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Numbered Discourses · AN 5.87

  • Numbered Discourses 5.87Aṅguttara Nikāya 5.87
  • 9. Senior Mendicants9. Theravagga

EthicalSīlavantasutta

“A senior mendicant with five qualities is dear and beloved to their spiritual companions, respected and admired.“Pañcahi, bhikkhave, dhammehi samannāgato thero bhikkhu sabrahmacārīnaṁ piyo ca hoti manāpo ca garu ca bhāvanīyo ca. What five?Katamehi pañcahi?

They’re ethical, restrained in the monastic code, conducting themselves well and resorting for alms in suitable places. Seeing danger in the slightest fault, they keep the rules they’ve undertaken.Sīlavā hoti, pātimokkhasaṁvarasaṁvuto viharati. Ācāragocarasampanno aṇumattesu vajjesu bhayadassāvī, samādāya sikkhati sikkhāpadesu;

They’re very learned, remembering and keeping what they’ve learned. These teachings are good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, meaningful and well-phrased, describing a spiritual practice that’s entirely full and pure. They are very learned in such teachings, remembering them, rehearsing them, mentally scrutinizing them, and penetrating them theoretically.bahussuto hoti sutadharo sutasannicayo, ye te dhammā ādikalyāṇā majjhekalyāṇā pariyosānakalyāṇā sātthaṁ sabyañjanaṁ kevalaparipuṇṇaṁ parisuddhaṁ brahmacariyaṁ abhivadanti, tathārūpāssa dhammā bahussutā honti dhātā vacasā paricitā manasānupekkhitā diṭṭhiyā suppaṭividdhā;

They’re a good speaker who enunciates well, with a polished, clear, and articulate voice that expresses the meaning.kalyāṇavāco hoti kalyāṇavākkaraṇo poriyā vācāya samannāgato vissaṭṭhāya anelagaḷāya atthassa viññāpaniyā;

They get the four absorptions—blissful meditations in this life that belong to the higher mind—when they want, without trouble or difficulty.catunnaṁ jhānānaṁ ābhicetasikānaṁ diṭṭhadhammasukhavihārānaṁ nikāmalābhī hoti akicchalābhī akasiralābhī;

They realize the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom. And they live having realized it with their own insight in this very life due to the ending of defilements.āsavānaṁ khayā anāsavaṁ cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja viharati.

A senior mendicant with these five qualities is dear and beloved to their spiritual companions, respected and admired.”Imehi kho, bhikkhave, pañcahi dhammehi samannāgato thero bhikkhu sabrahmacārīnaṁ piyo ca hoti manāpo ca garu ca bhāvanīyo cā”ti.

Similar passages elsewhere

Found by meaning, not by citation: the passages in other texts whose wording sits closest to a passage here.

  1. AN 5.166 Cessation 0.92near 0.1“Sir, a senior mendicant with five qualities is dear and beloved to their spiritual companions, respected and admired. What five? It’s when a mendicant is ethical, restrained in the monastic code, conducting themselves w…
  2. AN 10.98 A Senior Mendicant 0.80near 0.1Numbered Discourses 10.98 10. With Upāli A Senior Mendicant “Mendicants, a senior mendicant with ten qualities lives comfortably in whatever region they live. What ten? They are long standing and have long gone forth. Th…
  3. AN 5.88 Senior Mendicants 0.77near 0.1A senior mendicant who possesses these five qualities is acting for the detriment and unhappiness of the people, against the people, for the harm, detriment, and suffering of gods and humans. A senior mendicant who has f…
  4. AN 5.86 Attaining the Methods of Textual Analysis 0.76near 0.1Numbered Discourses 5.86 9. Senior Mendicants Attaining the Methods of Textual Analysis “A senior mendicant with five qualities is dear and beloved to their spiritual companions, respected and admired. What five? They ha…