Dutiyamaggasutta — 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
One elided line, the second four factors of the noble eightfold path
Length
under a minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number for this discourse
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the second half of a pair, best read straight after AN 4.225
Why this discourse
Livelihood, effort, mindfulness, immersion — the path’s remaining four factors, completing what AN 4.225 began. Content identical to AN 4.216; formula identical to the rest of this chapter since AN 4.222.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong immersion keep a fool broken and blameworthy; the right counterparts complete an astute person’s intact, praiseworthy condition.
The path, completed a second time
Micchāājīva, micchāvāyāma, micchāsati, micchāsamādhi match AN 4.216’s second half exactly — livelihood extending ethics, then the three concentration factors. Together with AN 4.225, this discourse restates the same eight factors given whole at AN 4.205 and split once already at AN 4.215–216, now split a second time under a different formula.
Two splits, one seam
That this chapter divides the path at the identical point AN 4.215–216 did — between action and livelihood — rather than at some other joint, confirms what AN 4.225 already argued: the seam is not arbitrary per chapter but fixed by the path’s own traditional grouping into wisdom-and-ethics and livelihood-and-concentration. A different compiler, working independently on this chapter, would have had no reason to choose the same seam unless that seam were the natural one.
A path now given three times over
Within the Fours alone, this eight-factor path has now appeared whole at AN 4.205 and split in half twice, at AN 4.215–216 and again at AN 4.225–226. Three presentations of one unchanging set, none of them adding or removing a factor, differing only in whether the collection’s tetrad form requires cutting it and where.
Key terms
micchāājīva, micchāvāyāma, micchāsati, micchāsamādhi — wrong livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and immersion — identical to AN 4.216’s second half.
ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga — “the noble eightfold path” — now complete across this discourse and AN 4.225, its third full appearance in this series.
khataṁ upahataṁ attānaṁ pariharati — this chapter’s formula, continued unbroken since AN 4.222.
sammāājīva — “right livelihood” — the hinge factor, as discussed at AN 4.216, falling on the second half of the split in both chapters.
peyyāla — “repetition-series” — the same compression used throughout this chapter’s middle run.
The text
The discourse exactly as the source abridges it, ellipsis marks included. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The elided discourse
§1“A foolish person … brims with much wickedness. … wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong immersion. … An astute person … brims with much merit. … right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. …”
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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 four path factors does this discourse name?
Correct: B. Identical to AN 4.216’s second half.
Question 2 of 10
How many times has this same eight-factor path now appeared within the Fours?
Correct: B. The same unchanging set, presented differently according to each chapter’s form.
Question 3 of 10
What does the guide say it means that this chapter splits the path at the same seam as the previous one?
Correct: B. A different compiler would have had no reason to choose the same seam unless it were the natural one.
Question 4 of 10
What formula wraps this discourse?
Correct: B. Unbroken through this chapter’s middle run.
Question 5 of 10
What discourse immediately precedes this one, giving the path’s first half?
Correct: B. Together completing the same path.
Question 6 of 10
What role does right livelihood play in the traditional grouping, as discussed at AN 4.216?
Correct: B. Falling on the second half of the split, as at AN 4.216.
Question 7 of 10
What discourse gives this same path as a single, unsplit list?
Correct: B. The source both chapters’ split versions restate.
Question 8 of 10
What three concentration factors complete the path at this discourse?
Correct: B. Named at the end of both this discourse and AN 4.216.
Question 9 of 10
What comes next in this chapter’s sequence?
Correct: B. The next matched pair, reusing the diṭṭha-suta-muta-viññāta formula.
Question 10 of 10
What does this discourse’s repetition of AN 4.216 illustrate about the collection’s form, per the guide?
Correct: B. The same seam chosen independently in two different chapters.
