Kuṇḍadhāna — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Two · Poem 5 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; a short verse structured entirely as a numerical formula
Speaker
An unnamed voice describing a mendicant who has achieved this formula's goal
Form
One four-line verse
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching text for this poem in other Buddhist literatures.
Difficulty
★★☆☆ — a densely compressed doctrinal formula, naming categories without listing their contents
Why this text
This verse is built entirely from numbers: five things to cut, five to drop, five more to develop — a mendicant who slips five chains, it says, is said to have crossed the flood. Nothing is spelled out; the verse assumes its listener already knows what each group of five contains.
Reading guide
Three groups of five, compressed into two lines
‘Five to cut, five to drop, and five more to develop’ packs three distinct doctrinal categories into a single opening couplet — functioning less as a description than as a mnemonic prompt, testing whether the listener can supply the specific five items each category names.
What the three fives traditionally name
In standard early Buddhist teaching, the five things to cut are the five lower fetters (identity view, doubt, attachment to precepts and observances, sensual desire, and ill will); the five to drop are the five higher fetters (desire for fine-material and formless existence, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance); and the five to develop are the five spiritual faculties (faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom). The verse itself names none of these directly.
Crossing the flood as the formula's outcome
The verse closes by naming its result rather than describing it further: a mendicant who ‘slips five chains’ — a fourth group of five, referring to attachments generally — is said to have ‘crossed the flood’, a standard image for having gone beyond the round of rebirth.
Key terms
pañca chinde — “five to cut” — traditionally the five lower fetters: identity view, doubt, attachment to rites and observances, sensual desire, and ill will.
pañca jahe — “five to drop” — traditionally the five higher fetters: desire for fine-material and formless existence, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance.
pañca bhāvaye — “five to develop” — traditionally the five spiritual faculties: faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom.
saṅga — “chain” or “attachment” — what a mendicant is said to slip free of in this verse's third line.
oghatiṇṇa — “crossed the flood” — a standard image for having gone beyond saṃsāra, closing this verse.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Five to cut, five to drop, and five more to develop. When a mendicant slips five chains they’re said to have crossed the flood.
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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
How is this verse structured?
Correct: A. Three groups of five, compressed into a single couplet.
Question 2 of 10
Does the verse list the specific contents of its groups of five?
Correct: B. Functioning as a mnemonic prompt rather than a full exposition.
Question 3 of 10
According to standard early Buddhist teaching, what do the 'five to cut' traditionally refer to?
Correct: D. Identity view, doubt, attachment to rites, sensual desire, and ill will.
Question 4 of 10
What do the 'five to develop' traditionally refer to?
Correct: C. Faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom.
Question 5 of 10
What does the verse say happens to a mendicant who slips five chains?
Correct: B. The formula's stated outcome, closing the verse.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'oghatiṇṇa' mean?
Correct: C. A standard image for having gone beyond the round of rebirth.
Question 7 of 10
What do the 'five to drop' traditionally refer to?
Correct: A. Desire for fine-material and formless existence, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'saṅga' mean in this verse's third line?
Correct: B. What a mendicant is said to slip free of.
Question 9 of 10
How does this verse's style compare to Vanavaccha's nature poem just before it?
Correct: D. A shift back from sensory delight to dense doctrinal structure.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Two?
Correct: C. Continuing the chapter's sequence of ten poems.
