Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The three roots are known by what a person with power does with them, and by whether they can take a correction.
The clause that recurs nine times
Five penalties are named: vadha, execution; bandha, imprisonment; jāni, confiscation; garaha, condemnation; pabbājana, banishment. These are the instruments of a state, not of a private quarrel, and the discourse says they are applied asatā, under a false pretext.
The motive is given in the person’s own words and it is unusually blunt: ahaṁ balavā, balattho asmi — I am powerful, I want power. Not that the victim deserved it, and not that some larger good required it. The stated reason for using the apparatus is that it is available.
The Threes elsewhere describe greed as covetousness and hate as malice, which are conditions of a mind. Here the same roots are shown at the point where they meet an institution, and the discourse gives that its own step in the exposition: first, that a person with the root acts unskillfully in body, speech, and mind; then, separately, that such a person misuses power over others.
It is worth noticing that this is preserved in a religious canon rather than a political one, and that no ruler is named. The description is left general enough to fit anybody who can punish somebody else, which in an ancient household included a good many people who were not kings.
The test of speech
Such a person is said to have speech that’s ill-timed, false, meaningless, not in line with the teaching and training, and the discourse then explains what that means in practice, which is the most useful thing in it.
“When someone makes a valid criticism, they’re scornful and admit nothing. When someone makes a baseless criticism, they make no effort to explain, ‘this is why that’s untrue, this is why that’s false.’”
Two failures, and they are opposite. The first is not accepting a correction that is right. The second is not bothering to answer a charge that is wrong. Between them they describe somebody who has stopped treating criticism as information of any kind — who neither concedes nor refutes, because the question of whether the criticism is accurate has ceased to matter to them.
The positive half states the same test the other way: when a criticism is valid, they admit it and are not scornful; when it is baseless, they take the trouble to explain why it is false. That is a two-line diagnostic anybody can apply to themselves, and it is sharper than the usual advice to be humble, because it also requires you to defend yourself when you are right.
The creepers
“Suppose a sal, axlewood, or boxwood tree was choked and engulfed by three camel’s foot creepers. It would fall to ruin and disaster.”
A māluvā creeper is a strangler: it grows up a host tree, wraps it, and brings it down. Three of them on one tree is the image for three roots in one person, and the tree species named are all hardwoods — the point is not that the tree was weak.
The positive half extends the simile at length and it is worth reading in full. Somebody comes with a spade and a basket; cuts the creeper out by the roots, digs them up, pulls them out down to the fibers and stems; splits the creeper apart, cuts up the parts, chops them into splinters, dries the splinters in wind and sun, burns them, reduces them to ashes, and scatters the ashes in a strong wind or floats them down a swift stream.
Nine operations, where the ordinary formula for something ended uses four. The elaboration is the same one AN 3.34 applied to burnt seed, and the excess is the point: the discourse is describing an ending that leaves nothing that could take root.
What the good half actually promises
The positive version is not a mirror image. A person with the three skillful roots does not merely avoid misusing power; the discourse says the unskillful qualities born of the three roots are cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated, and unable to arise in the future, and that such a person is in this very life happy, free of distress, anguish, and fever, and also extinguished in this very life.
Diṭṭheva dhamme parinibbuto — extinguished in this very life. So the positive half of the discourse is not describing a decent person; it is describing somebody finished. That is a large claim to attach to a discussion of contentment, love, and understanding, and it is consistent with AN 3.55, where extinguishment was defined as exactly the ending of the three roots.
The asymmetry is worth pointing out to a class. The bad case is ordinary and recognizable — a person with power who abuses it and cannot take criticism. The good case is not the ordinary opposite of that. There is no middle figure in this discourse, and the collection generally does not supply one.
Using it
The speech test is the part that transfers, and it can be taught in two minutes to any audience: how do you respond when a criticism is right, and how do you respond when it is wrong? Somebody who fails both is the person this discourse is describing.
The political material is worth reading aloud rather than summarizing, because a class will not expect it. A text on the psychology of greed pauses to describe wrongful execution, imprisonment, confiscation, and banishment carried out by somebody who wants power, and then goes back to the psychology. The two subjects are not separated in the discourse, and the reason they are not is its actual claim.
Key terms
The text
Three unskillful roots
§1“Mendicants, there are these three unskillful roots. What three? Greed, hate, and delusion.
§2–4Greed is a root of the unskillful. When a greedy person chooses to act by way of body, speech, or mind, that too is unskillful. When a greedy person, overcome by greed, causes another to suffer under a false pretext—by execution or imprisonment or confiscation or condemnation or banishment—thinking ‘I’m powerful, I want power’, that too is unskillful. And so these many bad, unskillful things are produced in them, born, sourced, originated, and conditioned by greed. Hate is a root of the unskillful. When a hateful person chooses to act by way of body, speech, or mind, that too is unskillful. When a hateful person, overcome by hate, causes another to suffer under a false pretext—by execution or imprisonment or confiscation or condemnation or banishment—thinking ‘I’m powerful, I want power’, that too is unskillful. And so these many bad, unskillful things are produced in them, born, sourced, originated, and conditioned by hate. Delusion is a root of the unskillful. When a deluded person chooses to act by way of body, speech, or mind, that too is unskillful. When a deluded person, overcome by delusion, causes another to suffer under a false pretext—by execution or imprisonment or confiscation or condemnation or banishment—thinking ‘I’m powerful, I want power’, that too is unskillful. And so these many bad, unskillful things are produced in them, born, sourced, originated, and conditioned by delusion. Such an individual is said to have speech that’s ill-timed, false, meaningless, not in line with the teaching and training.
How such a person answers criticism
§5Why is this? This individual causes another to suffer under a false pretext—by execution or imprisonment or confiscation or condemnation or banishment—thinking ‘I’m powerful, I want power’. So when someone makes a valid criticism, they’re scornful and admit nothing. When someone makes a baseless criticism, they make no effort to explain, ‘This is why that’s untrue, this is why that’s false.’ That’s why such an individual is said to have speech that’s ill-timed, false, meaningless, not in line with the teaching and training.
§6–8Such an individual—overcome with bad, unskillful qualities born of greed, hate, and delusion—suffers in this very life, with distress, anguish, and fever. And when the body breaks up, after death, they can expect to be reborn in a bad place. Suppose a sal, axlewood, or boxwood tree was choked and engulfed by three camel’s foot creepers. It would fall to ruin and disaster. In the same way, such an individual—overcome with bad, unskillful qualities born of greed, hate, and delusion—suffers in this very life, with distress, anguish, and fever. And when the body breaks up, after death, they can expect to be reborn in a bad place. These are the three unskillful roots.
Three skillful roots
§9–12There are these three skillful roots. What three? Contentment, love, and understanding. Contentment is a root of the skillful. When a contented person chooses to act by way of body, speech, or mind, that too is skillful. When a contented person, not overcome by greed, doesn’t cause another to suffer under a false pretext—by execution or imprisonment or confiscation or condemnation or banishment—thinking ‘I’m powerful, I want power’, that too is skillful. And so these many skillful things are produced in them, born, sourced, originated, and conditioned by contentment. Love is a root of the skillful. When a loving person chooses to act by way of body, speech, or mind, that too is skillful. When a loving person, not overcome by hate, doesn’t cause another to suffer under a false pretext—by execution or imprisonment or confiscation or condemnation or banishment—thinking ‘I’m powerful, I want power’, that too is skillful. And so these many skillful things are produced in them, born, sourced, originated, and conditioned by love. Understanding is a root of the skillful. When an understanding person chooses to act by way of body, speech, or mind, that too is skillful. When an understanding person, not overcome by delusion, doesn’t cause another to suffer under a false pretext—by execution or imprisonment or confiscation or condemnation or banishment—thinking ‘I’m powerful, I want power’, that too is skillful. And so these many skillful things are produced in them, born, sourced, originated, and conditioned by understanding. Such an individual is said to have speech that’s well-timed, true, meaningful, in line with the teaching and training.
§13Why is this? This individual doesn’t cause another to suffer under a false pretext—by execution or imprisonment or confiscation or condemnation or banishment—thinking ‘I’m powerful, I want power’. So when someone makes a valid criticism, they admit it and aren’t scornful. When someone makes a baseless criticism, they make an effort to explain, ‘This is why that’s untrue, this is why that’s false.’ That’s why such an individual is said to have speech that’s well-timed, true, meaningful, in line with the teaching and training.
The creepers dug out
§14–16For such an individual, bad unskillful qualities born of greed, hate, and delusion are cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated, and unable to arise in the future. In this very life they’re happy, free of distress, anguish, and fever, and they’re also extinguished in this very life. Suppose a sal, axlewood, or boxwood tree was choked and engulfed by three camel’s foot creepers. Then along comes a person with a spade and basket. They’d cut the creeper out by the roots, dig them up, and pull them out, down to the fibers and stems. Then they’d split the creeper apart, cut up the parts, and chop it into splinters. They’d dry the splinters in the wind and sun, burn them with fire, and reduce them to ashes. Then they’d whisk away the ashes in a strong wind, or glide them down a swift stream. So those camel’s foot creepers would be cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, and obliterated, unable to arise in the future. In the same way, for such an individual, bad unskillful qualities born of greed, hate, and delusion are cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated, and unable to arise in the future. In this very life they’re happy, free of distress, anguish, and fever, and they’re also extinguished in this very life. These are the three skillful roots.”
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.