Musāvādīsutta — Kammapathavagga — the twenty-seventh chapter of the Fours
Setting
None stated; the Kammapathavagga 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 same four-degree structure applied to lying
Length
under a minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number for this discourse
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the fourth of ten, opening the verbal group
Why this discourse
Lying, the gravest of the four verbal courses of action and the first of them treated in this chapter, given the same four-degree structure as the three bodily courses before it.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Lying oneself, encouraging others to lie, approving of lying, and praising lying deliver a person to hell; the four forms of abstention deliver them to heaven.
The verbal group begins
Musāvādī, one who lies, opens the second of the chapter’s three groups, the four verbal courses of action: lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, and nonsense. As with AN 4.221, several chapters back, which gave all four verbal courses together as a bare list, this chapter treats lying as the gravest of the four, worth naming first.
A familiar act, an unfamiliar level of specificity
Lying has already appeared repeatedly across this series — among the four items compressed at AN 4.214 and AN 4.224, and among the four verbal courses given together at AN 4.221. This discourse is the first to isolate lying on its own and apply the full four-degree structure specifically to it: not simply whether a person lies, but whether they encourage others to lie, approve of lying, or praise it.
The same structure, the same compression
As with AN 4.265 and AN 4.266, this discourse survives as a single elided line, trusting a listener already familiar with the pattern from AN 4.264 to supply the full form.
Key terms
musāvāda — “false speech, lying” — the gravest of the four verbal courses of action, and this discourse’s subject.
vacīkammapatha — “verbal course of action” — the group of four this discourse opens, following the bodily group's close at AN 4.266.
attanā, samādapeti, samanuñño, vaṇṇaṁ bhāsati — the same four degrees of involvement continued from the bodily-course discourses.
pisuṇā vācā, pharusā vācā, samphappalāpa — divisive speech, harsh speech, and nonsense — the three verbal courses this discourse's group will continue with next.
yathābhataṁ nikkhitto — “placed as if delivered there” — the formula continued unbroken across this chapter.
The text
The discourse exactly as the source abridges it, ellipsis marks included. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The elided discourse
§1“… They themselves lie … … They themselves don’t lie …”
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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 course of action does this discourse address?
Correct: B. The gravest of the four verbal courses of action, and the first of them treated here.
Question 2 of 10
What group does this discourse open?
Correct: B. Following the bodily group's close at AN 4.266.
Question 3 of 10
Where did lying previously appear together with the other three verbal courses in this series?
Correct: B. This discourse is the first to isolate lying and apply the full four-degree structure to it alone.
Question 4 of 10
What is new about this discourse's treatment of lying, compared to its earlier appearances in this series?
Correct: B. Not simply whether a person lies, but whether they encourage, approve, or praise it.
Question 5 of 10
What form does this discourse take?
Correct: B. Continuing the chapter's compression pattern.
Question 6 of 10
What three courses of action complete the verbal group after this discourse?
Correct: B. The remaining three of the traditional four verbal courses.
Question 7 of 10
What formula structures this discourse?
Correct: B. Consistent across the whole chapter.
Question 8 of 10
Why is lying named first among the four verbal courses, per the guide?
Correct: B. Consistent with its status elsewhere in the collection, including at AN 4.214.
Question 9 of 10
What does samanuñño mean in this discourse's structure?
Correct: B. The third of the four degrees, unchanged from AN 4.264.
