Vipākasutta — 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 near-twin final word-pair
Length
under 1 minute to read
Closing this chapter
This discourse closes Sādhuvagga, the eighteenth chapter, with its own untranslated colophon ‘Sādhuvaggo tatiyo’ (the third chapter of the Fourth Fifty)
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the final variation closing this chapter
Why this discourse
Closing this chapter's eleven-discourse run, the Buddha delivers a near-twin of AN 10.187's immediately preceding teaching, but titled with the broadest possible term for outcome — simply vipāka, “result,” rather than chapter 14's more specific Dukkhavipāka.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The principle that results in suffering is the ten courses of unskillful action; the principle that results in happiness is avoiding all ten and cultivating their opposites.
A broader title than its chapter 14 counterpart
Chapter 14 closed on Dukkhavipākasutta, “Result in Suffering,” naming the negative pole in its own title even while defining both; this discourse instead closes on the simple, unqualified Vipākasutta, “Result” — the broadest and least specific title anywhere in either eleven-discourse sequence, naming neither pole explicitly.
Vipāka versus udraya, the same distinction as before
As already noted at AN 10.144, vipāka carries a more technical, karma-specific sense than udraya (AN 10.187's own term); this discourse keeps that same distinction intact even while shifting the underlying content to concrete conduct, confirming the vipāka/udraya pairing itself, not just the suffering/happiness content, carries over unchanged between chapters 14 and 18.
Two chapters, one shared closing colophon pattern
This discourse's own colophon, left untranslated, reads ‘Sādhuvaggo tatiyo’ (the Good Chapter, the third [of the Fourth Fifty]) — confirming this chapter's position exactly as chapter 16's ‘paṭhamo’ and chapter 17's ‘dutiyo’ did before it, continuing the Fourth Fifty's own internal numbering without interruption.
Key terms
vipāka — “result,” specifically in the karmic sense — this discourse's own title, the broadest and least specific of any discourse in either eleven-discourse sequence.
dukkhavipāka, sukhavipāka — “results in suffering, results in happiness” — the two poles this discourse defines, even though its own title names neither explicitly.
udraya — “outcome,” the broader, less technical term used at AN 10.187 (and AN 10.143), distinct from this discourse's own more specifically karmic vipāka.
micchāñāṇaṁ — note: unlike the ten-factor path's own “wrong knowledge,” this discourse's tenth item is simply micchādiṭṭhi, wrong view — the ten courses of action have no separate "knowledge" item, a distinction worth keeping straight from chapter 14's own closing list.
Sādhuvaggo tatiyo — “the Good Chapter, the third” — this chapter's own closing colophon, confirming its position as the third chapter of the Fourth Fifty.
The text
The discourse in full: the ten courses of action defined by karmic result in suffering and happiness. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Resulting in suffering, and resulting in happiness
§1“I will teach you the principle that results in suffering and that which results in happiness. … And what is the principle that results in suffering? Killing living creatures … wrong view. This is called the principle that results in suffering. And what is the principle that results in happiness? Not killing living creatures … right view. This is called the principle that results in happiness.”
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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
How does this discourse's title compare to chapter 14's closing discourse, AN 10.144?
Correct: B. The least specific title anywhere in either eleven-discourse sequence.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what distinction does this discourse preserve from AN 10.187's own term?
Correct: B. A vocabulary distinction carried over unchanged between chapters 14 and 18.
Question 3 of 6
What does this discourse's closing colophon state, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Continuing the same internal numbering already established at chapters 16 (paṭhamo) and 17 (dutiyo).
Question 4 of 6
According to the guide, what item replaces the ten-factor path's own "wrong knowledge" in this discourse's list?
Correct: B. A structural difference worth keeping straight from chapter 14's own closing list.
Question 5 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this brief, closing discourse.
Question 6 of 6
What relationship does this discourse have with AN 10.187 immediately preceding it?
Correct: B. The chapter's two closest discourses, ending it back to back, just as chapter 14 closed.
