Khatasutta — 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
Two parallel passages on the broken-and-damaged formula, with no training instruction attached
Length
~1 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
★★☆☆☆ — brief, and turning the chapter’s argument around
Why this discourse
The chapter opened by saying that all danger comes from the foolish — a claim about what folly does to everyone else. This discourse turns it around. The fool keeps themselves broken and damaged, deserves criticism from sensible people, and brims with much wickedness. The harm has not been withdrawn from the world; a second account of it has been added, and the second account is about the person who has it.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Bad conduct of body, speech, and mind does its first damage to the person doing it.
The image in the formula
Khataṁ upahataṁ attānaṁ pariharati: they carry about a self that is dug out and injured. Khata is excavated or dug up; upahata is struck or damaged. The verb pariharati means to carry around, to keep with one.
So the image is not of an injury received but of one maintained. The fool is not damaged by something; they carry the damage about with them, continuously, as a condition. Sujato’s “keeps themselves broken and damaged” holds that sense of ongoing self-maintenance, which a phrase like “is broken” would lose.
The formula appeared twice in the Twos, at AN 2.134–137, applied to praising and blaming without examination and to acting wrongly toward parents and toward the Realized One. In each case the same point: the injury named falls on the one who did it.
Three consequences, in order
The discourse names three things that follow, and they are worth separating. The person keeps themselves broken and damaged — the internal consequence. They deserve to be blamed and criticized by sensible people — the social one. And they brim with much wickedness — the kammic one.
The order is not arbitrary. It runs from what has already happened, through what others will do, to what will follow later. And the first is stated first, which is the chapter’s point: before anyone else has noticed and before anything has ripened, the damage is done and is being carried.
For the astute person all three are inverted: intact and unscathed, undeserving of criticism, brimming with much merit. Note that the second is stated as don’t deserve to be criticized, not are not criticized. The canon is not promising that the wise escape blame; AN 2.39 has already described a community in which the good-hearted fall silent. What is promised is that the blame would be undeserved.
No training instruction
Alone among the discourses of this chapter, AN 3.9 does not end with so you should train like this. It states the consequence and stops.
Whether that is a compositional decision or an accident of transmission cannot be settled from the text. What can be said is that the effect is different. The eight discourses before it end by handing the listener something to do. This one ends by describing a condition, and leaves the reader in it. The next discourse, AN 3.10, does the same and goes further, ending on a rebirth destination with no instruction attached either.
Key terms
khata — “excavated, dug out” — the first half of the formula, and a physical image of ground removed from under something.
upahata — “struck, damaged” — the second half.
pariharati — “carries about, keeps with one” — the verb that makes the formula describe a maintained condition rather than an injury received.
sānuvajja — “deserving of criticism” — note that the astute person is said not to deserve criticism, which is not the same as not receiving it.
bahuñca apuññaṁ pasavati — “brims with much wickedness” — the third and last consequence, and the only one that lies in the future.
The text
The discourse in full, in two parallel passages. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The foolish, incompetent, untrue person
§1“When a foolish, incompetent, untrue person has three qualities they keep themselves broken and damaged. They deserve to be blamed and criticized by sensible people, and they brim with much wickedness. What three? Bad conduct by way of body, speech, and mind. When a foolish, incompetent untrue person possesses these three qualities they keep themselves broken and damaged. They deserve to be blamed and criticized by sensible people, and they create much wickedness.
The astute, competent, true person
§2When an astute, competent true person has three qualities they keep themselves intact and unscathed. They don’t deserve to be blamed and criticized by sensible people, and they brim with much merit. What three? Good conduct by way of body, speech, and mind. When an astute, competent true person possesses these three qualities they keep themselves healthy and whole. They don’t deserve to be blamed and criticized by sensible people, and they create much merit.”
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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
How does this discourse turn the chapter’s opening claim around?
Correct: B. A second account of the harm is added, and it is about the person who has it.
Question 2 of 10
What does pariharati add to the formula?
Correct: B. Sujato's “keeps themselves broken and damaged” holds that sense; “is broken” would lose it.
Question 3 of 10
What are khata and upahata?
Correct: A. A physical image of ground removed from under something, and of a blow.
Question 4 of 10
Where else in this series has the formula appeared?
Correct: B. In each case the injury named falls on the one who did it.
Question 5 of 10
What are the three consequences, in order?
Correct: A. Running from what has already happened, through what others will do, to what follows later.
Question 6 of 10
Why does the guide say the order is not arbitrary?
Correct: B. Which is the chapter's point in this discourse.
Question 7 of 10
How is the astute person’s social consequence phrased?
Correct: B. The canon is not promising that the wise escape blame; AN 2.39 describes a community where the good-hearted fall silent.
Question 8 of 10
What is unique about this discourse within the chapter?
Correct: B. It states the consequence and stops.
Question 9 of 10
What effect does the guide say that has?
Correct: B. AN 3.10 does the same and goes further.
Question 10 of 10
Can the guide settle whether the missing instruction is compositional or accidental?
Correct: C. What can be said is what the effect is.
