Paṭhamaadhammasutta — Jāṇussoṇivagga — the seventeenth chapter of the Tens, bookended by dialogues with the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A brief statement, then bad and good principles with results defined and explained
Length
~1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the first of a three-discourse run on the same core content
Why this discourse
This discourse opens a three-discourse run (AN 10.171–173) applying this collection's recognizable “that's what I said, and this is why I said it” explanatory formula to the ten unskillful acts as bad principles with bad results.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, backbiting, harsh speech, talking nonsense, covetousness, ill will, and wrong view are bad principles with bad results; their ten opposites are good principles with good results, and practice should follow the good.
This collection's own signature explanatory formula
“That's what I said, and this is why I said it” is a recognizable formula this project has met many times before across multiple nipātas: a brief summary statement, followed by its own detailed unpacking, closed by the summary restated and explicitly marked as explained.
Principles and results, a new pairing of terms
Dhamma (principle) and vipāka (result) are each individually familiar from this project — dhamma from chapter 14's AN 10.138 and vipāka from chapter 14's AN 10.144 — but here combined into a new compound framing: not what a principle IS, but what it PRODUCES, with the ten acts themselves standing as both principle and, through their consequences, cause of result.
The first of three, setting up its own pair of sequels
This discourse's compact, self-contained form (question posed and answered by the Buddha alone, no narrative) will be varied twice more: AN 10.172 will dramatize the same content through Mahākaccāna's famous explanation, and AN 10.173 will return to a bare restatement closer to this discourse's own form.
Key terms
pāpakā dhammā pāpakavipākā — “bad principles with bad results” — this discourse's own key compound, applied to the ten unskillful acts as a set.
kalyāṇā dhammā kalyāṇavipākā — “good principles with good results” — the mirrored compound for the ten skillful opposites.
iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ, idañcetaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ — “that's what I said, and this is why I said it” — this collection's own recognizable explanatory formula, closing this discourse.
micchādiṭṭhi — “wrong view” — the tenth and final item in the list of bad principles.
sammādiṭṭhi — “right view” — its mirrored opposite, closing the list of good principles.
The text
The discourse in full: bad principles with bad results, good principles with good results, and the explanatory formula. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Bad principles, good principles
§1“Mendicants, you should know bad principles with bad results. And you should know good principles with good results. Knowing these things, your practice should follow the good principles with good results. And what are bad principles with bad results? Killing living creatures, stealing, and sexual misconduct; speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical; covetousness, ill will, and wrong view. These are called bad principles with bad results. And what are good principles with good results? Avoiding killing living creatures, stealing, and sexual misconduct; avoiding speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical; contentment, good will, and right view. These are called good principles with good results. ‘You should know bad principles with bad results. And you should know good principles with 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.”
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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 does this discourse classify the ten unskillful acts as?
Correct: A. A compound classification combining what something IS with what it PRODUCES.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what is the "that's what I said, and this is why I said it" formula?
Correct: B. A summary statement, unpacked, then restated as explained — familiar from elsewhere in this collection.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, where have "dhamma" and "vipāka" individually already appeared in this nipāta?
Correct: B. Two familiar terms combined here into a new compound framing.
Question 4 of 6
According to the guide, what will happen to this discourse's content in the two discourses that follow it?
Correct: B. The first of a three-discourse run varying the same core content.
Question 5 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 6 of 6
What chapter of AN10 does this discourse belong to?
Correct: B. The seventeenth chapter of the Tens, bookended by Jāṇussoṇi.
