Aṇguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka Nipāta
II: Bala Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fives
II: The Powers
Sutta 14
Bala-Vitthata Suttaṃ
The Powers in Detail
Translated by E. M. Hare
Copyright The Pali Text Society
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Once the Exalted One dwelt near Sāvatthī;
and there he addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks."
'Yes, lord,' they replied; and the Exalted One said:
"Monks, there are these five powers.
What five?
The power of faith,
the power of energy,
the power of mindfulness,
the power of concentration
and the power of insight.
Monks, these are the five powers.'
§
And what, monks,
is the power of faith?
Herein, monks, the Ariyan disciple
has faith
and believes in the enlightenment of the Tathāgata:
"Of a truth he is the Exalted One,
arahant,
fully enlightened,
abounding in wisdom and right,
the well-gone,
the world-knower,
the incomparable tamer of tamable men,
the teacher of devas and men,
the Buddha,
the Exalted One."
This, monks, is called the power of faith.
■
And what, monks,
is the power of energy?
Herein, monks, the Ariyan disciple,
abiding in active energy,
puts away all wrong things
and takes to right things;
steadfast and strenuous,
he shirks not the burden of right things.
This, monks, is called
the power of energy.
■
Olds: And what, beggars, is Mind-Power? Here the student of the Aristocrats has memory: with accomplished, superior mastery of mind, the long-ago-done, the long-ago-said long-ago recollected.
Bhk. Bodhi: And what is the power of mindfulness? Here the noble disciple is mindful, possessing supreme mindfulness and alertness, one who remembers and recollects what was done and said long ago.
— p.p.
And what is the power of mindfulness?
Herein, monks, the Ariyan disciple
is mindful;
he is endowed with the highest mindfulness and discrimination;
he remembers and calls to mind
what was said and done long ago.
This, monks, is called the power of mindfulness.
■
And what is the power of concentration?
Herein, monks, the Ariyan disciple,[1]
aloof from sensuous appetites,
aloof from evil ideas,
enters and abides in the first [8] musing,
wherein applied and sustained thought works,
which is born of solitude
and is full of joy and ease;
suppressing applied and sustained thought,
he enters and abides in the second musing,
which is self-evolved,
born of concentration,
full of joy and ease,
free from applied and sustained thought,
and there the mind becomes calm and one-pointed;
free from the zest for joy,
mindful and self-possessed,
he enters and abides in the third musing,
and experiences in his being
that ease whereof the Ariyans declare:
'He that is tranquil and mindful dwells at ease;
by putting away ease and by putting away ill,
by the passing away of happiness and misery
he was wont to feel,
he enters and abides in the fourth musing,
which is utter purity of mindfulness,
which comes of disinterestedness
and is free of ease and ill.
This, monks, is called
the power of concentration.
■
And what, monks,
is the power of insight?
Herein, monks, the Ariyan disciple
has insight;
he is endowed with insight
into the way of growth and decay,
with Ariyan penetration of the way
to the utter destruction of Ill.
This, monks, is called
the power of insight.
Monks, these are the five powers.'[2]
[1] See DhS. trsl. 43 ff. and full notes there.
[2] This set is found throughout the Canon - e.g., M. ii, 12; S. v, 219; referred to at D. ii, 120.
