A Carer (2nd)

AN 5.124 · Dutiyaupaṭṭhākasutta

Tiny green shoots emerging beside weathered charcoal in a forest.

“Mendicants, a carer with five qualities is not competent to care for a patient. What five? They’re unable to prepare medicine. They don’t know what is suitable and unsuitable, so they supply what is unsuitable and remove what is suitable. They care for the sick for the sake of material benefits, not out of love. They’re disgusted to remove feces, urine, vomit, or spit. They’re unable to educate, encourage, fire up, and inspire the patient with a Dhamma talk from time to time. A carer with these five qualities is not competent to care for a patient.

A carer with five qualities is competent to care for a patient. What five? They’re able to prepare medicine. They know what is suitable and unsuitable, so they remove what is unsuitable and supply what is suitable. They care for the sick out of love, not for the sake of material benefits. They’re not disgusted to remove feces, urine, vomit, or spit. They’re able to educate, encourage, fire up, and inspire the patient with a Dhamma talk from time to time. A carer with these five qualities is competent to care for a patient.”

Connections

Collection & context

Aṅguttara NikāyaThe collection containing this text
The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting

Books

The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Aṅguttara NikāyaBhikkhu Bodhi; Bhikkhu Bodhi (translator) · Complete collection edition

About this edition

Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato · SuttaCentral · CC0

This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.

Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.