Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Venerable Sāriputta restates AN 11.3's teaching to the mendicants directly, unchanged: each link in the ten-link chain is a vital condition for the next, destroyed by its absence or fulfilled by its presence, exactly as a tree lacking or having branches and foliage.
A disciple speaks the Buddha's own words
This discourse opens not with the Buddha addressing the mendicants but with Sāriputta himself calling out ‘Reverends, mendicants!’ and delivering the identical teaching just given at AN 11.3 — a familiar pattern in this project of a senior disciple restating the Buddha's own teaching under his own authority, without any framing narrative explaining why.
What changes, and what does not
Every substantive line of the vital-conditions chain and both tree similes matches AN 11.3 exactly; the only difference is the opening frame identifying Sāriputta as speaker and the mendicants, rather than an unnamed audience, as those addressed — content and authority are treated as fully separable here.
A pattern this project has met before
The move of reassigning an identical teaching to a named disciple, without further comment on why, echoes earlier instances across this project where the Buddha's own teaching is restated by Sāriputta, Ānanda, or Mahākaccāna — treated as carrying full authority simply because the content is identical, not because a narrative justifies the substitution.
Key terms
The text
Sāriputta addresses the mendicants
§1There Venerable Sāriputta addressed the mendicants: “Reverends, mendicants!” “Reverend,” they replied. Sāriputta said this:
Destroyed, like a branchless tree
§2“An unethical person, who lacks ethics, has destroyed a vital condition for not having regrets. When there are regrets, one who has regrets has destroyed a vital condition for joy. When there is no joy, one who lacks joy has destroyed a vital condition for rapture. When there is no rapture, one who lacks rapture has destroyed a vital condition for tranquility. When there is no tranquility, one who lacks tranquility has destroyed a vital condition for bliss. When there is no bliss, one who lacks bliss has destroyed a vital condition for right immersion. When there is no right immersion, one who lacks right immersion has destroyed a vital condition for true knowledge and vision. When there is no true knowledge and vision, one who lacks true knowledge and vision has destroyed a vital condition for disillusionment. When there is no disillusionment, one who lacks disillusionment has destroyed a vital condition for dispassion. When there is no dispassion, one who lacks dispassion has destroyed a vital condition for knowledge and vision of freedom. Suppose there was a tree that lacked branches and foliage. Its shoots, bark, softwood, and heartwood would not grow to fullness. In the same way, an unethical person, who lacks ethics, has destroyed a vital condition for having no regrets. When there are regrets, one who has regrets has destroyed a vital condition for joy. … When there is dispassion, one who lacks dispassion has destroyed a vital condition for knowledge and vision of freedom.
Fulfilled, like a tree in full leaf
§3An ethical person, who has fulfilled ethics, has fulfilled a vital condition for not having regrets. When there are no regrets, one who has no regrets has fulfilled a vital condition for joy. When there is joy, one who has fulfilled joy has fulfilled a vital condition for rapture. When there is rapture, one who has fulfilled rapture has fulfilled a vital condition for tranquility. When there is tranquility, one who has fulfilled tranquility has fulfilled a vital condition for bliss. When there is bliss, one who has fulfilled bliss has fulfilled a vital condition for right immersion. When there is right immersion, one who has fulfilled right immersion has fulfilled a vital condition for true knowledge and vision. When there is true knowledge and vision, one who has fulfilled true knowledge and vision has fulfilled a vital condition for disillusionment. When there is disillusionment, one who has fulfilled disillusionment has fulfilled a vital condition for dispassion. When there is dispassion, one who has fulfilled dispassion has fulfilled a vital condition for knowledge and vision of freedom. Suppose there was a tree that was complete with branches and foliage. Its shoots, bark, softwood, and heartwood would grow to fullness. In the same way, an ethical person, who has fulfilled ethics, has fulfilled a vital condition for not having regrets. When there are no regrets, one who has no regrets has fulfilled a vital condition for joy. … When there is dispassion, one who has fulfilled dispassion has fulfilled a vital condition for knowledge and vision of freedom.”
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