Sampadāsutta — Muṇḍarājavagga — the fifth 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 accomplishments, with no elaboration
Length
~15 seconds to read
Northern parallel
Faith, ethics, learning, generosity, and wisdom as a fixed lay virtue set are widely attested across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the chapter's shortest discourse, functioning as a bare-list companion to the one after it
Why this discourse
This is the shortest discourse in the chapter so far, and its brevity is deliberate: it names five accomplishments in a single sentence and stops, in the same saṅkhitta-then-vitthata pattern already used twice in this nipāta, at AN 5.1–2 and AN 5.13–14. AN 5.47, the very next discourse, will take this identical five-item list and define each item in full.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
There are five accomplishments: faith, ethics, learning, generosity, and wisdom.
A list already met, under two other names
Saddhā, sīla, suta, cāga, paññā is not new material. AN 5.40 closed the previous chapter with the identical five items, calling them a family's growth; this discourse calls them sampadā, accomplishments, applying the same five items to an individual rather than a household. The content does not change; only the frame does.
Brief now, detailed next
As at AN 5.1 and AN 5.13, a bare list precedes its own expansion by exactly one discourse. This reading guide has already explained why the collection favors this pairing — a chanted formula gains from being stated compactly before being unpacked, giving reciters both a compressed anchor and a fuller version to draw on. That explanation is not repeated here.
What five accomplishments implies, compared to five kinds of wealth
AN 5.47's own title, Dhana, wealth, frames the identical five items differently again — not as accomplishments achieved but as a kind of possession held. Two discourses, back to back, offer two different metaphors — achievement and possession — for what is, item by item, the same five-part list.
Key terms
sampadā — “accomplishment, success” — this discourse's frame for the five items, distinct from AN 5.40's ‘growth’ and AN 5.47's ‘wealth’.
saddhāsampadā — “accomplishment in faith” — the first item, to be defined in full at AN 5.47 by the standard nine-quality formula.
cāgasampadā — “accomplishment in generosity” — the fourth item, paired with learning as one of two qualities not used in any earlier power list in this nipāta.
paññāsampadā — “accomplishment in wisdom” — the fifth item, to receive the same narrow insight-definition already used for wisdom throughout this nipāta.
saṅkhitta — “in brief” — not this discourse's own title, but the structural role it plays, matching AN 5.1 and AN 5.13's opening pattern.
The text
The discourse in full: five accomplishments, named once. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, there are five accomplishments. What five? Accomplishment in faith, ethics, learning, generosity, and wisdom. These are the five accomplishments.”
· · ·
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 accomplishments does this discourse name?
Correct: B. Saddhā, sīla, suta, cāga, paññā.
Question 2 of 10
Where has this identical five-item list already appeared in this series?
Correct: B. The same content, applied there to a household rather than an individual.
Question 3 of 10
What structural pattern does this discourse's brevity match?
Correct: B. A bare list preceding its own expansion by exactly one discourse, for the third time in this nipāta.
Question 4 of 10
What does AN 5.47, the very next discourse, do with this list?
Correct: B. The detailed companion this discourse's brevity anticipates.
Question 5 of 10
How does AN 5.47's title reframe the same five items?
Correct: B. Two consecutive discourses, two different metaphors for the same five-part content.
Question 6 of 10
Which two of the five items does the guide note have not appeared in any earlier power list in this nipāta?
Correct: B. Suta and cāga, distinct from the sekhabala and standard bala lists used earlier.
Question 7 of 10
How long is this discourse?
Correct: B. The shortest discourse in the chapter so far.
Question 8 of 10
Does this discourse offer any definition of the five accomplishments it names?
Correct: B. Definition is left entirely to the following discourse.
Question 9 of 10
What role does brevity play in a chanted, orally transmitted formula, according to the guide's earlier explanation?
Correct: B. An explanation given fully elsewhere and not repeated here.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.46 set?
Correct: B. Consistent with the default setting used throughout this nipāta when nothing new is stated.
