None given — no narrative frame, as with almost every discourse in this collection
Speaker
The Buddha alone
Form
A prose statement clearing away false motives before naming the true one, restated in a longer two-stanza verse
Position
The Book of the Twos, Chapter One, the 8th of its ten discourses
Length
< 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — best read together with Iti 36, its identically titled twin
What the spiritual life is not for
This discourse and its twin immediately following it (Iti 36 — sharing this exact title, word for word) both open with an identical, pointed denial: the holy life is not lived to win people over, to be flattered or flattering, or to be known. Having cleared that ground, each discourse then names, in a single phrase, what the holy life is actually for — and the two give two different, complementary answers.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The spiritual life is not lived for fawning, flattery, gain, honor, popularity, or reputation, but for the sake of restraint and giving up.
A list of everything it isn’t
Unusually, the discourse spends more words on what the holy life is not for than on what it is: not “fawning or flattering people” (janakuhana), not “for the benefit of possessions, honour, or popularity”, not for the sake of being known — “So let people know about me!” Only after this full clearing of the ground does the positive statement arrive, in a single phrase: restraint and giving up.
Saṁvara and pahāna
Restraint and giving up are not incidental words; they are two of the four classical “right efforts” (sammappadhāna) found throughout the canon — restraining unskillful qualities not yet arisen, and giving up ones that have already arisen. Naming exactly these two, out of the fuller fourfold set, ties this discourse’s account of the whole spiritual life back to that basic, practical framework of effort.
Not because of tradition
The verse adds a phrase worth noting on its own: anītihaṁ, “not because of report, hearsay, tradition” (from itihā, “so it was said” — legend, tradition passed down). The holy life the Buddha taught, the verse insists, is not being recommended merely because it has always been done this way, but because its stated objective, extinguishment, actually follows from it.
A title shared, on purpose
This discourse and Iti 36 carry the identical English title in Sujato’s translation, “Fawning and Flattery” — the Pāli titles do distinguish them (Paṭhama-, “first,” and Dutiya-, “second,” jananakuhanasutta), but the rendered English title is genuinely, deliberately identical for both. They are best read as a single teaching given twice, each half naming one of two complementary purposes.
Key terms
janakuhana — “fawning, deceiving people to win them over”: the specific behavior the holy life is said not to be lived for.
saṁvara — “restraint”: one of the four classical right efforts, restraining unskillful qualities not yet arisen; named here as one of the two true purposes of the holy life.
pahāna — “giving up”: the companion right effort, abandoning unskillful qualities already arisen; the second of the two purposes named.
anītihaṁ — “not through report, not by tradition or hearsay”: the verse’s insistence that the teaching is not handed down merely because it is customary.
mahesī — “the great seers”: the verse’s term for those, including the Buddha, who have followed this same path.
The text
The discourse in full — a statement clearing away false motives, and a two-stanza verse restating the true one. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
§2“Mendicants, this spiritual life is not lived for the sake of fawning or flattering people, nor for the benefit of possessions, honor, or popularity, nor thinking, ‘So let people know about me!’ This spiritual life is lived for the sake of restraint and giving up.” The Buddha spoke this matter. On this it is said:
§3“The Buddha taught the spiritual life
not because of tradition,
but for the sake of restraint and giving up,
and because its objective is extinguishment.
§4This is the path followed by the great souls,
the great seers.
Those who practice it
as it was taught by the Buddha
doing the teacher’s bidding,
make an end of suffering.”
§5This too is a matter that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.
· · ·
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
According to this discourse, what is the spiritual life not lived for?
Correct: C. The discourse names this full list of false motives before giving the true one.
Question 2 of 10
What does this discourse say the spiritual life is lived for?
Correct: B. This is the single positive purpose named here; its twin, Iti 36, names a different pair.
Question 3 of 10
According to the reading guide, what are “restraint” and “giving up” two of, in the wider canon?
Correct: A. The four right efforts include restraining, giving up, developing, and preserving.
Question 4 of 10
What does the verse’s word anītihaṁ mean, according to the reading guide?
Correct: D. The verse insists the teaching is recommended because it works, not merely because it is customary.
Question 5 of 10
According to the verse, what is the objective of the spiritual life as taught by the Buddha?
Correct: B. “Because its objective is extinguishment” is stated directly in the verse.
Question 6 of 10
What is this discourse’s relationship to Iti 36, the next discourse?
Correct: C. The Pāli titles distinguish them as “first” and “second”, but Sujato’s English title is identical for both.
Question 7 of 10
According to the verse, who follows this path?
Correct: A. The verse names this path as followed by the great souls and great seers.
Question 8 of 10
What false motive does the discourse phrase as a direct quotation of an unwholesome thought?
Correct: D. This quoted thought is named among the motives the spiritual life is explicitly not lived for.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this discourse fall within the Book of the Twos?
Correct: B. It comes directly after Iti 34, the 7th discourse of the same chapter.
Question 10 of 10
What is this discourse’s exact opening attribution line?
Correct: C. This fixed formula opens every discourse in the Itivuttaka.
