Saṃyutta Nikāya
4. Saḷāyatana Vagga
43. Asaṅkhata Saṃyutta
1. Paṭhama Vagga

Sutta 9

Bala Suttaṃ

The Five Powers

Translated from the Pāḷi by Michael M. Olds

 

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[1][pts][bodh] I hear tell:

Once upon a time The Lucky Man,
Savatthi-town revisiting.

There then, The Lucky Man, said this to the beggars gathered round:

"Beggars!".

"Elder!"
said the beggars in response to The Lucky Man.

The Lucky Man said this to them:

"I will explain
the not own-made^[1] to you, beggars, and the Way to go to the not own-made.

Listen carefully!'

And what, beggars,
is the not own-made?

Whatever, beggars, is
lust's destruction,^[2]
anger's destruction,^[3]
confusion's destruction.^[4]

This, beggars,
is what is called
"the not own-made".

And what, beggars,
is the way to go
to the not own-made?

The Five Powers^[5]

This is what is called
'the way to go
to the not own-made'.

This, then, beggars,
is my explanation to you of
the not own-made, and
the way to go to the not own-made.

Whatever, beggars,
ought to be done
for his students
by a kindly master,
out of compassion,
with compassion,
that I have done.

These, beggars,
are the roots of trees,
these are empty huts.

Meditate, beggars,
do not be careless,
do not provide grounds for later regret.

This then is my advice."

 

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^[1] Asaṅkhata. PED: "past participle of saṅkharoti;... (but see saṅkhāra] 1. put together, compound; conditioned, produced ..." But the PED definition neglects to point out that the making is the making of that which is later termed "Me" or "Mine". What saṅkhara is is the identification with that which is created by the individual through acts of thought, word and deed with the intent of creating sense experience for himself. Mistranslation of this term (and it is so mistranslated at this time (Thursday, April 16, 2026 8:09 AM) by virtually all the other translators) becomes of vital concern when it is given as "conditioned" because the Buddha tells us that Nibbāna is asaṅkhāra (not own-made, not unconditioned (paccaya)). Nibbāna is conditioned by following the Magga, but it is not own-made. Following the Magga is not-doing or letting go of that which prevents one from attaining it. Not-doing a wrong thing does not create anything. For more on this see "Is Nibbāna Conditioned?" in the Forum.

^[2] Rāga. Excitement, passion.

^[3] Dosa. Anger, ill-will, evil intention, wickedness, corruption, malice, hatred.

^[4] Moha. Stupidity, dullness of mind and soul, delusion, bewilderment, infatuation.

^[5] Bala. There are numerous things classed as powers, and PED does not mention a group of five. A group of five is mentioned in AN 5.1, and here this sutta is called "The Five." They are:
the power of faith (saddhā-balaṃ),
the power of fear of blame (hiri-balaṃ),
the power of sense of shame (ottappa-balaṃ),
the power of energy (viriya-balaṃ),
the power of wisdom (paññā-balaṃ),

"Power" here is a sort of synonym for "force", but as I see it, a force more applied by the individual than a force of nature acting on the individual. Think of using the power of wisdom to see more rationally, or using the fear of blame to keep one from a bad action.

The Buddha supplies a simile for the way in which forces and powers can in one way be seen as the same, while in another way they can be seen as separate: Think of a river divided at one point by an island. From one perspective it can look like two rivers, at another point just one.

For more on this see the Glossology section on Balani.