Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 10.141

Mortifying

Tapanīyasutta — Sādhuvagga — the fourteenth chapter of the Tens, the Chapter on Good

Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The identical template, with a new word-pair
Length
under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the eighth of this chapter's eleven near-identical variations

Why this discourse

This discourse reaches for a strikingly physical word to describe the wrong factors' effect: not merely bad, unskillful, or blameworthy, but literally “mortifying,” a term drawn from the vocabulary of burning or scorching.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

The mortifying principle is the ten wrong factors from wrong view to wrong freedom; the unmortifying principle is the ten right factors from right view to right freedom.

A term of burning, applied to conscience

Tapanīya shares its root with tapas, the ascetic self-mortification already examined at AN 10.94's discussion of the Buddha's nuanced position on extreme austerity; here the same burning-related vocabulary is applied instead to an internal experience — the wrong factors are said to scorch or torment from within, an image of guilt or remorse rather than literal physical asceticism.

A striking shift in register from the surrounding discourses

Where most of this chapter's word-pairs (good, skillful, blameworthy) describe qualities primarily assessed from outside, “mortifying” names something felt from within — the wrong factors don't merely earn external blame, they are claimed to actively burn the person who holds them.

A vocabulary this project has met before, redirected

By applying tapanīya, rooted in the same vocabulary as literal ascetic self-mortification, to the wrong factors themselves rather than to any physical practice, this discourse quietly suggests that genuine self-torment comes not from insufficient physical austerity but from holding wrong view, wrong action, and the rest.

Key terms

tapanīya — “mortifying,” sharing its root with tapas, ascetic self-mortification — here applied to an internal, burning experience of guilt rather than literal physical practice.
atapanīya — “unmortifying” — the mirrored term for the ten right factors, free of this inner burning.
tapas — “ascetic self-mortification” — the related literal practice already examined at AN 10.94's discussion of the Buddha's nuanced position.
micchāājīvo — “wrong livelihood” — the fifth factor, unchanged from every earlier list in this chapter.
sammāsaṅkappo — “right purpose” — the second factor, likewise identical throughout.

The text

The discourse in full: the ten-factor path defined as mortifying and unmortifying. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

The mortifying, and the unmortifying

§1“I will teach you the mortifying principle and the unmortifying. … And what is the mortifying principle? Wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong immersion, wrong knowledge, and wrong freedom. This is called the mortifying principle. And what is the unmortifying principle? Right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right immersion, right knowledge, and right freedom. This is called the unmortifying principle.”

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Self-check quiz

6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 6
What pairing does this discourse apply the chapter's template to?
Correct: B. A strikingly physical image drawn from the vocabulary of burning.
Question 2 of 6
What root does "tapanīya" share, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The same burning-related vocabulary, redirected from physical austerity to inner experience.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, how does "mortifying" differ in register from most of this chapter's other word-pairs?
Correct: B. A shift from external assessment to internal experience.
Question 4 of 6
According to the guide, what does this discourse quietly suggest by applying burning-related vocabulary to wrong view rather than to physical practice?
Correct: B. A redirection of familiar vocabulary toward inner ethical qualities.
Question 5 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 6 of 6
What term does AN 10.94 examine that shares its root with this discourse's "mortifying"?
Correct: B. The literal ascetic practice this discourse's vocabulary is borrowed from.
Answered 0 of 6 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousAN 10.140 · Blameworthy