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 third base statement (rebirth in hell or heaven) run through the identical 10/20/30/40-quality escalation
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 more discourses (AN 10.229–232), applying the same escalation pattern to a third base statement — explicit rebirth in hell or heaven — closely echoing AN 10.221–224's own framing but phrased with upapajjati, is reborn, rather than the earlier nikkhitto, is placed.
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) is reborn, when the body breaks up after death, in a place of loss, the underworld, hell; a person with the ten skillful qualities, at the same escalating counts, is reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.
A close echo of this chapter's first base, not a repeat
This base statement's content is nearly identical in sense to AN 10.221–224's own hell/heaven framing, but checked against bilara-data before writing, the actual phrasing differs: where the first base used nikkhitto evaṁ niraye, “placed in hell as if delivered there,” this one uses the more standard rebirth vocabulary kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā…upapajjati, “when the body breaks up, after death, is reborn…,” already familiar from many other discourses across this project.
The most conventional of this chapter's four bases
Where AN 10.221–224 used a vivid, slightly unusual idiom and AN 10.225–228 used a bodily-integrity metaphor, this third base statement is the most standard and familiar rebirth-language in the entire chapter, matching the ordinary phrasing already used at dozens of discourses throughout this nipāta.
Third of four bases, one more still to come
With this compressed page, three of this chapter's four base statements are now complete; only AN 10.233–236's fool/astute-person framing remains before the chapter closes and the Fifth Fifty moves toward its own final, much larger peyyāla at chapter 23.
Key terms
kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā apāyaṁ duggatiṁ vinipātaṁ nirayaṁ upapajjati — “when the body breaks up, after death, is reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell” — this compressed range's own base phrase, the most standard rebirth vocabulary of this chapter's four bases.
sugatiṁ saggaṁ lokaṁ upapajjati — “is reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm” — the mirrored positive phrase.
nikkhitto evaṁ niraye — “placed in hell as if delivered there” — the more unusual idiom used at this chapter's first base statement, AN 10.221–224, distinct from this range's own more conventional phrasing.
samādapeti, samanuñño hoti, vaṇṇaṁ bhāsati — “encourages, approves of, speaks in praise of” — the same three escalation verbs reused from this chapter's first base statement.
apāya, duggati, vinipāta — “place of loss, bad place, underworld” — three near-synonymous terms compounded together before “hell” itself, a formula already met constantly across this project's rebirth-destination language.
The text
The compressed text in full: rebirth in hell or heaven, run through the same ten/twenty/thirty/forty-quality escalation. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Reborn in hell, or heaven, across four escalating counts
§1“When they have ten qualities, some people, when their body breaks up, after death, are reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell. … some people, when their body breaks up, after death, are reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm … 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 third of this chapter's four base statements, run through the same escalation.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, how does this base statement's phrasing differ from AN 10.221–224's, even though the sense is nearly identical?
Correct: B. Confirmed against bilara-data before writing, rather than assumed identical phrasing.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, how does this base statement compare to the other three in this chapter?
Correct: B. The most conventional of this chapter's four bases.
Question 4 of 6
How many of this chapter's four base statements are complete after this compressed page, according to the guide?
Correct: C. Only the fool/astute-person base (AN 10.233–236) remains before this chapter closes.
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 escalation verbs are reused from this chapter's first base statement, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The identical three escalation verbs already met at AN 10.222–224.
