Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Each of the ten unskillful acts is a bad principle, its opposite a good principle; the many unskillful qualities each produces are bad results, the many skillful qualities its opposite develops are good results.
The third form of the same content
This three-discourse run has now given the identical underlying content three distinct treatments: AN 10.171 compact and bare, AN 10.172 dramatized through Mahākaccāna's narrative and rebuke, and this discourse returning to bare form but keeping Mahākaccāna's fuller definition of result rather than AN 10.171's own more compact version.
A hybrid of its two predecessors
Structurally this discourse matches AN 10.171 (the Buddha alone, no narrative, closing with the explanatory formula), but its content matches AN 10.172's fuller unpacking of what “result” actually means — combining the compactness of one predecessor with the detail of the other.
Closing this chapter's third narrative-adjacent triple
Where AN 10.167/168 and AN 10.169/170 each paired one narrative discourse with one bare repeat, this trio (171/172/173) instead runs bare, narrative, then bare again — a distinct three-part structure not seen elsewhere so far in this chapter or nipāta.
Key terms
The text
Bad principles, good principles, and their results
§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? Killing living creatures is a bad principle. Not killing living creatures is a good principle. And the many bad, unskillful qualities produced by killing living creatures are bad results. And the many skillful qualities fully developed because of not killing living creatures are good results. Stealing is a bad principle. Not stealing is a good principle. … Sexual misconduct is a bad principle. Avoiding sexual misconduct is a good principle. … Lying is a bad principle. Not lying is a good principle. … Backbiting is a bad principle. Avoiding backbiting is a good principle. … Harsh speech is a bad principle. Avoiding harsh speech is a good principle. … Talking nonsense is a bad principle. Avoiding talking nonsense is a good principle. … Covetousness is a bad principle. Contentment is a good principle. … Ill will is a bad principle. Good will is a good principle. … Wrong 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. ‘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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