Paṭhamavaḍḍhisutta — Saññāvagga — the seventh 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 kinds of growth, closing with a short verse
Length
~30 seconds to read
Northern parallel
Faith, ethics, learning, generosity, and wisdom as a fixed lay growth set are widely attested across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, reusing a list this nipāta has already given three times
Why this discourse
This is the fourth appearance, in this nipāta alone, of the identical five-item set — faith, ethics, learning, generosity, wisdom — already met at AN 5.40's family growth, AN 5.46's bare accomplishments, and AN 5.47's detailed wealth. Here the frame shifts once more: growth, vaḍḍhi, applied specifically to a male noble disciple, ariyasāvako, and paired deliberately with AN 5.64's identical teaching for a female disciple.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A male noble disciple who grows in faith, ethics, learning, generosity, and wisdom grows nobly, taking on what is essential and excellent in this life.
A fourth frame for one list
Growth, accomplishment, wealth, and a family's flourishing are now four different images this nipāta has applied to the identical five terms, without changing any of them. This discourse adds nothing new to the content of faith, ethics, learning, generosity, or wisdom; its contribution is entirely in the specific, gendered framing that follows immediately at AN 5.64.
Sāradāyī varādāyī, taking hold of what is essential
The discourse's closing phrase, sārādāyī ca hoti varādāyī ca kāyassa, taking on what is essential and excellent for the body, uses an image of active grasping rather than passive reception. Growth, on this account, is not simply something that happens to a disciple; it is something they take hold of, specifically the essential and excellent part of what this life offers.
Deliberately paired with a discourse for women
Unlike most repetitions in this nipāta, this pairing is not simply structural convenience; AN 5.64 restates the identical five-item teaching using feminine grammatical forms throughout — ariyasāvikā, a female noble disciple, not merely the masculine form left to stand for both. The collection did not leave this teaching ungendered or assume the masculine form would be read as covering everyone; it produced a second, explicitly feminine discourse instead.
What follows
AN 5.65 and 5.66, next, leave growth behind and turn to a different five-item list — the AN 5.17–20 set of ethics, immersion, wisdom, freedom, and the knowledge and vision of freedom — reframed as what makes a mendicant fit for discussion and for sharing life with companions.
Key terms
vaḍḍhi — “growth” — this discourse's frame for the five familiar items, distinct from AN 5.40's, 5.46's, and 5.47's earlier framings.
ariyasāvako — “male noble disciple” — the masculine grammatical form this discourse uses throughout, paired deliberately with AN 5.64's feminine form.
sārādāyī — “taking hold of what is essential” — an image of active grasping, not passive reception of growth.
varādāyī — “taking hold of what is excellent” — paired with sārādāyī, completing the image of active appropriation.
kāyassa — “for the body, for this life” — the scope of what is essential and excellent, taken hold of in this present existence.
The text
The discourse in full: the five kinds of growth for a male noble disciple, closing with a verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, a male noble disciple who grows in five ways grows nobly, taking on what is essential and excellent in this life. What five? He grows in faith, ethics, learning, generosity, and wisdom. A male noble disciple who grows in these five ways grows nobly, taking on what is essential and excellent in this life.
The closing verse
§2He who grows in faith and ethics, wisdom, and both generosity and learning—a good man such as he sees clearly, and takes on what is essential for himself in this life.”
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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 kinds of growth does this discourse name for a male noble disciple?
Correct: B. The same five items already met three times earlier in this nipāta.
Question 2 of 10
How many times has this identical five-item list now appeared in this nipāta, counting this discourse?
Correct: C. AN 5.40, 5.46, 5.47, and now AN 5.63.
Question 3 of 10
What does 'sārādāyī varādāyī' suggest about how growth is pictured?
Correct: B. An image of appropriation, not passive reception.
Question 4 of 10
What makes this discourse's pairing with AN 5.64 different from most repetitions in this nipāta?
Correct: B. A deliberate second, explicitly gendered discourse, not an assumed universal masculine.
Question 5 of 10
Does this discourse add any new content to the definitions of faith, ethics, learning, generosity, or wisdom?
Correct: B. The content stays fixed across all four framings this nipāta has now given it.
Question 6 of 10
What does AN 5.65, the next discourse, turn to?
Correct: B. The AN 5.17–20 set, given a new practical frame.
Question 7 of 10
What term does this discourse use for the disciple?
Correct: B. The specific, gendered term this discourse pairs with AN 5.64's feminine equivalent.
Question 8 of 10
Where has faith, ethics, learning, generosity, and wisdom appeared earlier as 'wealth' specifically?
Correct: B. One of three earlier framings this discourse's 'growth' adds a fourth to.
Question 9 of 10
Does this discourse include a closing verse?
Correct: B. A brief verse closes the discourse, matching AN 5.64's structure exactly.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.63 set?
Correct: B. Consistent with the default setting used throughout this nipāta when nothing new is stated.
