Akataññutāsutta — Duccaritavagga — the twenty-third chapter of the Fours
Setting
None stated; the Duccaritavagga gives no location for this discourse, and it is addressed to the mendicants directly
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The same formula as AN 4.222, with its fourth item changed to ingratitude, and the first sign of elision entering this chapter's run
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number for this discourse
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — a direct repeat, worth noting for its source rather than its content
Why this discourse
The same substitution the previous chapter made at AN 4.213 — wrong view swapped for ingratitude — made again here, in the khata formula this chapter has been using since AN 4.222. Between the two chapters, this exact single-item swap has now happened twice, on two different underlying formulas.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Bad conduct in body, speech, and mind, plus ingratitude, keeps a fool broken and blameworthy; the four good counterparts, including gratitude, keep an astute person intact and praiseworthy.
A repeated substitution
AN 4.213 made this same change to AN 4.212’s tetrad: the fourth slot, held there by wrong view, became akataññutā akataveditā, ingratitude and thanklessness. This discourse makes the identical substitution to AN 4.222’s tetrad. The result is content already discussed at both AN 4.212 and AN 4.213 — where this reading guide covered why ingratitude sits in the same tetrad slot as bodily, verbal, and mental misconduct, and what the doubled terms akataññutā and akataveditā specifically name — now under this chapter’s formula rather than the previous chapter’s.
Where the elision begins
This discourse is also the point where the chapter’s run of full statements gives way to compression. Its heaven half is written with the source text’s own …pe… marks standing in for the full restatement already given in the hell half, the first sign in this chapter of the heavier abridgment that will dominate AN 4.224–4.229.
Two swaps, one technique
Set beside its counterpart in the previous chapter, this discourse confirms that the single-item-swap technique is not tied to any one formula. It was demonstrated on the yathābhataṁ nikkhitto formula at AN 4.212–213, and it works identically on the khata formula here. The technique belongs to how the collection treats content, not to any particular wrapper around it.
Key terms
akataññutā akataveditā — “ingratitude and thanklessness” — the same doubled term first read at AN 4.213, occupying the same tetrad slot here.
khataṁ upahataṁ attānaṁ pariharati — “keeps themselves broken and damaged” — this chapter’s formula, from AN 4.3, carried over from AN 4.222.
kāyaduccarita, vacīduccarita, manoduccarita — bad conduct by body, speech, and mind — the three items held constant across this discourse and AN 4.222.
micchādiṭṭhi — “wrong view” — the item this discourse’s fourth slot replaces, occupying the same position at AN 4.222 as it does at AN 4.212.
peyyāla — “repetition-series” — the abridgment device that enters this chapter for the first time in this discourse’s heaven half.
The text
The discourse largely in full, with the heaven half beginning to compress. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The discourse
§1“When a foolish, incompetent untrue person has four qualities they keep themselves broken and damaged. They deserve to be blamed and criticized by sensible people, and they brim with much wickedness. What four? Bad conduct by way of body, speech, and mind, and being ungrateful and thankless. An astute person … brims with much merit. … Good conduct by way of body, speech, and mind, and being grateful and thankful. …”
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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
What single change distinguishes this discourse from AN 4.222?
Correct: B. The same substitution AN 4.213 made a chapter earlier, on a different formula.
Question 2 of 10
Where was this exact substitution — view to ingratitude — made once before?
Correct: B. There it was made to AN 4.212’s tetrad; here to AN 4.222’s.
Question 3 of 10
What does this discourse mark the beginning of, within this chapter?
Correct: B. The first sign of the compression that dominates AN 4.224–4.229.
Question 4 of 10
What does the guide conclude from seeing this same swap made on two different formulas?
Correct: B. Demonstrated on the yathābhataṁ nikkhitto formula and now on the khata formula.
Question 5 of 10
What does akataveditā mean, as discussed when first read at AN 4.213?
Correct: B. Paired for emphasis with akataññutā, both from the same root.
Question 6 of 10
What three items remain constant between this discourse and AN 4.222?
Correct: B. The shared core of both tetrads.
Question 7 of 10
What formula structures this discourse, continuing from AN 4.222?
Correct: B. Carried over from AN 4.222, itself borrowed from the collection’s first chapter.
Question 8 of 10
What discourse in the previous chapter is this one’s closest match in structure?
Correct: B. Both make the identical view-to-ingratitude substitution, on different formulas.
Question 9 of 10
What comes next in this chapter’s run?
Correct: B. The compression that began here deepens through the discourses that follow.
Question 10 of 10
What does the guide say about repeating the full explanation of ingratitude’s seriousness here?
Correct: B. Consistent with keeping repeated structural points brief on their later appearances.
