Sappurisadhammasutta — Ariyamaggavagga — the nineteenth chapter of the Tens, the fourth chapter of the Fourth Fifty, echoing chapter 15's own ten 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 fourth of this chapter's ten near-identical variations
Why this discourse
This discourse reruns chapter 15's personalized version of the teaching question (from AN 10.148), asking not what counts as true but who counts as a true person, now judged by concrete conduct rather than an abstract path.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The teaching of untrue persons is the ten courses of unskillful action; the teaching of true persons is avoiding all ten and cultivating their opposites.
A more visible standard than AN 10.148's own version
Judging who counts as a sappurisa, a true person, by whether they kill, steal, or lie is a considerably more publicly observable standard than judging by whether they hold right or wrong view internally, as AN 10.148 did — conduct, unlike view, is visible to others.
Following its own chapter 15 pair exactly
As AN 10.147 and 10.148 formed the closest pair in chapter 15 (teaching, then teacher), this discourse and AN 10.191 immediately preceding it reproduce that exact same close pairing here, one discourse later in sequence but otherwise structurally identical.
Key terms
sappurisadhamma — “the teaching of true persons” — this discourse's own title, identical to chapter 15's AN 10.148.
asappurisadhamma — “the teaching of untrue persons” — the negation, applied here to the ten courses of unskillful action.
sappurisa — “a true” or good person — a recurring social category, here judged by publicly visible conduct rather than internally held view.
kāmesumicchācārā veramaṇī — “avoiding sexual misconduct” — 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 the teaching of untrue persons and of true persons. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The teaching of untrue persons, and of true persons
§1“Mendicants, I will teach you the teaching of the true persons and the teaching of the untrue persons. And what is the teaching of the untrue persons? Killing living creatures … wrong view. This is the teaching of the untrue persons. And what is the teaching of the true persons? Not killing living creatures … right view. This is the teaching of the true persons.”
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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 personalized pairing already met at chapter 15's AN 10.148.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, why might this discourse's standard be more publicly visible than AN 10.148's own version?
Correct: B. Conduct, unlike view, is visible to others.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what pairing does this discourse and AN 10.191 reproduce from chapter 15?
Correct: B. The same close structural pairing, reproduced one discourse later in this chapter's own sequence.
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 fourth chapter of the Fourth Fifty.
