Ariyadhammasutta — Sādhuvagga — the eighteenth chapter of the Tens, the third chapter of the Fourth Fifty, echoing chapter 14's own eleven word-pairs
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The identical compressed template, with a new content base
Length
under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the second of this chapter's eleven near-identical variations
Why this discourse
This discourse reruns chapter 14's second word-pair (“the teaching of the noble ones” and its negation) exactly as AN 10.135 first delivered it, but grounds it in the ten courses of action rather than the ten-factor path.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
What is not the teaching of the noble ones is the ten courses of unskillful action; what is the teaching of the noble ones is avoiding all ten and cultivating their opposites.
The same claim, a more concrete content
Where AN 10.135 anchored “the teaching of the noble ones” to an abstract cultivation path, this discourse anchors the identical phrase to concrete, everyday ethical conduct — killing, stealing, lying, and the rest — arguably an even more immediately checkable standard for what counts as noble.
Compression, confirmed unchanged from chapter 14's own pattern
As with AN 10.135, this discourse elides the Buddha's full preparatory address, moving directly from announcement to the ten-item list — the same compressed register chapter 14 settled into after its own fuller opening discourse.
Key terms
ariyadhamma — “the teaching of the noble ones” — this discourse's own title, identical to AN 10.135, now applied to the ten courses of action.
anariyadhamma — “what is not the teaching of the noble ones” — the negation, applied to the ten courses of unskillful action.
adinnādānā veramaṇī — “avoiding stealing” — one of the ten items in this discourse's own list, using the veramaṇī (abstention) construction typical of the ten courses of action rather than the ten-factor path's own sammā- prefix construction.
kāmesumicchācārā veramaṇī — “avoiding sexual misconduct” — another item in the same list, sharing the same abstention construction.
sammādiṭṭhi — “right view” — the tenth and final item, the one item in this list that keeps the same sammā- form familiar from chapter 14's ten-factor path, since wrong/right view has no separate "abstention" phrasing.
The text
The discourse in full: the ten courses of action defined as the teaching of the noble ones, and what is not. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Not the noble teaching, and the noble teaching
§1“Mendicants, I will teach you the teaching of the noble ones, and what is not the teaching of the noble ones. Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak. … And what is not the teaching of the noble ones? Killing living creatures … wrong view. This is called what is not the teaching of the noble ones. And what is the teaching of the noble ones? Not killing living creatures … right view. This is called the teaching of the noble ones.”
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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 to the ten courses of action?
Correct: B. Chapter 14's second word-pair, rerun for a different underlying content.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, how does this discourse's content compare to AN 10.135's own use of the same phrase?
Correct: B. A more immediately checkable standard, grounded in conduct rather than an abstract path.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, which single item in this discourse's list keeps the same grammatical form as chapter 14's ten-factor path?
Correct: B. The other nine items use the veramaṇī (abstention) construction distinctive to the ten courses of action.
Question 4 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 5 of 6
Who does this discourse's audience consist of, per the glance box?
Correct: A. The same simple audience as every discourse in this compact chapter.
Question 6 of 6
What chapter of AN10 does this discourse belong to?
Correct: B. The second chapter to carry the name Sādhuvagga in this nipāta.
