Not named explicitly; a question addressed to Gotama by name, answered directly
Form
A four-line question, answered by a six-line reply
Length
~45 seconds to read
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — direct in form, notable for the life it describes as sufficient
A householder's path, explicitly
The answer describes someone 'dwelling at home with plenty of food and drink' as capable of facing the next world without fear
Why this discourse
The question is genuinely puzzling: if the path has been taught with so many dimensions, why are so many people still afraid? Standing on what, the deity asks Gotama directly, need one not fear the next world? The answer doesn't describe a renunciant's life of austerity. It describes someone with rightly directed speech and mind, doing nothing bad physically, living at home with plenty of food and drink, and being faithful, gentle, charitable, and bountiful.
Reading guide
A puzzle about fear despite instruction
The question doesn't ask what the path is; it asks why fear persists even though the path has already been taught ‘with so many dimensions.’ The puzzle isn't a lack of teaching but an apparent gap between teaching received and fear overcome.
A life at home, named as sufficient
Unlike discourses elsewhere in this collection that describe wilderness solitude or renunciation as the setting for spiritual progress, this answer explicitly names household life — ‘dwelling at home with plenty of food and drink’ — as compatible with facing the next world without fear, so long as four further qualities are present.
Four qualities, not a list of prohibitions
The four qualities named — faithful, gentle, charitable, and bountiful (saddho, sorato, dāyako, vadaññū) — are all positive dispositions rather than restrictions. The answer describes what to cultivate, alongside rightly directed speech, mind, and bodily conduct, rather than what to avoid.
Standing on the teaching, specifically
The verse's closing phrase, ‘one who stands on these four principles, who stands on the teaching, need not fear the next world,’ ties the four qualities directly to the teaching itself — not four independent virtues, but four ways the teaching is actually lived out.
Key terms
bhītā — “afraid” — this discourse's title, naming the condition the deity's opening question asks about.
gambhīrañāṇa — “whose wisdom is vast” — the deity's own description of the Buddha, addressed directly as Gotama.
sammā vācaṁ manañca paṇidhāya — “when speech and mind are directed right” — the answer's first condition, naming inner and verbal conduct before any restriction on lifestyle.
bahvanne pānabhojane — “with plenty of food and drink” — the answer's explicit description of ordinary household abundance, not deprivation.
saddho sorato dāyako vadaññū — “faithful, gentle, charitable, and bountiful” — the four positive qualities the answer names as what allows one to stand without fear of the next world.
The text
The discourse in full: a question about persistent fear, answered by a life a householder can actually live. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Why are so many people here afraid, when the path has been taught with so many dimensions? I ask you, Gotama, whose wisdom is vast: Standing on what need one not fear the next world?”
§2“When speech and mind are directed right, and you don’t do anything bad with the body while dwelling at home with plenty of food and drink. Faithful, gentle, charitable, and bountiful: one who stands on these four principles, who stands on the teaching need not fear the next world.”
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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 puzzle does the opening question raise?
Correct: A. A question about a gap between teaching received and fear overcome, not about the teaching's content.
Question 2 of 10
What kind of life does the answer describe as compatible with facing the next world without fear?
Correct: A. Explicit household abundance, not deprivation or renunciation.
Question 3 of 10
What four qualities does the answer name as necessary alongside rightly directed conduct?
Correct: A. Four positive dispositions, not a list of prohibitions.
Question 4 of 10
How does the answer describe speech and mind as a prerequisite?
Correct: A. The answer's first named condition, alongside not doing anything bad with the body.
Question 5 of 10
How does the deity address the Buddha in this discourse?
Correct: A. A direct, informal address, as at SN 1.23 and SN 1.49.
Question 6 of 10
What does the verse's closing phrase tie the four qualities to?
Correct: A. Four expressions of standing on the teaching, not independent virtues.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'bahvanne pānabhojane' mean?
Correct: A. An explicit description of household abundance.
Question 8 of 10
Does this discourse describe wilderness solitude as necessary for facing the next world without fear?
Correct: A. A notable contrast with discourses elsewhere in this collection emphasizing renunciation.
Question 9 of 10
What is the setting of this discourse?
Correct: A. No setting is given directly.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'saddho sorato dāyako vadaññū' mean?
Correct: A. The four qualities named as what allows standing without fear of the next world.
