Dutiyavohārapathasutta — 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, mirroring AN 4.227 in the opposite direction
Length
under a minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number for this discourse
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the mirror half of a pair, already met once in a different chapter
Why this discourse
Denying having seen, heard, sensed, or known something one actually did — AN 4.227’s mirror, exactly as AN 4.218 mirrored AN 4.217 a chapter earlier. Between the two chapters, this same pairing of directions, false claim and false denial, has now been completed twice over.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Denying that one has seen, heard, sensed, or known something one actually has keeps a fool broken and blameworthy; truthful affirmation keeps an astute person intact and praiseworthy.
The mirror, completed a second time
Diṭṭhe adiṭṭhavādī, sute asutavādī, mute amutavādī, viññāte aviññātavādī is AN 4.218’s wording exactly. Between AN 4.217–218 and AN 4.227–228, the collection has now demonstrated the same small, complete unit — one vocabulary, exhausted from both directions in exactly two discourses — twice, under two different formulas.
A weight already established, not reargued
This series noted, reading AN 4.218, that the discourse does not rank false denial as a lesser fault than false claim: both are held to identical account by whatever formula wraps them. That observation applies here without modification — the khata formula gives false denial the same broken-and-blameworthy condition it gives false claim, just as the hell/heaven formula did.
Closing this vocabulary’s run in this chapter
With this discourse, the diṭṭha-suta-muta-viññāta vocabulary’s appearance in this chapter is complete, and its total count across this series stands at four discourses over two chapters, on top of its founding appearance at AN 4.24. What remains of this chapter’s main run is the conscience tetrad at AN 4.229 and the witlessness tetrad at AN 4.230, both already given their content at AN 4.219 and AN 4.220.
Key terms
diṭṭhe adiṭṭhavādī — “denying having seen what one has seen” — identical wording to AN 4.218.
khataṁ upahataṁ attānaṁ pariharati — this chapter’s formula, continued through this discourse.
diṭṭha suta muta viññāta — the fourfold division of experience, now exhausted from both directions twice in this series: at AN 4.217–218 and again here.
vohārapatha — “way of speaking, ground of expression” — naming this discourse and its pair.
musāvāda — “false speech” — the general fault both AN 4.227 and this discourse narrow to a specific form.
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. … They say they haven’t seen, heard, thought, or known something, but they have. … An astute person … brims with much merit. … They say they’ve seen, heard, thought, or known something, and they have. …”
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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 false claims does this discourse name?
Correct: B. The mirror of AN 4.227, identical to AN 4.218’s wording.
Question 2 of 10
How many times has this series now seen this exact false-claim/false-denial pair completed?
Correct: B. The same small, complete unit demonstrated twice, under two different formulas.
Question 3 of 10
Does this discourse rank false denial as less serious than false claim, per the guide?
Correct: B. Applying without modification the point already made when this pattern was first read.
Question 4 of 10
What formula wraps this discourse?
Correct: B. This chapter’s consistent wrapper.
Question 5 of 10
How many total discourses has the diṭṭha-suta-muta-viññāta vocabulary now appeared in across this series?
Correct: B. Its founding appearance plus two complete mirrored pairs.
Question 6 of 10
What two discourses remain in this chapter’s main run after this one?
Correct: B. Both already given their content in the previous chapter.
Question 7 of 10
What earlier discourse gives this exact same mirrored content?
Correct: B. Identical wording, now under a different formula.
Question 8 of 10
What is the effect of a false denial, per the example given when this point was first discussed?
Correct: B. Established at AN 4.218 and carried forward here unchanged.
Question 9 of 10
What form does this discourse take?
Correct: B. Continuing this chapter’s compression.
Question 10 of 10
What does the guide say about repeating the full analysis of this pairing here?
Correct: B. Consistent with keeping already-established points brief on repetition.
