Bhāvetabbadhammasutta — 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 seventh of this chapter's ten near-identical variations
Why this discourse
This discourse reruns chapter 15's use of bhāveti, this project's own single most frequently used meditative verb, now anchored to the ten courses of action rather than the ten-factor path.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The unskillful courses of action should not be developed; avoiding them and cultivating their opposites should be developed.
The project's own constant verb, anchored a second time
As already noted at AN 10.151, bhāveti is arguably the most frequently used meditative verb across this entire project; this discourse anchors it a second time to a specific, named content — this time the ten courses of action, joining the ten-factor path as another concrete referent for a term normally left generic.
The same compound-splitting move, repeated
As at AN 10.151–152 in chapter 15, this discourse and its own neighbor, AN 10.196, will together reproduce the fused compound phrase “developed and cultivated” (bhāvitā bahulīkatā) as two separate discourses — the identical structural device, now applied to a different underlying content.
Key terms
bhāvetabbadhamma — “the principle that should be developed” — this discourse's own title, using this project's single most frequently used meditative verb, bhāveti.
na bhāvetabbadhamma — “the principle that should not be developed” — the negation, applied to the ten courses of unskillful action.
bhāveti — “to develop” — the project's most common meditative verb, already anchored once at chapter 15's AN 10.151, here anchored a second time.
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 the principle to develop and not to develop. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Not to be developed, and to be developed
§1“I will teach you the principle to develop and the principle not to develop. … Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak. And what is the principle not to develop? Killing living creatures … wrong view. This is called the principle not to develop. And what is the principle to develop? Not killing living creatures … right view. This is called the principle to develop.”
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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. This project's single most frequently used meditative verb, applied a second time to a new content.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what structural move does this discourse repeat from chapter 15?
Correct: B. The identical device already used at AN 10.151–152, now applied to the ten courses of action.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what does anchoring "bhāveti" here a second time accomplish?
Correct: B. A second specific content anchored to this project's own most constant verb.
Question 4 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 5 of 6
How many of this chapter's five closing practice-verbs has this discourse now supplied, counting itself?
Correct: B. Activate, cultivate, and develop — two more (make much of, recollect) remain before this chapter's final discourse.
Question 6 of 6
What chapter of AN10 does this discourse belong to?
Correct: B. The fourth chapter of the Fourth Fifty.
