Reading guide
A self-test, not an external verdict
The declaration is something the disciple may make of themselves — "so ākaṅkhamāno attanāva attānaṁ byākareyya" — framed as self-knowledge available to be checked, not a status conferred from outside by the Buddha or anyone else.
Five fears traced to a single mechanism
Each of the five fears follows an identical pattern: breaking a precept brings fear and enmity both in this life and in lives to come, along with mental pain and sadness, and refraining from it quells exactly that fear — the same causal shape repeated once for each of the five precepts.
Four factors, three of them relational and one personal
Three of the four factors are confidence in something outside oneself — the Buddha, the teaching, the Saṅgha — described in a fixed formula of experiential confidence, while the fourth turns inward to one's own ethical conduct, described as loved by the noble ones and leading to immersion.
The noble system given its full technical content
Where the first two parts of the test describe confidence and conduct, the third part names something more exacting: dependent origination itself, understood well enough to be applied to both the arising and the complete cessation of the whole mass of suffering, using the language of "applies the mind carefully and rationally" already seen in SN 12.37.
A declaration that opens and closes the discourse identically
The discourse begins by describing the conditions under which the declaration may be made and ends by having the Buddha state, word for word, the same conditions and the same declaration — a frame that lets the three-part unpacking sit inside a stable, symmetrical shell.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. Then the householder Anāthapiṇḍika went up to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. Seated to one side, the Buddha said to the householder Anāthapiṇḍika:
§2“Householder, when a noble disciple has quelled five fears and enmities, possesses the four factors of stream-entry, and has clearly seen and penetrated the noble system with wisdom, they may, if they wish, declare of themselves: ‘I’ve finished with rebirth in hell, the animal realm, and the ghost realm. I’ve finished with all places of loss, bad places, the underworld. I am a stream-enterer! I’m not liable to be reborn in the underworld, and am assured, destined for awakening.’
§3What are the five fears and enmities they have quelled? Anyone who kills living creatures brims with fear and enmity both in this life and in lives to come, and experiences mental pain and sadness. That fear and enmity is quelled for anyone who refrains from killing living creatures.
§4Anyone who steals brims with fear and enmity both in this life and in lives to come, and experiences mental pain and sadness. That fear and enmity is quelled for anyone who refrains from stealing.
§5Anyone who commits sexual misconduct brims with fear and enmity both in this life and in lives to come, and experiences mental pain and sadness. That fear and enmity is quelled for anyone who refrains from committing sexual misconduct.
§6Anyone who lies brims with fear and enmity both in this life and in lives to come, and experiences mental pain and sadness. That fear and enmity is quelled for anyone who refrains from lying.
§7Anyone who consumes beer, wine, and liquor intoxicants brims with fear and enmity both in this life and in lives to come, and experiences mental pain and sadness. That fear and enmity is quelled for anyone who refrains from consuming beer, wine, and liquor intoxicants. These are the five fears and enmities they have quelled.
§8What are the four factors of stream-entry that they possess? It’s when a noble disciple has experiential confidence in the Buddha: ‘That Blessed One is perfected, a fully awakened Buddha, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, holy, knower of the world, supreme guide for those fit for training, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed.’
§9They have experiential confidence in the teaching: ‘The teaching is well explained by the Buddha—apparent in the present life, immediately effective, inviting inspection, relevant, so that sensible people can know it for themselves.’
§10They have experiential confidence in the Saṅgha: ‘The Saṅgha of the Buddha’s disciples is practicing the way that’s good, direct, systematic, and proper. It consists of the four pairs, the eight individual persons. This is the Saṅgha of the Buddha’s disciples that is worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods, worthy of hospitality, worthy of a religious donation, worthy of greeting with cupped palms, and is the supreme field of merit for the world.’
§11And a noble disciple’s ethical conduct is loved by the noble ones, unbroken, impeccable, spotless, and unmarred, liberating, praised by sensible people, not mistaken, and leading to immersion. These are the four factors of stream-entry that they possess.
§12And what is the noble system that they have clearly seen and penetrated with wisdom? A noble disciple carefully and rationally applies the mind to dependent origination itself: ‘When this exists, that comes to be; when this doesn’t exist, that is not. Due to the arising of this, that arises; due to the cessation of this, that ceases. Ignorance is a requirement for choices. Choices are a requirement for consciousness. … That is how this entire mass of suffering originates. When ignorance fades away and ceases with no residue left behind, choices cease. When choices cease, consciousness ceases. … That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.’ This is the noble system that they have clearly seen and penetrated with wisdom.
§13When a noble disciple has quelled five fears and enmities, possesses the four factors of stream-entry, and has clearly seen and penetrated the noble system with wisdom, they may, if they wish, declare of themselves: ‘I’ve finished with rebirth in hell, the animal realm, and the ghost realm. I’ve finished with all places of loss, bad places, the underworld. I am a stream-enterer! I’m not liable to be reborn in the underworld, and am assured, destined for awakening.’”
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.