Āghātavatthusutta — Ākaṅkhavagga — the eighth chapter of the Tens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A nine-part grid (three tenses times three objects) plus one further, unreasoned ground
Length
under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — a clean, systematic structure
Why this discourse
This discourse maps resentment with unusual precision: not a vague list of grievances, but nine grounds generated by crossing three time-frames against three kinds of concern — plus a tenth ground that needs no justification at all.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Resentment arises on ten grounds: thinking someone wronged, is wronging, or will wrong you, or someone you love, in the past, present, or future; thinking someone helped, is helping, or will help someone you dislike; and, tenth, getting angry for no reason at all.
A three-by-three grid, precisely built
The first nine grounds are not nine separate ideas but a single systematic grid: three time-frames (past, present, future) crossed against three concerns (harm to me, harm to someone I love, help given to someone I dislike) — a rare instance in this project of a list built by explicit combinatorial logic rather than simple enumeration.
Resentment about the future, not just the past
Unlike most discussions of grudge-holding, which naturally focus on remembered wrongs, this grid gives equal weight to anticipated future wrongs — resenting someone now for something they have not yet done, a subtler and more speculative form of the same underlying pattern.
A tenth ground that breaks the pattern
After nine grounds generated by systematic combination, the tenth stands entirely apart: resentment with no reason at all, no wrong done, no one harmed, no future threat — naming a raw, groundless irritability the grid's own logic cannot capture.
Key terms
āghātavatthu — “ground for resentment” — this discourse's own title, naming each of the ten triggers in turn.
anatthaṁ me acari, āghātaṁ bandhati — “they did wrong to me, you harbor resentment” — the recurring formula generating the first three grounds, in past, present, and future tense.
piyassa manāpassa anatthaṁ — “wrong done to someone I love” — the second of the three concerns crossed against the three tenses.
appiyassa amanāpassa atthaṁ — “help given to someone I dislike” — the third of the three concerns completing the grid.
asatiyā kopo — “anger for no reason” — the tenth ground, standing outside the systematic three-by-three grid entirely.
The text
The discourse in full: all ten grounds for resentment. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Ten grounds for resentment
§1“Mendicants, there are ten grounds for resentment. What ten? Thinking: ‘They did wrong to me,’ you harbor resentment. Thinking: ‘They are doing wrong to me’ … ‘They will do wrong to me’ … ‘They did wrong by someone I love’ … ‘They are doing wrong by someone I love’ … ‘They will do wrong by someone I love’ … ‘They helped someone I dislike’ … ‘They are helping someone I dislike’ … Thinking: ‘They will help someone I dislike,’ you harbor resentment. You get angry for no reason. These are the ten grounds for resentment.”
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Self-check quiz
5 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 5
How are the first nine grounds for resentment structured, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A rare instance of explicit combinatorial logic generating a list.
Question 2 of 5
What does the guide note as unusual about this discourse's treatment of time?
Correct: B. Resentment about something not yet done, a subtler form of the same pattern.
Question 3 of 5
What is the tenth ground for resentment?
Correct: B. A ground standing outside the systematic grid's own logic.
Question 4 of 5
What are the three "concerns" crossed against the three tenses in this discourse's grid?
Correct: B. Three distinct objects of concern, each crossed against three time-frames.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
