Visāradasutta — 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 ten-item list, reframed around psychological self-assurance rather than rebirth destination
Length
under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — closing this chapter's short run of female-subject discourses
Why this discourse
Closing this chapter's three-discourse run narrowing toward women, this discourse makes the most significant shift yet: not what happens after death, but whether a laywoman living at home can feel visārada, self-assured, in this very life.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A laywoman living at home with the ten unskillful courses of action is not self-assured; a laywoman with the ten skillful courses of action is self-assured.
From cosmic destination to felt confidence
AN 10.211 through 10.214 all framed the same ten-item standard around where a person ends up after death (hell or heaven); this discourse instead asks about a present psychological state, visārada, self-assurance or confidence, felt now rather than determined for the hereafter.
Living at home, a specific social frame
The phrase “laywoman living at home” (gharāvāsā anassāsikā in negation) specifically situates this discourse's concern within domestic, householder life rather than monastic renunciation — ethical conduct is framed here as the basis for confident participation in ordinary social and family life, not merely as a determinant of cosmic destiny.
A compression matching AN 10.214's own pattern
As at AN 10.214, this discourse's own source keeps only the first item (killing) and the tenth (wrong view) explicit, checked directly against bilara-data rather than assumed identical to the fuller versions at AN 10.211–213.
Key terms
visārada — “self-assured” or confident — this discourse's own title, marking a shift from cosmic destination to present psychological state.
anassāsikā — “not self-assured” — the negation, though the discourse's own English rendering frames it positively as lacking assurance rather than as a technical negative compound.
gharāvāsā — “living at home” — specifically framing this discourse's concern within domestic, householder life.
pāṇātipātinī — “she kills living creatures” — the sole unskillful item kept explicit, matching AN 10.214's own compression.
micchādiṭṭhikā — “she has wrong view” — the sole remaining explicit item, closing the compressed list.
The text
The discourse in full: the ten courses of action determining whether a laywoman living at home is self-assured. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Not self-assured
§1“A laywoman living at home with these ten qualities is not self-assured. What ten? She kills living creatures. … She has wrong view. … A laywoman living at home with these ten qualities is not self-assured.
Self-assured
§2A laywoman living at home with these ten qualities is self-assured. What ten? She doesn’t kill living creatures. … She has right view. … A laywoman living at home with these ten qualities is self-assured.”
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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 does this discourse ask about, distinct from AN 10.211–214's own framing?
Correct: B. A shift from cosmic destination to felt confidence in the present.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what does "living at home" specifically frame this discourse's concern within?
Correct: B. A concern with lived, present-life confidence rather than only cosmic destiny.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, how does this discourse's compression compare to AN 10.214's own?
Correct: B. Checked directly against bilara-data rather than assumed identical to the fuller earlier versions.
Question 4 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 5 of 6
According to the guide, what does this discourse close within this chapter?
Correct: B. The chapter's final female-subject discourse before AN 10.216 returns to a general audience.
Question 6 of 6
What chapter of AN10 does this discourse belong to?
Correct: B. The twenty-first chapter, opening the Fifth Fifty.
