AN 5.48 — Things That Cannot Be Had | Ru-Yi Meditation Center

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

No one in the world — ascetic, brahmin, god, Māra, or Brahmā — can prevent someone liable to aging, sickness, death, ending, or perishing from undergoing it; an unlearned ordinary person, struck by this, mortifies themselves with grief, while a learned noble disciple, struck by the identical fact, draws the arrow out.

Universality stated before consolation

Before offering any response, the discourse establishes the scope of the problem as completely as it can: aging, sickness, death, ending, and perishing are named as beyond the reach of every category of powerful being the canon recognizes, not only ordinary humans. This is not a discourse claiming the wise can escape these five things; both the unlearned and the learned person in the discourse experience the same aging, sickness, and death. What differs is entirely what happens next.

The same reflection, twice recommended and once withheld

The discourse spells out, word for word, the very reflection the unlearned person fails to have and the learned person actually has: it's not just me who has someone liable to old age who grows old… if I were to sorrow and wail and lament… I'd lose my appetite… my work wouldn't get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited. The unlearned person thinks this thought and then grieves anyway; the learned person thinks the identical thought and, having thought it, does not grieve. The reflection itself is not unique to wisdom; acting on it is.

The poisoned arrow, drawn or left in

Sokasalla, sorrow's arrow, is the discourse's controlling image, and it is precise about who does what to whom. The unlearned person, struck by loss, mortifies themselves with a second, self-inflicted wound of grief on top of the first, unavoidable one. The learned person draws out the arrow and, the discourse says, only extinguishes themselves — the same verb root elsewhere translated nibbāna, applied here to something as ordinary as declining to add grief to loss.

A discourse the chapter needs before its close

Every earlier discourse in this chapter offered something that could be pursued, given, or accomplished. This one names the boundary all of that sits inside: wealth, generosity, learning, and even the inalienable wealth of AN 5.47 do not touch aging, sickness, or death. AN 5.49 and AN 5.50, closing the chapter, will show this exact teaching delivered to two grieving kings in turn.

Key terms

alabbhanīyaṭhāna — “a thing that cannot be had” — this discourse's title, naming a structural impossibility rather than an unlikely event.

assutavā puthujjano — “unlearned ordinary person” — one who experiences loss without the reflection that would keep grief from compounding it.

sokasalla — “sorrow's arrow” — the discourse's controlling image for grief added on top of an already unavoidable loss.

paritāpeti — “mortifies, torments” — the verb for what an unlearned person does to themselves through grief, a self-inflicted second wound.

parinibbāpeti — “fully extinguishes” — the verb for what a learned noble disciple does instead, sharing its root with nibbāna itself.

The text

The discourse in full: the five universal impossibilities, the unlearned person's grief, the learned person's reflection, and closing verses. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

Five things no one can prevent

§1“Mendicants, there are five things that cannot be had by any ascetic or brahmin or god or Māra or divinity or by anyone in the world. What five? That someone liable to old age should not grow old. That someone liable to sickness should not get sick. … That someone liable to death should not die. … That someone liable to ending should not end. … That someone liable to perishing should not perish. …

The unlearned person's grief

§2An unlearned ordinary person has someone liable to old age who grows old. But they don’t reflect on old age: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to old age who grows old. For as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn, they all have someone liable to old age who grows old. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to old age grows old, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to old age grows old, they sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called an unlearned ordinary person struck by sorrow’s poisoned arrow, who only mortifies themselves.

§3Furthermore, an unlearned ordinary person has someone liable to sickness … death … ending … perishing. But they don’t reflect on perishing: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to perishing who perishes. For as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn, they all have someone liable to perishing who perishes. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to perishing perishes, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to perishing perishes, they sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called an unlearned ordinary person struck by sorrow’s poisoned arrow, who only mortifies themselves.

The learned disciple's reflection

§4A learned noble disciple has someone liable to old age who grows old. So they reflect on old age: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to old age who grows old. For as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn, they all have someone liable to old age who grows old. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to old age grows old, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to old age grows old, they don’t sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called a learned noble disciple who has drawn out sorrow’s poisoned arrow, struck by which unlearned ordinary people only mortify themselves. Sorrowless, free of thorns, that noble disciple only extinguishes themselves.

§5Furthermore, a learned noble disciple has someone liable to sickness … death … ending … perishing. So they reflect on perishing: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to perishing who perishes. For as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn, they all have someone liable to perishing who perishes. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to perishing perishes, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to perishing perishes, they don’t sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called a learned noble disciple who has drawn out sorrow’s poisoned arrow, struck by which unlearned ordinary people only mortify themselves. Sorrowless, free of thorns, that noble disciple only extinguishes themselves.

§6These are the five things that cannot be had by any ascetic or brahmin or god or Māra or divinity or by anyone in the world.

The closing verses

§7Sorrowing and lamenting doesn’t do even a little bit of good. When they know that you’re sad, your enemies are encouraged.

§8When an astute person doesn’t waver in the face of adversity, as they’re able to evaluate what’s beneficial, their enemies suffer, seeing that their normal expression doesn’t change.

§9Chants, recitations, fine sayings, charity or traditions: if by means of any such things you benefit, then by all means keep doing them.

§10But if you understand that ‘this good thing can’t be had by me or by anyone else’, you should accept it without sorrowing, thinking: ‘The deed is powerful. What can I do now?’”

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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 five things does this discourse say cannot be had by anyone in the world?

Correct: B. Five structural impossibilities, not unlikely events.

Question 2 of 10

Who does the discourse say cannot prevent these five things, even in principle?

Correct: B. Universality established before any response is offered.

Question 3 of 10

Does the learned noble disciple in this discourse avoid experiencing aging, sickness, and death?

Correct: B. Wisdom does not exempt anyone from the five things; it changes the response to them.

Question 4 of 10

What reflection does the discourse say the learned disciple actually has, that the unlearned person also thinks but does not act on?

Correct: B. The identical thought occurs to both; only the learned disciple lets it actually change their response.

Question 5 of 10

What does the poisoned-arrow image distinguish?

Correct: B. The unlearned person mortifies themselves with a second wound; the learned disciple draws the arrow out.

Question 6 of 10

What verb describes what the learned disciple does instead of grieving, sharing its root with 'nibbāna'?

Correct: B. Applied here to declining to add grief to an already unavoidable loss.

Question 7 of 10

According to the guide, why does this chapter need this discourse before its close?

Correct: B. Even AN 5.47's inalienable wealth does not touch what this discourse names.

Question 8 of 10

What do the closing verses say about sorrowing and lamenting?

Correct: B. A practical, not merely doctrinal, argument against grief's usefulness.

Question 9 of 10

What do the verses say an astute person should do when facing something that cannot be had 'by me or by anyone else'?

Correct: B. Acceptance grounded in recognizing a genuine structural limit, not resignation to just anything.

Question 10 of 10

What do AN 5.49 and AN 5.50, closing this chapter, do with this exact teaching?

Correct: B. The chapter's closing narrative payoff for this discourse's doctrine.

Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Things That Cannot Be Had

Why this discourse