It’s a lovely place, frequented by the sky-soarers. Those that need shade go in the shade, those that need fruit enjoy the fruit.

§5So too, a faithful individual is perfect in ethics, placid in manner and amenable, gentle, courteous, and tender.

§6Those free of greed, freed of hate, free of delusion, undefiled, fields of merit for the world, associate with such a person.

§7They teach them the Dhamma, that casts aside all suffering. Having understood this teaching, the undefiled one is fully extinguished.”

· · ·

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 the formula 'paṭhamaṁ...no tathā assaddhaṁ' claim about the faithful and unfaithful?
Correct: B. A claim about degree and priority, repeated identically four times.
Question 2 of 10
Who does the banyan tree simile name as sheltered by a faithful gentleman?
Correct: B. A public resource available to more than one kind of visitor.
Question 3 of 10
What does the closing verse say about the tree's shade and fruit?
Correct: B. One source, multiple kinds of benefit, matching the discourse's account of the faithful gentleman.
Question 4 of 10
Where else in this chapter has a tree image already appeared, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A recurring image across the collection, not unique to this discourse.
Question 5 of 10
What does this discourse shift the chapter's focus toward, compared to AN 5.35–5.37?
Correct: B. From what is given, to who the giver is.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'puññakkhetta', field of merit, describe in this discourse's closing verse?
Correct: B. The same term applied to the Saṅgha reappears here for the company a faithful person keeps.
Question 7 of 10
How many times does the qualifying formula 'first...not so much' repeat across the discourse's list of benefits?
Correct: C. A consistent structure across sympathy, approach, receiving alms, and teaching Dhamma.
Question 8 of 10
What comes after this discourse in the chapter?
Correct: A. The chapter continues its exploration of lay social and family life.
Question 9 of 10
Does the discourse claim the unfaithful receive no teaching of Dhamma at all?
Correct: B. Consistent with the priority-not-exclusion reading the guide applies throughout.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.38 set?
Correct: B. Consistent with the default setting used throughout this nipāta when nothing new is stated.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousAN 5.37 · Food