Untitled in the source — Sāmaññavagga — the twenty-second chapter of the Tens, one core pattern multiplied across four bases and four escalating counts
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A new base statement (keeping oneself broken or intact) run through the identical 10/20/30/40-quality escalation already met at AN 10.221–224
Length
under 1 minute to read the compressed text; the full four-discourse expansion would take about three
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — brief text, but tracking the escalation against a new base takes care
Why this discourse
This single page stands for four discourses (AN 10.225–228), applying this chapter's own escalation pattern — doing, encouraging, approving, and praising the same ten acts, at ten, twenty, thirty, and forty qualities — to a new base statement: keeping oneself “broken and damaged” or “intact and unscathed.”
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A person with the ten unskillful qualities (escalating to twenty, thirty, and forty through encouraging, approving, and praising them) keeps themselves broken and damaged; a person with the ten skillful qualities, at the same escalating counts, keeps themselves intact and unscathed.
A new image, the same underlying multiplication
Checked against bilara-data before writing, this compressed range applies the identical structure already run at AN 10.221–224 — base ten acts, crossed against four escalating modes of involvement — but replaces the rebirth-destination language (hell/heaven) with a bodily integrity image: “broken and damaged” (khataṁ upahataṁ) versus “intact and unscathed” (akkhataṁ anupahataṁ).
A metaphor of self-harm through unskillful conduct
“Keeping oneself broken and damaged” frames unskillful conduct not primarily as a cosmic offense against others or as a determinant of rebirth destination, but as a kind of self-inflicted injury — the person who kills, steals, and encourages others to do the same is, on this image, damaging their own integrity in the process.
Second of four bases, following an established rhythm
As this chapter's second base statement, this compressed page occupies the same structural position AN 10.156–166 and AN 10.199–210 occupied in chapters 16 and 20 — a merged peyyāla page standing in for several individually numbered discourses, following this project's now well-established convention.
Key terms
khataṁ upahataṁ attānaṁ pariharati — “keeps themselves broken and damaged” — this compressed range's own base phrase for the unskillful side, replacing AN 10.221–224's hell/heaven language.
akkhataṁ anupahataṁ attānaṁ pariharati — “keeps themselves intact and unscathed” — the mirrored positive phrase.
samādapeti — “encourages” — the same escalation verb already met at AN 10.222, reused here for the twenty-quality step.
samanuñño hoti — “approves of” — the same escalation verb already met at AN 10.223, reused here for the thirty-quality step.
vaṇṇaṁ bhāsati — “speaks in praise of” — the same escalation verb already met at AN 10.224, reused here for the forty-quality step.
The text
The compressed text in full: keeping oneself broken or intact, run through the same ten/twenty/thirty/forty-quality escalation. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Broken, or intact, across four escalating counts
§1“Someone with ten qualities keeps themselves broken and damaged … keeps themselves intact and unscathed … twenty … thirty … forty …”
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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 compressed page stand for?
Correct: B. The second of this chapter's four base statements, run through the same 10/20/30/40 escalation.
Question 2 of 6
What new base statement does this compressed range use in place of AN 10.221–224's hell/heaven language?
Correct: B. A bodily integrity image, confirmed against bilara-data before writing.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, how does "keeping oneself broken and damaged" frame unskillful conduct?
Correct: B. A metaphor of self-harm through unskillful conduct.
Question 4 of 6
According to the guide, what structural position does this compressed page occupy within this chapter?
Correct: B. The same convention already established in chapters 16 and 20.
Question 5 of 6
Where is this compressed passage set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this compressed passage.
Question 6 of 6
What four escalation verbs run through this chapter's own multiplication, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The same four modes already established at AN 10.221–224.
