Saṅghabhedasutta — Upālivagga — the fourth chapter of the Tens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
Venerable Upāli questioning the Buddha
Form
A single question, a single ten-ground definition in five mirrored pairs
Length
~1 minute to read
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — repetitive by design, five paired categories
Why this discourse
Upāli asks for the technical definition of schism in the Saṅgha — one of the gravest acts named anywhere in the canon. The Buddha's answer is precise and structural: misrepresenting the teaching, the training, and the Realized One's own words, practice, and prescriptions, each in both directions, across five categories that combine into ten grounds.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Schism in the Saṅgha is defined as a mendicant misrepresenting five things — the teaching, the training, what the Realized One said, what he practiced, and what he prescribed — explaining each as its opposite, then splitting off to perform legal acts and recite the monastic code independently.
Five categories, doubled into ten
As with AN 10.32's grounds for suspending recitation, the list is not ten unrelated items but five paired reversals: for each of five categories, the schismatic explains what is not the case as if it were, and what is the case as if it were not — ten grounds from five underlying distortions.
A definition, not a narrative
This discourse gives the abstract legal definition of schism without naming any individual or incident; the canon elsewhere associates schism with the specific figure of Devadatta, but nothing here names him or narrates an actual case — this is the criterion itself, stated in the driest possible terms.
Gravity to be revealed two discourses later
Nothing in this discourse states what schism actually costs the one who causes it; that consequence — an eon in hell — is withheld until AN 10.39, where Ānanda asks the follow-up question this discourse leaves open.
Key terms
saṅghabheda — “schism in the Saṅgha” — a formal, legally defined split, this discourse's own title, and counted elsewhere in the canon among the gravest possible acts.
adhammaṁ dhammoti dīpeti — “explains what is not the teaching as the teaching” — the first of the five reversals defining schism.
āveni kammāni karonti, āveni pātimokkhaṁ uddisanti — “they perform legal acts autonomously and recite the monastic code autonomously” — the concrete, institutional act that follows from the ten grounds: operating as a separate Saṅgha.
avinayaṁ vinayoti dīpeti — “explains what is not the training as the training” — the second of the five reversals defining schism.
bhinno — “split” — the state Upāli asks about at the outset: at what point is the Saṅgha considered split?
The text
The discourse in full: Upāli's question, and the Buddha's definition of schism. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Upāli's question
§1“Sir, they speak of ‘schism in the Saṅgha’. How is schism in the Saṅgha defined?”
Ten grounds defining schism
§2“Upāli, it’s when a mendicant explains what is not the teaching as the teaching, and what is the teaching as not the teaching. They explain what is not the training as the training, and what is the training as not the training. They explain what was not spoken and stated by the Realized One as spoken and stated by the Realized One, and what was spoken and stated by the Realized One as not spoken and stated by the Realized One. They explain what was not practiced by the Realized One as practiced by the Realized One, and what was practiced by the Realized One as not practiced by the Realized One. They explain what was not prescribed by the Realized One as prescribed by the Realized One, and what was prescribed by the Realized One as not prescribed by the Realized One. On these ten grounds they split off and go their own way. They perform legal acts autonomously and recite the monastic code autonomously. That is how schism in the Saṅgha is defined.”
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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 Upāli ask about in this discourse?
Correct: A. The technical definition of one of the canon's gravest acts.
Question 2 of 6
How is the ten-ground definition actually structured?
Correct: B. Five paired reversals, the same structural device as AN 10.32's grounds for suspending recitation.
Question 3 of 6
Which of these is one of the five categories misrepresented?
Correct: A. One of five categories: the teaching, the training, and what the Realized One said, practiced, and prescribed.
Question 4 of 6
According to the guide, does this discourse name Devadatta or narrate an actual case of schism?
Correct: B. A dry, structural definition, not a narrative.
Question 5 of 6
According to the guide, where is the consequence of causing schism revealed?
Correct: B. This discourse defines schism; AN 10.39 reveals its cost.
Question 6 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given, as throughout this chapter.
