Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Intentional deeds performed and accumulated must be experienced; the ten unskillful courses of action, counted as three bodily, four verbal, and three mental, lead to suffering, while their ten skillful opposites lead to happiness.
What survives compression, and what doesn't
This discourse keeps AN 10.217's opening doctrinal declaration and closing threefold grouping nearly word for word, but drops the dice simile entirely — checked against bilara-data before writing, confirming the omission rather than assuming the bare version simply abbreviates every element uniformly.
A quieter, more purely doctrinal close
Without the dice image, this discourse ends on the bare causal claim itself — deeds must be experienced — without the vivid comparison that gave AN 10.217 its most memorable moment, a noticeably flatter close for structurally identical content.
Key terms
The text
Intentional deeds must be experienced, compressed
§1“Mendicants, I don’t say that intentional deeds that have been performed and accumulated are eliminated without being experienced. And that may be in this very life, or in the next life, or in some subsequent period. But in any case, there is no making an end of suffering without experiencing intentional deeds that have been performed and accumulated, I say. Now, there are three kinds of corruption and failure of bodily action that have unskillful intention, with suffering as their outcome and result. There are four kinds of corruption and failure of verbal action that have unskillful intention, with suffering as their outcome and result. There are three kinds of corruption and failure of mental action that have unskillful intention, with suffering as their outcome and result. And what are the three kinds of corruption and failure of bodily action? … These are the three kinds of corruption and failure of bodily action. And what are the four kinds of corruption and failure of verbal action? … These are the four kinds of corruption and failure of verbal action. And what are the three kinds of corruption and failure of mental action? … These are the three kinds of corruption and failure of mental action. When their body breaks up, after death, sentient beings are reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell because of these three kinds of corruption and failure of bodily action, these four kinds of corruption and failure of verbal action, or these three kinds of corruption and failure of mental action that have unskillful intention, with suffering as their outcome and result. I don’t say that intentional deeds that have been performed and accumulated are eliminated without being experienced. And that may be in this very life, or in the next life, or in some subsequent period. But in any case, there is no making an end of suffering without experiencing intentional deeds that have been performed and accumulated, I say. Now, there are three kinds of successful bodily action that have skillful intention, with happiness as their outcome and result. There are four kinds of successful verbal action that have skillful intention, with happiness as their outcome and result. There are three kinds of successful mental action that have skillful intention, with happiness as their outcome and result. And what are the three kinds of successful bodily action? … These are the three kinds of successful bodily action. And what are the four kinds of successful verbal action? … These are the four kinds of successful verbal action. And what are the three kinds of successful mental action? … These are the three kinds of successful mental action. When their body breaks up, after death, sentient beings are reborn in a good place, in heaven because of these three kinds of successful bodily action, these four kinds of successful verbal action, or these three kinds of successful mental action that have skillful intention, with happiness as their outcome and result. …”
Self-check quiz
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