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Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 10.212

Heaven and Hell (2nd)

Dutiyanirayasaggasutta — Karajakāyavagga — the twenty-first chapter of the Tens, opening the Fifth Fifty

Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The identical content as AN 10.211, compressed to bare item names
Length
~1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — a bare restatement of AN 10.211's content

Why this discourse

Following AN 10.211's full, vivid description, this discourse restates the identical ten-and-ten teaching in compressed form, keeping only the killing item's own vivid detail and abbreviating the remaining nine.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

A person with the ten unskillful courses of action is placed in hell as if delivered there; a person with the ten skillful courses of action is placed in heaven as if delivered there.

A partial compression, not a full one

Unlike this chapter's later bare-repeat discourses, this one keeps the first item (killing) in AN 10.211's own full vivid language before abbreviating items two through ten with peyyāla ellipses — a partial rather than total compression, checked against bilara-data before writing rather than assumed uniform.

The first of this chapter's several bare-repeat pairs

As already seen repeatedly across chapters 13 through 20, this discourse forms a narrative-then-bare pair with AN 10.211 — the same structural device this project has used dozens of times, here opening the Fifth Fifty with an immediately familiar pattern.

Key terms

nirayasagga — “hell and heaven,” this discourse's own root title element, identical to AN 10.211's.
luddo lohitapāṇi — “violent, bloody-handed” — kept in full from AN 10.211 for the killing item, unlike the abbreviated items that follow it.
pe — the standard peyyāla ellipsis marker, used here for items two through nine (stealing through wrong view), pointing back to AN 10.211's own full descriptions.
micchādiṭṭhiko hoti — “has wrong view” — the tenth item, also given only as a bare name here rather than the full nihilistic formula spelled out at AN 10.211.
nikkhitto evaṁ sagge — “placed in heaven as if delivered there” — the positive half of the discourse's recurring closing phrase, unchanged from AN 10.211.

The text

The discourse in full: the ten courses of action leading to hell and heaven, in compressed form. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

Hell, compressed

§1“Someone with ten qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there. What ten? It’s when a certain person kills living creatures. They’re violent, bloody-handed, a hardened killer, merciless to living beings. They steal. … They commit sexual misconduct. … They lie. … They backbite. … They speak harshly. … They indulge in talking nonsense. … They’re covetous. … They have cruel intentions. … They have wrong view. … Someone with these ten qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there.

Heaven, compressed

§2Someone with ten qualities is placed in heaven as if delivered there. What ten? It’s when a certain person gives up killing living creatures. They renounce the rod and the sword. They’re scrupulous and kind, living full of sympathy for all living beings. They give up stealing. … They give up sexual misconduct. … They give up lying. … They give up backbiting. … They give up harsh speech. … They give up talking nonsense. … They’re content. … They’re kind hearted. … They have right view. … Someone with these ten qualities is placed in heaven as if delivered there.”

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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
How does this discourse relate to AN 10.211 immediately preceding it?
Correct: B. A bare restatement of a teaching just delivered in full detail.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what makes this discourse's compression "partial rather than total"?
Correct: B. Confirmed against bilara-data before writing rather than assumed uniform.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what structural device does this discourse form with AN 10.211?
Correct: B. An immediately familiar pattern opening the Fifth Fifty.
Question 4 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 5 of 6
Which single item keeps its full vivid description in this discourse, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The opening item, before the remaining nine are abbreviated.
Question 6 of 6
What chapter of AN10 does this discourse belong to?
Correct: B. The twenty-first chapter, opening the Fifth Fifty.
Answered 0 of 6 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousAN 10.211 · Heaven and Hell (1st)