Āghātapaṭivinayasutta — Ākaṅkhavagga — the eighth chapter of the Tens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The identical nine-part grid as AN 10.79, each ground answered with a disarming question
Length
under 1 minute to read
Closing this chapter
This discourse closes Ākaṅkhavagga, the eighth chapter, with its own untranslated colophon and uddāna verse naming all ten discourses
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — familiar structure, close mirror to AN 10.79
Why this discourse
Immediately following AN 10.79's precise map of resentment, this discourse gives the exact antidote to each of the same ten grounds — not a general instruction to let go, but one specific disarming question fitted to each specific ground.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Every one of AN 10.79's ten grounds for resentment is dissolved by asking the same disarming question, “but what can I possibly do?”, applied to each of the same nine time-and-concern combinations plus the same tenth, groundless case.
The identical grid, now defused
This discourse does not introduce a new structure: it takes AN 10.79's exact nine-part grid of tenses and concerns, unchanged, and simply appends the same disarming clause — “but what can I possibly do?” — to each of the nine grounds in turn.
Acceptance of powerlessness as the antidote
Rather than offering active countermeasures — forgiveness rituals, loving-kindness practice, or reasoned argument — the remedy here is a simple acknowledgment of one's own powerlessness over what has already happened, is happening, or might happen: since nothing can actually be done about it, the resentment has nothing left to hold onto.
Closing the chapter with a completed pair
As the second half of this chapter's clearest matched pair, this discourse closes Ākaṅkhavagga by completing the diagnosis AN 10.79 opened — problem and remedy given as two separate discourses rather than combined into one — with its own colophon and uddāna verse naming all ten discourses of the chapter.
Key terms
āghātapaṭivinaya — “getting rid of resentment” — this discourse's own title, the direct remedy to AN 10.79's āghātavatthu.
taṁ kutettha labbhā — “but what can I possibly do?” — the single disarming clause appended to every one of the ten grounds, dissolving resentment through acknowledged powerlessness.
Ākaṅkhavaggo tatiyo — “the Wishing Chapter, the third” — the chapter's own closing colophon, left untranslated in the English text.
anatthaṁ me acari, taṁ kutettha labbhā — “they did wrong to me, but what can I possibly do?” — the first ground, defused, mirroring AN 10.79's opening formula.
uddāna — a summary verse naming, in brief, all ten discourses just covered — here closing the chapter, left untranslated in the English text.
The text
The discourse in full: all ten grounds for resentment, each answered with the same disarming question. The chapter's own colophon and uddāna verse, in Pāli only, are described but not reproduced. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Ten ways to get rid of resentment
§1“Mendicants, there are these ten ways to get rid of resentment. What ten? Thinking: ‘They harmed me, but what can I possibly do?’ you get rid of resentment. Thinking: ‘They are harming me …’ … ‘They will harm me …’ … ‘They harmed someone I love …’ … ‘They are harming someone I love …’ ‘They will harm someone I love …’ … They helped someone I dislike …’ … ‘They are helping someone I dislike …’ … Thinking: ‘They will help someone I dislike, but what can I possibly do?’ you get rid of resentment. And you don’t get angry for no reason. These are the ten ways of getting rid of 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 does this discourse's structure compare to AN 10.79's?
Correct: B. The same map, now paired with its own remedy.
Question 2 of 5
What is the single disarming clause appended to every ground?
Correct: B. A question acknowledging powerlessness, repeated for each of the ten grounds.
Question 3 of 5
According to the guide, what kind of remedy does this discourse offer, compared to active countermeasures like forgiveness rituals or loving-kindness practice?
Correct: B. Since nothing can be done, the guide notes, resentment loses what it was holding onto.
Question 4 of 5
What does this discourse close, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Problem and remedy given as two separate, paired discourses.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
