None given — no place, audience, or occasion is named
Speaker
The Buddha, addressing “mendicants” collectively
Form
A one-sentence prose statement, restated by a six-line verse
Position
Book of the Ones, Chapter One, Iti 5 — fifth of a matched set of six
Length
under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — simple wording; note a small punctuation irregularity in the source, preserved here verbatim
Why this discourse names a quieter fault
Disdain is a subtler target than greed, hate, or even anger — it names not a surge of wanting or aversion but a settled contempt for others, a habit of belittling their qualities or achievements. Iti 5 gives it exactly the same weight and the same formula as the louder defilements before it, which is itself worth noticing: the text treats a quiet, socially respectable-seeming fault as no less serious an obstacle than greed or hate.
Reading guide
Makkha: contempt, denigration, disdain
The Pali term makkha is usually rendered as disdain, denigration, or contempt — specifically the habit of dismissing or belittling others' good qualities, contributions, or achievements rather than acknowledging them honestly. It is a quieter fault than the ones named so far in this chapter: no dramatic surge of wanting, no flash of temper, just a persistent unwillingness to give credit where it is due.
Why a “quiet” fault gets the same treatment
What is notable is that the text gives disdain the exact same structural weight as greed, hate, delusion, and anger before it: the same guarantee, the same six-line verse. There is no hint here that disdain is a lesser concern simply because it is less dramatic. If anything, a fault this socially unremarkable — the kind of quiet contempt that rarely draws attention or correction from others — may be easier to overlook in oneself precisely because it does not announce itself the way anger or greed do.
A small irregularity, preserved honestly
Readers checking this page against the source translation may notice one small oddity: the opening line reads “give up one thing. and I guarantee” — a period followed by a lowercase “and,” rather than the comma used in the parallel line of every other sutta in this set. This is a minor irregularity present in the published source text itself, not an error introduced here; in keeping with the commitment to verbatim reproduction, it has been left exactly as found rather than silently corrected.
Disdain among related faults
Elsewhere in the canon, disdain is grouped together with several related qualities — among them the conceit taken up two suttas later in this same chapter (Iti 6) — as part of a longer list of subtler corruptions of the mind, distinct from the three foundational roots but no less worth uprooting.
Key terms
makkha — “disdain, denigration, contempt”: the habit of dismissing or belittling others' good qualities rather than acknowledging them
mūla — “root”: the term for the three foundational unwholesome causes (greed, hate, delusion); disdain is a related but distinct, subtler corruption of mind
anāgāmitā — “non-return”: the same guarantee held out here as for every factor in this set of six teachings
pajānanti — “they rightly understand”: the verse’s description of how the discerning come to relinquish disdain, as with the other factors in this chapter
the period quirk — a small irregularity in the source text at 2.1–2.2, where the sentence break falls differently than in the parallel line of Iti 1–4 and 6; preserved verbatim here rather than silently corrected
The text
The discourse in full: the opening frame, the Buddha’s one-sentence teaching, the verse that restates it, and the closing frame. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral). A minor punctuation irregularity present in the source (noted in the reading guide) is preserved exactly as published.
The teaching
§1This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
§2“Mendicants, give up one thing. and I guarantee you non-return. What one thing? Disdain is the one thing. Give it up, and I guarantee you non-return.” The Buddha spoke this matter. On this it is said:
The verse
§3“When overcome by disdain
beings go to a bad place.
Having rightly understood that disdain,
the discerning give it up.
Once they’ve given it up,
they never return to this world.”
§4This 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
What single thing does the Buddha ask the mendicants to give up in this discourse?
Correct: D. Disdain (makkha) is named as “the one thing” in Iti 5.
Question 2 of 10
How is makkha (disdain) best described, per the reading guide?
Correct: B. Disdain names a quieter, more socially respectable-seeming fault than anger or greed.
Question 3 of 10
What does the reading guide note about the tone of this fault compared to greed, hate, or anger?
Correct: A. The sutta treats disdain with the same structural seriousness as the louder defilements.
Question 4 of 10
What small irregularity does the reading guide flag in this sutta’s source text?
Correct: C. The reading guide notes this is preserved verbatim rather than silently corrected, per the commitment to exact reproduction.
Question 5 of 10
What reward is guaranteed for giving up disdain?
Correct: B. The same guarantee of non-return used throughout this set of six teachings.
Question 6 of 10
According to the verse, what happens to beings “overcome by disdain”?
Correct: D. Matching the wording used for the other factors in this set of six.
Question 7 of 10
Per the reading guide, with which other discourse in this same chapter is disdain said to be grouped elsewhere in the canon?
Correct: A. The reading guide notes disdain and conceit are related, subtler faults, both taken up in this chapter.
Question 8 of 10
Is any specific place, individual, or occasion named for this teaching?
Correct: B. Consistent with the rest of the Itivuttaka’s spare form.
Question 9 of 10
How do “the discerning” come to give up disdain, according to the verse?
Correct: C. As with the other suttas in this set, understanding precedes the act of giving up.
Question 10 of 10
What is the closing line of this discourse?
Correct: B. The same closing frame used throughout this set of six teachings.
