According to Buddhist tradition, five ascetics became the Buddha’s first disciples after his first sermon.
These five ascetics are known as the Five Elders or the Pañcavaggiya. They had previously practiced severe asceticism with Siddhartha Gautama but abandoned him when he accepted food and adopted what became known as the Middle Way. After his enlightenment, the Buddha sought them out at the Deer Park in Sarnath.
The first listener to understand the Buddha’s teaching is traditionally identified as Kondanna, also spelled Kaundinya. The group’s acceptance of the teaching marks the beginning of the Buddhist sangha, the community of ordained disciples. Traditional accounts describe the Buddha’s first sermon as setting out the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path.
The five should not be confused with the Buddha’s later chief disciples, Sariputta and Moggallana, who joined the community afterward. The number five refers specifically to the ascetic group traditionally present at the first sermon.