Dasamasutta — Parisuddhavagga — the thirteenth chapter of the Tens, the Chapter on Purified Things
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single bare list, with no claim attached at all
Length
under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the barest discourse in an already spare chapter
Why this discourse
After nine discourses building an increasingly elaborate structure of claims and recombinations, this discourse steps all the way back to the simplest possible statement: naming the ten wrong ways, with no claim about their purity, fruitfulness, or exclusivity attached at all.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
There are ten wrong ways: wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong immersion, wrong knowledge, and wrong freedom.
A list with no claim attached
Unlike every discourse before it in this chapter, this one makes no assertion about the ten items it lists — no purity, no arising, no fruitfulness, no exclusivity to any training. It simply names the ten wrong ways and stops, the barest possible statement in an already spare chapter.
The wrong list, given its own moment
For the first time since AN 10.113 opened this chapter's twin sequence of chapters, the wrong version of the ten factors appears entirely on its own, without being paired against its right counterpart in the same discourse — a bare naming rather than a contrastive teaching.
Setting up the chapter's final discourse
This discourse's plain listing of the ten wrong ways sets up an equally plain mirror at AN 10.133, the chapter's closing discourse, which will name the ten right ways in the identical bare form — the chapter's very last pairing, stripped down to its simplest possible expression.
Key terms
dasa micchattā — “ten wrong ways” — this discourse's own title and entire content, with no further claim attached.
micchādiṭṭhi — “wrong view” — the first of the ten wrong ways, opening the bare list.
micchāsamādhi — “wrong immersion” — the eighth item, corresponding to the classical eightfold path's own final wrong factor.
micchāñāṇaṁ — “wrong knowledge” — the ninth item, one of the two extending the classical path in this chapter's ten-item version.
micchāvimutti — “wrong freedom” — the tenth and final item, closing the bare list.
The text
The discourse in full: the ten wrong ways, with no additional claim attached. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Ten wrong ways
§1“Mendicants, there are ten wrong ways. What ten? Wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong immersion, wrong knowledge, and wrong freedom. These are the ten wrong ways.”
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Self-check quiz
5 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 5
What does this discourse claim about the ten wrong ways it lists?
Correct: B. The barest possible statement, unlike every discourse before it in this chapter.
Question 2 of 5
How does this discourse differ from AN 10.123 through 10.131, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A bare naming, not a contrastive or exclusivity claim.
Question 3 of 5
According to the guide, what is notable about how the wrong list appears in this discourse?
Correct: B. A bare naming rather than the contrastive pairing seen in earlier chapters.
Question 4 of 5
What does this discourse set up, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The chapter's final pairing, stripped to its simplest form.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
