Akusalasutta — Bālavagga — the first chapter of the Threes
Setting
None stated; the discourse continues from AN 3.1, whose setting at Sāvatthī is understood to hold
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The chapter’s standing template with one term substituted
Length
under a minute to read
Northern parallel
Comparable material appears in the Chinese Madhyama-āgama (T26); this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — a substitution, and worth one observation
Why this discourse
Three discourses in a row now run the same template with one word changed: unskillful deeds, then blameworthy deeds, then hurtful deeds, each by way of body, speech, and mind. Nothing new is asserted. What the sequence does is show that the chapter’s criterion survives translation into every register in which conduct can be judged, and this first substitution is where that becomes visible.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A fool is known by unskillful deeds of body, speech, and mind; an astute person by skillful ones.
What akusala means, and does not
Kusala and akusala are usually Englished skillful and unskillful, and the choice is deliberate on the part of most modern translators. The word’s range covers wholesome, healthy, proficient, and clever; it is not primarily a moral term in the sense of permitted and forbidden.
That matters here. AN 3.2 gave the same three things as bad conduct, which is a moral description. This discourse gives them as unskillful deeds, which is a description of competence. The conduct has not changed. What has changed is the frame in which it is being judged, and the collection is showing that both frames pick out the same acts.
Anyone teaching this material to students who bristle at moral language has a use for this discourse. The chapter is not less demanding under the skill description — it is the same three items — but a person who will not accept “bad” will often accept “this does not work.”
Three discourses, one move
AN 3.6, 3.7, and 3.8 substitute unskillful, blameworthy, and hurtful into the same sentence. Read as a set, they cover three distinct kinds of judgment: whether an act works, whether it can be criticized, and whether it does damage.
These are separable, and the collection knows it. An act can be blameless and still unskillful; an act can be skillful in the narrow sense and still hurtful. By running the same three items through all three predicates, the chapter claims that in the case of bad conduct by body, speech, and mind, the three judgments coincide. That is a claim, not a tautology, and it is the reason three discourses exist where one would have served.
Key terms
kusala / akusala — “skillful” and “unskillful” — a range covering wholesome, healthy, proficient, and clever. Not primarily a term of permission and prohibition.
duccarita — “bad conduct” — the moral description AN 3.2 used for the same three items.
sāvajja — “blameworthy” — the predicate of AN 3.7: whether an act can be criticized.
sabyābajjha — “hurtful” — the predicate of AN 3.8: whether an act does damage.
kāya-, vacī-, manokamma — deeds by way of body, speech, and mind — the three items that stay fixed while the predicates change around them.
The text
The Pāli abbreviates this discourse against the ones before it, writing out only the term that changes and marking the rest with an ellipsis, which Sujato preserves. Every word is present; what is compressed is the repetition. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Unskillful deeds
§1“A fool is known by three things. What three? Unskillful deeds by way of body, speech, and mind. These are the three things by which a fool is known.
§2An astute person is known by three things. What three? Skillful deeds by way of body, speech, and mind. These are the three things by which an astute person is known. So you should train …”
· · ·
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What changes between AN 3.2 and AN 3.6?
Correct: B. The conduct has not changed; the frame in which it is judged has.
Question 2 of 10
What range does kusala cover?
Correct: B. Which is why most modern translators choose “skillful.”
Question 3 of 10
How does the guide say this is useful in teaching?
Correct: B. The chapter is not less demanding under the skill description; it is the same three items.
Question 4 of 10
Which three predicates do AN 3.6–3.8 substitute?
Correct: A. Whether an act works, whether it can be criticized, and whether it does damage.
Question 5 of 10
Are those three judgments separable in general?
Correct: B. Which is what makes the chapter's claim a claim.
Question 6 of 10
What do the three discourses together claim?
Correct: B. A claim, not a tautology — and the reason three discourses exist where one would have served.
Question 7 of 10
How is this discourse written in Pāli?
Correct: B. Every word is present; what is compressed is the repetition.
