Parikkamanasutta — 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 single declaration, then ten bypass-pairs listed without elaboration
Length
under 1 minute to read
Chapter's own splice point
This discourse sits immediately before AN 10.176, the pre-existing curated page ‘With Cunda,’ which this chapter's build now splices into its proper sequential position
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the shortest discourse in this chapter
Why this discourse
This brief discourse reframes the ten skillful factors one final way: not as things to develop, realize, or trace to their source, but as a built-in bypass around each of the ten unskillful acts — the teaching itself guarantees an alternate route around every one of them.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Not killing bypasses killing, not stealing bypasses stealing, and so on through all ten pairs — the teaching provides a bypass around every unskillful act, lacking none.
A route around, not just an opposite
Parikkamana, “bypass,” suggests something more specific than simple opposition: a route that goes around an obstacle entirely, avoiding it rather than merely standing opposed to it — a subtly different spatial metaphor from this chapter's earlier near-shore/far-shore image at AN 10.169–170, though both use geographic language for the same underlying ten-factor structure.
This chapter's shortest discourse
At a single declarative sentence followed by ten bare bypass-pairs with no narrative, no verses, and no explanatory formula, this is the most compact discourse in a chapter that has otherwise run to considerable narrative length (AN 10.167, 10.172) and verse (AN 10.169–170) — a deliberate return to bare simplicity before the chapter's next discourse, the pre-existing curated page An-10.176, splices back in.
Setting up this chapter's own splice point
This discourse's own build places it immediately before AN 10.176 (‘With Cunda’), the last remaining pre-existing curated selection page in this entire project, previously linked directly to AN 11.15 as part of an earlier 18-page selection; with this chapter now built up to this point, AN 10.176's own prev/next links are updated to splice it properly between this discourse and AN 10.177, following the same manual-splice convention already used at AN 8.30, AN 8.53, and AN 10.60.
Key terms
parikkamana — “bypass” — this discourse's own title, a spatial image of routing around an obstacle rather than merely opposing it.
pāṇātipātā parikkamanaṁ — “bypasses killing living creatures” — the first of ten identically structured bypass-pairs.
na parikkamanavatī — “doesn't lack a bypass” — the discourse's own closing assurance, stated both at its opening and its close.
sammādiṭṭhi micchādiṭṭhissa parikkamanaṁ — “right view bypasses wrong view” — the tenth and final bypass-pair, closing the list.
Cundasutta — “With Cunda” — the root title of AN 10.176, the pre-existing curated page immediately following this discourse, spliced into its proper sequential position by this chapter's own build.
The text
The discourse in full: ten skillful factors, each described as bypassing its unskillful opposite. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
A bypass for every unskillful act
§1“Mendicants, this teaching provides a bypass, it doesn’t lack a bypass. And how does this teaching provide a bypass, not lacking a bypass? Not killing living creatures bypasses killing living creatures. Not stealing bypasses stealing. Avoiding sexual misconduct bypasses sexual misconduct. Not lying bypasses lying. Avoiding backbiting bypasses backbiting. Avoiding harsh speech bypasses harsh speech. Avoiding talking nonsense bypasses talking nonsense. Contentment bypasses covetousness. Good will bypasses ill will. Right view bypasses wrong view. That’s how this teaching provides a bypass, it doesn’t lack a bypass.”
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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 claim the teaching provides for every unskillful act?
Correct: B. A spatial image of routing around an obstacle entirely.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, how does "bypass" differ from this chapter's earlier near-shore/far-shore image at AN 10.169–170?
Correct: B. Both use geographic language, but for a slightly different underlying image.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what makes this discourse distinctive within its chapter?
Correct: B. A deliberate return to bare simplicity within a chapter otherwise rich in narrative and verse.
Question 4 of 6
What does this discourse's own position set up, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The last remaining pre-existing curated selection page in this entire project, following the same splice convention used at AN 8.30, 8.53, and 10.60.
Question 5 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 6 of 6
How many bypass-pairs does this discourse list?
Correct: C. Ten skillful factors, each bypassing its unskillful counterpart.
