Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
For each of the ten factors from view to freedom, the wrong version is a bad principle and the right version a good principle, while the many bad qualities the wrong version produces are the bad result, and the many skillful qualities the right version fully develops are the good result.
Four questions, answered ten times over
The discourse opens by posing four explicit questions — what are bad principles, what are good principles, what are bad results, what are good results — then answers all four simultaneously for each of the ten factors, rather than treating the four questions as separate sections.
Principle and result kept genuinely distinct
The discourse's structure insists on a real distinction collapsed in looser speech: the principle itself (wrong view) is not identical to its result (the bad qualities it produces) — one is the cause named directly, the other its downstream consequence, each given its own clause in every one of the ten formulas.
The middle term in a three-discourse escalation
This discourse sits between AN 10.113's bare statement and AN 10.115's full narrative dramatization of the identical content — the same four-part formula given here in full will reappear, word for word, inside Ānanda's own explanation in the discourse that follows.
Key terms
The text
Four questions
§1“Mendicants, you should know bad principles and good principles. And you should know bad results and good results. Knowing these things, your practice should follow the good principles with good results. So what are bad principles? What are good principles? What are bad results? And what are good results?
Ten factors, each given four answers
§2Wrong view is a bad principle. Right view is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by wrong view are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of right view are good results. Wrong purpose is a bad principle. Right purpose is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by wrong purpose are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of right purpose are good results. Wrong speech is a bad principle. Right speech is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by wrong speech are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of right speech are good results. Wrong action is a bad principle. Right action is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by wrong action are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of right action are good results. Wrong livelihood is a bad principle. Right livelihood is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by wrong livelihood are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of right livelihood are good results. Wrong effort is a bad principle. Right effort is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by wrong effort are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of right effort are good results. Wrong mindfulness is a bad principle. Right mindfulness is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by wrong mindfulness are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of right mindfulness are good results. Wrong immersion is a bad principle. Right immersion is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by wrong immersion are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of right immersion are good results. Wrong knowledge is a bad principle. Right knowledge is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by wrong knowledge are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of right knowledge are good results. Wrong freedom is a bad principle. Right freedom is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by wrong freedom are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of right freedom are good results.
Closing restatement
§3‘You should know bad principles and good principles. And you should know bad results and good results. Knowing these things, your practice should follow the good principles with good results.’ That’s what I said, and this is why I said it.”
Self-check quiz
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