Kammasutta — Abhiññāvagga — the twenty-sixth chapter of the Fours
Setting
None stated; the Abhiññāvagga gives no location for this discourse, and it is addressed to the mendicants directly
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
Two parallel statements, the khata formula filled with blameworthy and blameless conduct and view
Length
under a minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number for this discourse
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — brief in content, but its close raises a genuine structural question
Why this discourse
This chapter closes not with new material but with a fusion of two things this series has already read separately: the tetrad AN 4.239 used to fill the hell/heaven formula — blameworthy or blameless conduct and view — now filling instead the khata formula first met at AN 4.3 and last used in this series at AN 4.222. Two recombined pieces from two different earlier chapters, closing a third.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Blameworthy conduct in body, speech, and mind, plus blameworthy view, keeps a fool broken and blameworthy; the blameless counterparts keep an astute person intact and praiseworthy.
Two pieces, one new combination
Sāvajjena kāyakammena, sāvajjena vacīkammena, sāvajjena manokammena, sāvajjāya diṭṭhiyā is exactly AN 4.239's tetrad, word for word. Khataṁ upahataṁ attānaṁ pariharati…bahuñca apuññaṁ pasavati is exactly the formula this series first read at AN 4.3 and read again wrapping different content at AN 4.222–223. This discourse is the first point in this series where these two specific pieces, previously seen in different pairings, are combined with each other.
A chapter closing the way earlier ones did
This is consistent with how AN 4.220 closed the Parisāvagga and AN 4.230 closed the Duccaritavagga — a chapter’s final discourse recombining existing material rather than introducing anything new, closing on a note of demonstrated technique rather than fresh content. The Abhiññāvagga, whose earlier discourses ranged from a narrative about an elderly monk to a horse simile to household economics, ends by returning to the recombination work this series has traced across several earlier chapters.
A numbering question, left open honestly
The source colophon names this Abhiññāvaggo chaṭṭho, ‘the Abhiññāvagga, the sixth’ — not, as might be expected after the previous chapter’s explicit close of the fifth paṇṇāsaka, a fresh ‘first’ of a new group. The numbering continues rather than resetting. This reading guide does not have a confirmed explanation for why the count runs straight through here rather than restarting, and states that plainly rather than guessing: the two chapters that follow, the Kammapathavagga and the Rāgapeyyāla, will be checked directly for whether they continue this same running count or mark a further division of their own.
What this chapter contained, looking back
Ten discourses of real variety: a structural map of the path's four tasks, a contrast between an ignoble and a noble search, four bases of communal sympathy, a narrative of an elderly monk's swift awakening, purely secular household advice, a horse simile given twice with one factor changed, a tetrad of powers missing its traditional fifth member, a tetrad on fitness for solitude, and this closing recombination. Less internally repetitive than the two chapters immediately before it, this chapter drew its unity less from one recurring formula than from the range of registers — doctrinal, narrative, practical, figurative — a single collection is willing to hold.
Key terms
sāvajja / anavajja — “blameworthy” and “blameless” — the tetrad content, identical to AN 4.239, filling a different formula here.
khataṁ upahataṁ attānaṁ pariharati — “keeps themselves broken and damaged” — the formula from AN 4.3, reused here after its appearance at AN 4.222–223.
Abhiññāvaggo chaṭṭho — “the Abhiññāvagga, the sixth” — the source colophon's label, continuing a running count rather than restarting after the previous paṇṇāsaka's close.
kāyakamma, vacīkamma, manokamma, diṭṭhi — deeds by body, speech, and mind, and view — the tetrad's four slots, as at AN 4.212 and its many descendants.
bālo abyatto asappuriso / paṇḍito viyatto sappuriso — “a foolish, incompetent untrue person” and “an astute, competent true person” — the character-types this formula describes.
The text
The discourse in full: hell for the four, heaven for their opposites. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Placed in hell
§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? Blameworthy deeds by way of body, speech, and mind, and blameworthy view. When a foolish, incompetent untrue person possesses these four qualities they keep themselves broken and damaged. They deserve to be blamed and criticized by sensible people, and they create much wickedness.
Placed in heaven
§2When an astute, competent true person has four 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 four? Blameless deeds by way of body, speech, and mind, and blameless view. When an astute, competent true person possesses these four 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
What two earlier discourses does this discourse combine?
Correct: B. The first point in this series where these two specific pieces are combined with each other.
Question 2 of 10
What tetrad does this discourse reuse from AN 4.239?
Correct: B. Word for word the same content, now under a different formula.
Question 3 of 10
What formula does this discourse reuse from AN 4.222?
Correct: B. Traced back to the collection's first chapter.
Question 4 of 10
What does the source colophon call this chapter?
Correct: B. Continuing a running count rather than restarting after the previous chapter's close of the fifth paṇṇāsaka.
Question 5 of 10
How does the guide handle the question of why this numbering continues rather than resets?
Correct: B. Consistent with this project's practice of checking sources before making structural claims.
Question 6 of 10
What two chapters does the guide say will be checked to resolve this numbering question?
Correct: B. The two chapters immediately following this one.
Question 7 of 10
How does the guide compare this chapter's closing discourse to earlier chapter-closers in this series?
Correct: B. A recognized closing technique across this series.
Question 8 of 10
How does the guide characterize this chapter's overall variety, looking back?
Correct: B. A structural map, a search, a narrative, household economics, a horse simile, and more.
Question 9 of 10
What character-types does this discourse's formula describe?
Correct: B. The same character-types this formula has described since AN 4.3.
Question 10 of 10
What does the guide say about asserting a structure for the chapters beyond this one before checking them?
Correct: B. A stated practice carried consistently through this series.
