Anussaritabbasutta — 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 ninth of this chapter's ten near-identical variations
Why this discourse
Closing this chapter's own five-verb progression, this discourse turns from active cultivation to memory, holding avoidance of the ten courses of unskillful action in mind even after direct practice has moved elsewhere.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The unskillful courses of action should not be recollected; avoiding them and cultivating their opposites should be recollected.
The fifth and final verb, title matching chapter 15 exactly
As with AN 10.196, this discourse's title matches its chapter 15 counterpart, AN 10.153, exactly — the added-dhamma pattern seen at AN 10.193–195 does not extend to either of this chapter's final two practice-verb discourses.
The same recollective faculty, now for conduct
As already noted at AN 10.153, anussarati belongs to the broader vocabulary of recollection practices (anussati) applied elsewhere to the Buddha, the teaching, and the Saṅgha; here that same faculty is applied to holding avoidance of concrete unskillful acts in mind, a more immediately practical object of recollection than an abstract path-factor.
One discourse before this chapter closes
With this discourse, the chapter has now completed all five of its closing practice-verbs; only AN 10.198 remains, closing both this chapter and, echoing chapter 15's own closing pattern one Fifty later, standing as this chapter's final word.
Key terms
anussaritabba — “should be recollected” — this discourse's own title, matching chapter 15's AN 10.153 exactly.
na anussaritabba — “should not be recollected” — the negation, applied to the ten courses of unskillful action.
anussati — “recollection” — the broader vocabulary of contemplative memory practices this discourse's key verb belongs to, already noted at AN 10.153.
abhijjhā — “covetousness” — the first of the three mental courses of action 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 recollect and not to recollect. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Not to be recollected, and to be recollected
§1“I will teach you the principle to recollect and the principle not to recollect. … And what is the principle not to recollect? Killing living creatures … wrong view. This is called the principle not to recollect. And what is the principle to recollect? Not killing living creatures … right view. This is called the principle to recollect.”
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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 fifth and final verb in this chapter's own closing practice progression.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, how does this discourse's title compare to AN 10.153's?
Correct: B. A return to exact title-matching, as already seen at AN 10.196.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what makes this discourse's object of recollection "more immediately practical" than AN 10.153's own version?
Correct: B. The same recollective faculty, applied here to conduct rather than an abstract path.
Question 4 of 6
According to the guide, what does this discourse's position anticipate?
Correct: B. The final discourse in this chapter's own ten-discourse run.
Question 5 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 6 of 6
What chapter of AN10 does this discourse belong to?
Correct: B. The fourth chapter of the Fourth Fifty.
