Bahulīkātabbasutta — 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 eighth of this chapter's ten near-identical variations
Why this discourse
As anticipated at AN 10.195, this discourse supplies bahulīkaroti, completing the compound split with its own bare title, Bahulīkātabbasutta — dropping this chapter's recent pattern of adding dhamma, matching chapter 15's own AN 10.152 title exactly.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The unskillful courses of action should not be made much of; avoiding them and cultivating their opposites should be made much of.
A naming pattern, broken as suddenly as it appeared
AN 10.193 through 10.195 each added dhamma to their own root titles where chapter 15's corresponding discourses used bare verb forms; this discourse breaks that pattern, returning to the exact bare title Bahulīkātabbasutta, identical to chapter 15's AN 10.152 — confirming, as already seen at chapter 18, that this nipāta's naming choices vary within a chapter rather than following one uniform rule throughout.
Literally making much or plentiful, now for concrete acts
As already noted at AN 10.152, bahulīkātabba derives from bahula, plentiful; applied to the ten courses of action, the image suggests not occasional restraint but habitual, thoroughgoing practice — avoiding harm not once but abundantly, as a settled way of acting.
Key terms
bahulīkātabba — “should be made much of” or made abundant — this discourse's own title, matching chapter 15's AN 10.152 exactly, breaking the added-dhamma pattern of the three preceding discourses.
na bahulīkātabba — “should not be made much of” — the negation, applied to the ten courses of unskillful action.
bahula — “abundant” or plentiful — the root shared by this discourse's key verb, already noted at AN 10.152.
samphappalāpā veramaṇī — “avoiding talking nonsense” — 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 make much of and not to make much of. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Not to be made much of, and to be made much of
§1“I will teach you the principle to make much of and the principle not to make much of. … And what is the principle not to make much of? Killing living creatures … wrong view. This is called the principle not to make much of. And what is the principle to make much of? Not killing living creatures … right view. This is called the principle to make much of.”
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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 term most commonly paired with bhāveti, completing the compound split begun at AN 10.195.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what naming pattern does this discourse break?
Correct: B. Confirming this nipāta's naming choices vary within a chapter rather than following one uniform rule.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what does "bahulīkātabba" suggest when applied to concrete acts?
Correct: B. The same sense of abundance already noted at AN 10.152, now applied to conduct rather than factors.
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: C. Activate, cultivate, develop, and make much of — only recollect remains 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.
