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# AN 2.31.32 · Gratitude (Kataññu Suttas)
- URL: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-2-31-32/
- Published: 2026-06-20T01:32:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-13T16:52:02.000Z
- Description: Aṅguttara Nikāya · AN 2.31.32. Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
- Author: Ninth Heaven Literature & Arts Association (NHLAA)
- Tags: Buddhism, Sutta Piṭaka, Text, Indian, The Buddha, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Aṅguttara Nikāya, Discourse, English, Early Buddhist, Library

"Monks, I will teach you the level of a person of no integrity and the level of a person of integrity. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak."

"As you say, lord," the monks responded.

The Blessed One said, "Now what is the level of a person of no integrity? A person of no integrity is ungrateful & unthankful. This ingratitude, this lack of thankfulness, is advocated by rude people. It is entirely on the level of people of no integrity. A person of integrity is grateful & thankful. This gratitude, this thankfulness, is advocated by civil people. It is entirely on the level of people of integrity."

{II,iv,2} "I tell you, monks, there are two people who are not easy to repay. Which two? Your mother & father. Even if you were to carry your mother on one shoulder & your father on the other shoulder for 100 years, and were to look after them by anointing, massaging, bathing, & rubbing their limbs, and they were to defecate & urinate right there \[on your shoulders\], you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. If you were to establish your mother & father in absolute sovereignty over this great earth, abounding in the seven treasures, you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. Why is that? Mother & father do much for their children. They care for them, they nourish them, they introduce them to this world. But anyone who rouses his unbelieving mother & father, settles & establishes them in conviction; rouses his unvirtuous mother & father, settles & establishes them in virtue; rouses his stingy mother & father, settles & establishes them in generosity; rouses his foolish mother & father, settles & establishes them in discernment: To this extent one pays & repays one's mother & father."

See also: [MN 110](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/mn-110/); [SN 7.14](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-7-14/); [AN 4.73](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-4-73/); [Iti 106](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/iti-106/). 

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*Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.* From [Access to Insight](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an02/an02.031.than.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) (BCBS Edition). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) — for free distribution only. Never sold.