Āsavasutta — 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 sixth of this chapter's eleven near-identical variations
Why this discourse
This discourse reruns chapter 14's defiled/undefiled pairing, but its root title uses the bare noun āsava (defilement) rather than AN 10.139's own adjectival sāsava (with defilement) — a small but real difference confirmed against bilara-data.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The defiled principle is the ten courses of unskillful action; the undefiled principle is avoiding all ten and cultivating their opposites.
Āsava versus sāsava, checked rather than assumed
Chapter 14's AN 10.139 was titled Sāsavasutta, using the adjectival form “with defilements”; this discourse's own root title is Āsavasutta, the bare noun “defilement” itself — both render identically in English as “Defiled,” but the underlying Pali is not word-for-word the same, a distinction worth flagging rather than assuming this chapter is a mechanical copy-paste of chapter 14.
The same vocabulary already anchored once before
As at AN 10.139, āsava is vocabulary this project has met constantly — the third of the threefold true knowledge, and the explicit outcome of developed factors at AN 10.122; this discourse anchors the same term once more, this time to concrete conduct rather than the ten-factor path.
Key terms
āsava — “defilement” — this discourse's own root title, the bare noun form, distinct from chapter 14's adjectival sāsava even though both render as "Defiled" in English.
anāsava — “undefiled” — the mirrored term, applied here to avoiding the ten courses of unskillful action.
sāsava — “with defilements” — the adjectival form used at chapter 14's AN 10.139, distinct from this discourse's own bare noun title.
pisuṇāya vācāya veramaṇī — “avoiding backbiting” — one of the ten items in this discourse's list.
micchādiṭṭhi — “wrong view” — the tenth and final item, closing the list.
The text
The discourse in full: the ten courses of action defined as defiled and undefiled. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The defiled, and the undefiled
§1“I will teach you the defiled principle and the undefiled. … And what is the defiled principle? Killing living creatures … wrong view. This is called the defiled principle. And what is the undefiled principle? Not killing living creatures … right view. This is called the undefiled principle.”
· · ·
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: A. The same pairing already met at chapter 14's AN 10.139, this time with a subtly different Pali title.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, how does this discourse's root title differ from AN 10.139's?
Correct: B. A small but real Pali distinction confirmed against bilara-data rather than assumed.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what does this difference illustrate about this chapter overall?
Correct: B. A reminder to check the root Pali rather than assume word-for-word repetition from the English alone.
Question 4 of 6
Where has "āsava" already been anchored to specific content in this nipāta, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Vocabulary this project has met constantly, anchored here to a new content.
Question 5 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 6 of 6
What is the tenth and final item in this discourse's list of unskillful courses of action?
Correct: A. The same closing item as every discourse in this chapter's list.
