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Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 5.39

A Child

Puttasutta — 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
A bare list of five parental motives, followed by verses addressed to grown children
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
Filial reciprocity and ancestral offerings are central themes across Chinese Buddhist lay ethics; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — a window into an economic and religious logic of family this reading guide will not modernize

Why this discourse

This discourse states, without embarrassment, why parents in its world want children: so the children will later support them, take on family duties, keep the family tradition alive, manage the inheritance, and make offerings to them after death. None of these five reasons concerns love, companionship, or anything resembling a modern account of why people want children. They are frankly transactional, and this reading guide presents them as the discourse states them rather than translating them into more familiar sentiment.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

Parents wish for a child for five reasons: having been supported, the child will support them in turn; will do their duty for them; will keep the family tradition alive; will take care of the inheritance; and will make an offering on their behalf after they have died.

An economic and religious logic, stated plainly

In a society without pensions or formal social security, an adult child was, quite literally, the parents' plan for old age and for what happens after death. The fifth reason, dakkhiṇaṁ anuppadassati, they will give an offering on our behalf, refers to the practice of dedicating merit to deceased relatives, particularly those reborn as peta, hungry ghosts, who were believed to depend on such offerings for their own relief. Reading this discourse without that context makes its priorities look coldly self-interested; reading it with that context shows a coherent, if unfamiliar, logic of mutual obligation across generations, including generations already dead.

What is absent from this list

As with AN 5.33's instruction to daughters, it is worth noting what this list does not mention: no reason here concerns affection, the joy of raising a child, or anything the child might gain for their own sake. The discourse states parental motive from the parents' side only, and states it as reciprocal exchange, not sentiment.

The child's side, in the closing verses

The verses that follow reframe the same material from the child's perspective, and shift register: a praiseworthy child is one who is grateful and thankful, who looks after parents remembering past deeds, doing for them as their parents did for them in the past. The obligation described is explicitly reciprocal — owed because it was first given — rather than unconditional.

Key terms

kulavaṁsa — “family lineage, tradition” — the third parental motive, continuity of the family line and its customs through a child.
dāyajja — “inheritance” — the fourth motive, a child's role managing what the family has accumulated.
peta — “departed one, hungry ghost” — the deceased relatives the fifth motive's offering is understood to benefit.
dakkhiṇā — “religious offering, donation” — the specific act of merit-dedication named in the fifth reason, given on behalf of the dead.
kataññū katavedī — “grateful and thankful” — the closing verses’ description of a praiseworthy child, framing the obligation as reciprocal rather than unconditional.

The text

The discourse in full: the five parental reasons, and the closing verses addressed to grown children. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, parents see five reasons to wish for the birth of a child in the family. What five? Since we looked after them, they’ll look after us. They’ll do their duty for us. The family traditions will last. They’ll take care of the inheritance. Or else when we have passed away they’ll give an offering on our behalf. Parents see these five reasons to wish for the birth of a child in the family.

The closing verses

§2Seeing five reasons, astute people wish for a child. Since we looked after them, they’ll look after us. They’ll do their duty for us.

§3The family traditions will last. They’ll take care of the inheritance. Or else when we have passed away they’ll give an offering on our behalf.

§4Seeing these five reasons astute people wish for a child. And so true persons, grateful and thankful,

§5look after their parents, remembering past deeds. They do for their parents, as their parents did for them in the past.

§6Following their advice, looking after those who raised them, the family traditions are not lost. Faithful, accomplished in ethics, such a child is praiseworthy.”

· · ·

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 are the five reasons this discourse gives for parents wishing for a child?
Correct: B. Explicitly reciprocal and transactional reasons, stated without sentiment.
Question 2 of 10
What does the guide say is notably absent from this list of reasons?
Correct: B. Stated entirely from the parents' side, as reciprocal exchange rather than sentiment.
Question 3 of 10
What does 'dakkhiṇaṁ anuppadassati', the fifth reason, refer to?
Correct: B. A specific religious practice tied to belief about the afterlife of the dead.
Question 4 of 10
How does the guide frame the social and economic context behind this list?
Correct: B. Context that makes an unfamiliar-looking list legible rather than simply judged.
Question 5 of 10
How do the closing verses reframe the material, compared to the opening list?
Correct: B. Explicit reciprocity: owed because it was first given.
Question 6 of 10
Does this reading guide modernize or soften this discourse's stated priorities?
Correct: B. Consistent with this reading guide's approach to historically specific material elsewhere in this chapter.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'kulavaṁsa' concern?
Correct: B. The third of the five parental motives.
Question 8 of 10
What other discourse in this chapter does the guide compare this one to, for similarly stating historically specific material honestly?
Correct: B. Both discourses require the same honest, unflinching presentation this reading guide applies throughout.
Question 9 of 10
Is the obligation described in the closing verses framed as unconditional?
Correct: B. 'As their parents did for them in the past' — a stated basis for the obligation.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.39 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

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