Ācayagāmisutta — 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 ninth of this chapter's eleven near-identical variations
Why this discourse
This discourse reruns chapter 14's architectural building-up/breaking-down image from AN 10.142, now describing concrete unskillful acts, rather than held factors, as what builds up continued existence.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The principle that leads to accumulation is the ten courses of unskillful action; the principle that leads to dispersal is avoiding all ten and cultivating their opposites.
The same reversed valence, now for acts
As at AN 10.142, ācaya (accumulation) and apacaya (dispersal) keep their reversed valence — accumulation, usually positive, describes the unskillful acts that build up continued existence, while dispersal, usually negative, describes avoiding them; the only change from chapter 14 is that the acts being built up or dismantled are now concrete conduct rather than held path-factors.
This chapter's own sole architectural image, again
Just as AN 10.142 stood out within chapter 14 as its only spatial, structural image among otherwise ethical or social vocabulary, this discourse plays the identical structural role within chapter 18 — the ninth of eleven word-pairs, and the only one in this chapter, too, to reach for construction and demolition rather than ethical or social language.
Key terms
ācayagāmī — “leading to accumulation” — this discourse's own title, identical to chapter 14's AN 10.142, describing the unskillful acts' effect of building up continued existence.
apacayagāmī — “leading to dispersal” — the mirrored term, applied here to avoiding the ten courses of unskillful action.
bhava — “continued existence” — the traditional referent of what accumulates or disperses, as already noted at AN 10.142, though not stated explicitly in either discourse's own text.
pharusāya vācāya veramaṇī — “avoiding harsh speech” — 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 leading to accumulation and to dispersal. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Leading to accumulation, and to dispersal
§1“I will teach you the principle that leads to accumulation and that which leads to dispersal. … And what is the principle that leads to accumulation? Killing living creatures … wrong view. This is called the principle that leads to accumulation. And what is the principle that leads to dispersal? Not killing living creatures … right view. This is called the principle that leads to dispersal.”
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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: A. The same architectural pairing already met at chapter 14's AN 10.142, with an identical title.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what changes between this discourse and AN 10.142?
Correct: B. The same reversed positive/negative valence, now applied to acts rather than factors.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what role does this discourse play within chapter 18, echoing AN 10.142's role in chapter 14?
Correct: B. The identical structural role as its chapter 14 counterpart, within a different chapter.
Question 4 of 6
What does the traditional understanding suggest actually accumulates or disperses, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The same traditional referent already noted at AN 10.142 in chapter 14.
Question 5 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 6 of 6
How many word-pair variations remain in this chapter after this discourse?
Correct: C. Two more discourses (AN 10.187 and 10.188) will close this chapter's eleven-discourse run.
