Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
No king, official, or ascetic has ever kept their standing, or reached the ending of defilements, by indulging freely in sleep; mendicants should therefore guard their senses, eat moderately, and stay dedicated to wakefulness, especially in the hours the senior disciples had just used for meditation.
A roll call of ten senior disciples
Sāriputta, Mahāmoggallāna, Mahākassapa, Mahākaccāna, Mahākoṭṭhita, Mahācunda, Mahākappina, Anuruddha, Revata, and Ānanda are named together, each simply understood to have “done the same” as Sāriputta: emerging from retreat, coming to the assembly hall, and later returning to meditate alone after the Buddha withdrew. The list functions as a marker of exemplary practice by name recognition — a reader familiar with these figures from elsewhere in the canon understands at once what kind of mendicant is being contrasted with the sleeping juniors.
Three questions, one escalating structure
The Buddha's three rhetorical questions move from worldly power to spiritual attainment: first a king who rules his whole life while indulging in sleep, then a string of lesser officials down to a guild head who keeps his position the same way, and finally an ascetic or brahmin who reaches the ending of defilements while indulging in sleep, ungoverned senses, and overeating. Each question receives the same answer — “No, sir” — escalating from a claim about ordinary worldly success to a claim about the highest attainment the tradition describes, treating both as subject to the identical rule.
Not a blanket condemnation of sleep
The discourse does not instruct mendicants to forgo sleep altogether; even the Buddha himself is described spending part of the night sitting in meditation before entering his own dwelling, implying rest afterward. What it targets is indulgence — sleeping “as much as one likes,” past the point rest requires, at the cost of the hours a serious practitioner would otherwise use.
Why this discourse follows AN 6.14 and 6.15
Sleep was the third item named in both preceding discourses' list of six things not worth relishing. AN 6.17 can be read as a concrete illustration of that abstract item — not a list entry any longer, but a specific early-morning scene in which some mendicants relish it and others, by contrast, do not.
Key terms
The text
The senior disciples meditate; the juniors sleep
§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then in the late afternoon, the Buddha came out of retreat, went to the assembly hall, and sat down on the seat spread out. Venerable Sāriputta also came out of retreat, went to the assembly hall, bowed to the Buddha and sat down to one side. Venerables Mahāmoggallāna, Mahākassapa, Mahākaccāna, Mahākoṭṭhita, Mahācunda, Mahākappina, Anuruddha, Revata, and Ānanda did the same. The Buddha spent much of the night sitting in meditation, then got up from his seat and entered his dwelling. And soon after the Buddha left those venerables each went to their own dwelling. But those mendicants who were junior, recently gone forth, newly come to this teaching and training slept until the sun came up, snoring. The Buddha saw them doing this, with his clairvoyance that is purified and superhuman. He went to the assembly hall, sat down on the seat spread out, and addressed the mendicants:
Where are the senior disciples?
§2“Mendicants, where is Sāriputta? Where are Mahāmoggallāna, Mahākassapa, Mahākaccāna, Mahākoṭṭhita, Mahācunda, Mahākappina, Anuruddha, Revata, and Ānanda? Where have these senior disciples gone?” “Soon after the Buddha left those venerables each went to their own dwelling.” “So, mendicants, when the senior mendicants left, why did you sleep until the sun came up, snoring? What do you think, mendicants? Have you ever seen or heard of an anointed aristocratic king who rules his whole life, dear and beloved to the country, while indulging in the pleasures of sleeping, lying down, and drowsing as much as he likes?” “No, sir.” “Good, mendicants! I too have never seen or heard of such a thing.
Three questions: king, official, ascetic
§3What do you think, mendicants? Have you ever seen or heard of an appointed official … a hereditary official … a general … a village chief … or a guild head who runs the guild his whole life, dear and beloved to the guild, while indulging in the pleasures of sleeping, lying down, and drowsing as much as he likes?” “No, sir.” “Good, mendicants! I too have never seen or heard of such a thing. What do you think, mendicants? Have you ever seen or heard of an ascetic or brahmin who indulges in the pleasures of sleeping, lying down, and drowsing as much as they like? Their sense doors are unguarded, they eat too much, they’re not dedicated to wakefulness, they’re unable to discern skillful qualities, and they don’t pursue the development of the qualities on the side of awakening in the evening and toward dawn. Yet they realize the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life. And they live having realized it with their own insight due to the ending of defilements.” “No, sir.” “Good, mendicants! I too have never seen or heard of such a thing.
The injunction
§4So you should train like this: ‘We will guard our sense doors, eat in moderation, be dedicated to wakefulness, discern skillful qualities, and pursue the development of the qualities on the side of awakening in the evening and toward dawn.’ That’s how you should train.”
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.