Uppādetabbadhammasutta — 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 practice-verb word-pair
Length
under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the fifth of this chapter's ten near-identical variations
Why this discourse
As at chapter 15's own halfway turn, this discourse marks the shift from naming what the ten courses of action ARE to prescribing what should be DONE with them — here, whether they should be activated or not.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The unskillful courses of action should not be activated; avoiding them and cultivating their opposites should be activated.
The same five-verb progression, now applied to conduct
AN 10.149 through 10.153 in chapter 15 established a five-verb progression (activate, cultivate, develop, make much of, recollect) applied to the ten-factor path; this discourse opens the identical five-verb progression applied instead to the ten courses of action — the same shift from classification to instruction, now doubled onto a second content base.
A slightly longer root title than chapter 15's version
This discourse's own root title, Uppādetabbadhammasutta, adds the word dhamma explicitly where chapter 15's AN 10.149 simply used Uppādetabbasutta alone — a small but consistent naming pattern across several discourses in this chapter's second half, worth checking discourse by discourse rather than assuming uniform titles.
Key terms
uppādetabbadhamma — “the principle that should be activated” — this discourse's own title, adding dhamma explicitly where chapter 15's AN 10.149 used the bare verb form alone.
na uppādetabbadhamma — “the principle that should not be activated” — the negation, applied to the ten courses of unskillful action.
uppāda — “arising” or origination, the root shared by this discourse's key verb, already noted at AN 10.149.
musāvādā veramaṇī — “avoiding false 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 the principle to activate and not to activate. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Not to be activated, and to be activated
§1“I will teach you the principle to activate and the principle not to activate. … And what is the principle not to activate? Killing living creatures … wrong view. This is called the principle not to activate. And what is the principle to activate? Not killing living creatures … right view. This is called the principle to activate.”
· · ·
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 first of this chapter's own five-verb practice progression, already established at chapter 15's AN 10.149.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what shift does this discourse mark within this chapter, echoing chapter 15's own structure?
Correct: B. The same classification-to-instruction shift chapter 15 made at its own halfway point.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what small naming difference does this discourse's title show compared to AN 10.149?
Correct: B. A small but consistent pattern worth checking discourse by discourse rather than assuming uniformity.
Question 4 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 5 of 6
What five-verb progression does this discourse open, matching chapter 15's own sequence?
Correct: B. The identical five verbs already established at chapter 15's AN 10.149 through 10.153.
Question 6 of 6
What chapter of AN10 does this discourse belong to?
Correct: B. The fourth chapter of the Fourth Fifty.
