Āsevitabbadhammasutta — 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 sixth of this chapter's ten near-identical variations
Why this discourse
This discourse reruns chapter 15's habitual-resort verb (āsevati, to frequent or cultivate), continuing this chapter's own five-verb progression now for the ten courses of action.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The unskillful courses of action should not be cultivated; avoiding them and cultivating their opposites should be cultivated.
The second verb, the same added dhamma
As at AN 10.193, this discourse's root title adds dhamma explicitly where chapter 15's AN 10.150 used the bare verb form — the same small naming pattern continuing into the second verb of this chapter's own five-verb run.
Habitual resort, now toward or away from concrete acts
As already noted at AN 10.150, āsevitabba shares its root with sevati, to frequent or associate with; applying it to the ten courses of action makes the metaphor of habitual resort unusually direct — not returning to an abstract factor but to (or away from) a specific repeatable action.
Key terms
āsevitabbadhamma — “the principle that should be cultivated” — this discourse's own title, adding dhamma explicitly where chapter 15's AN 10.150 used the bare verb form.
na āsevitabbadhamma — “the principle that should not be cultivated” — the negation, applied to the ten courses of unskillful action.
sevati — “to frequent” or associate with — the root shared by this discourse's key verb, already noted at AN 10.150.
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 the principle to cultivate and not to cultivate. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Not to be cultivated, and to be cultivated
§1“I will teach you the principle to cultivate and the principle not to cultivate. … And what is the principle not to cultivate? Killing living creatures … wrong view. This is called the principle not to cultivate. And what is the principle to cultivate? Not killing living creatures … right view. This is called the principle to cultivate.”
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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 second verb in this chapter's own five-verb practice progression, already met at chapter 15's AN 10.150.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what root does this discourse's key verb share?
Correct: B. A verb of habitual resort, applied here to concrete acts.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what does applying "habitual resort" to the ten courses of action make unusually direct?
Correct: B. A more concrete fit between the verb's own image and its content.
Question 4 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 5 of 6
What naming pattern continues from AN 10.193 into this discourse, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A small but consistent naming shift across this chapter's second half.
Question 6 of 6
What chapter of AN10 does this discourse belong to?
Correct: B. The fourth chapter of the Fourth Fifty.
