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# AN 4:95 · The Firebrand (Chalāvāta Sutta)
- URL: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-4-95/
- Published: 2026-06-01T02:18:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-13T16:35:34.000Z
- Description: Aṅguttara Nikāya · AN 4:95. Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.
- Author: Ninth Heaven Literature & Arts Association (NHLAA)
- Tags: Buddhism, Sutta Piṭaka, Text, Indian, The Buddha, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Discourse, Pali, Early Buddhist, Library, #Import 2026-07-06 03:33

“Monks, these four types of individuals are to be found existing in the world. Which four? The one who practices neither for his/her own benefit nor for that of others. The one who practices for the benefit of others but not for his/her own. The one who practices for his/her own benefit but not for that of others. The one who practices for his/her own benefit and for that of others.

“Just as a firebrand from a funeral pyre—burning at both ends, covered with excrement in the middle—is used as fuel neither in a village nor in the wilderness: I tell you that this is a simile for the individual who practices neither for his/her own benefit nor for that of others. The individual who practices for the benefit of others but not for his/her own is the higher & more refined of these two. The individual who practices for his/her own benefit but not for that of others is the highest & most refined of these three. The individual who practices for his/her own benefit and for that of others is, of these four, the foremost, the chief, the most outstanding, the highest, & supreme. Just as from a cow comes milk; from milk, curds; from curds, butter; from butter, ghee; from ghee, the skimmings of ghee; and of these, the skimmings of ghee are reckoned the foremost—in the same way, of these four, the individual who practices for his/her own benefit and for that of others is the foremost, the chief, the most outstanding, the highest, & supreme.

“These are the four types of individuals to be found existing in the world.”

See also: [SN 22:80](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-22-80/); [AN 5:20](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-5-20/); [AN 7:64](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-7-64/); [Iti 91](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/iti-91/)

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*Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) licence, for free distribution only. Source: [dhammatalks.org](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN4%5F95.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) (Metta Forest Monastery).*