None given — as with almost every discourse in this collection, the text opens with the fixed attribution formula and moves straight to the teaching
Speaker
The Buddha alone
Form
A stark two-sentence prose diagnosis, restated in a matching verse
Position
The Book of the Twos, Chapter One, the 5th of its ten discourses
Length
< 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short and blunt, best read beside its twin, Iti 33
Why this pairing is placed so starkly
This discourse states its case with almost no cushioning: a person with two specific qualities is “placed in hell as if delivered there” — a vivid image of near-automatic consequence, like a parcel carried and set down at its destination. Paired immediately with its mirror opposite in the next discourse, it is one of the most stark statements of ethical consequence anywhere in the collection.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Bad conduct and bad view together are enough, on their own, to place a person in hell “as if delivered there” — no third factor, no exception clause, no narrative required.
An image worth pausing on
“Placed in hell as if delivered there” renders yathābhataṁ nikkhitto — literally, something carried (bhata, from harati, “to carry”) and set down (nikkhitta) exactly where it belongs, with no further steps needed. It is a mechanical, almost logistical image for what is otherwise an intensely moral claim, and it is worth noticing that the text does not say “eventually” or “probably” — the placement is described as already accomplished, automatic, a direct delivery.
Two qualities, not one
Neither factor is said to be sufficient alone in this formula; both bad conduct (sīla) and bad view (diṭṭhi) are named together as the joint qualifying pair. Conduct concerns what a person does; view concerns how they understand their situation — what they take to be true about action and consequence in the first place. This short text gives no further detail on what “bad view” means here, but the wider canon (see Further Reading) elsewhere treats views that deny moral responsibility for action as a paradigm case of exactly this fault.
A pair within a pair
This discourse and the one immediately following it (Iti 33) share an identical structure down to nearly every word, substituting “excellent” for “bad” and “heaven” for “hell” throughout. Reading them side by side, rather than separately, is probably the intended way to encounter both; each makes its point partly by being the other’s mirror image.
The verse
The closing verse restates the same pairing, adding only that the person “of these two qualities” is specifically witless — quietly tying bad conduct and bad view back to a lack of wisdom, rather than treating conduct, view, and wisdom as three separate, unrelated faults.
Key terms
sīla — “ethical conduct”; here specified as pāpaka, “bad,” one of the discourse’s two qualifying factors.
diṭṭhi — “view”; here pāpikā, “bad”; paired with conduct as the second qualifying factor, without further elaboration in this short text.
yathābhataṁ nikkhitto — “placed there as if carried and set down”: a vivid image of near-automatic consequence, used identically in this discourse’s opposite number, Iti 33.
puggala — “individual, person”: the discourse’s neutral, general term for whoever holds these two qualities, without reference to any particular figure.
duppañña — “witless, lacking wisdom”: the verse’s closing description of such a person, linking bad conduct and bad view back to an absence of wisdom.
The text
The discourse in full — a stark two-part diagnosis and its restating verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
§2“Mendicants, an individual with two qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there. What two? Bad conduct and bad view. A individual with these two qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there.” The Buddha spoke this matter. On this it is said:
§3“If a person possesses
these two qualities—
bad conduct
and bad views—
when their body breaks up, that witless person
is reborn in hell.”
§4This too is a matter that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.
· · ·
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
According to this discourse, what two qualities place a person in hell “as if delivered there”?
Correct: C. These are the discourse’s only two named factors.
Question 2 of 10
According to the reading guide, what does the image “placed there as if delivered” (yathābhataṁ nikkhitto) suggest?
Correct: A. The image is mechanical and immediate, not gradual.
Question 3 of 10
Which of the following is explicitly named as one of the discourse’s two qualifying factors?
Correct: B. Bad view is named alongside bad conduct.
Question 4 of 10
How does the closing verse describe a person who possesses these two qualities?
Correct: C. The verse ties bad conduct and bad view back to a lack of wisdom.
Question 5 of 10
What is this discourse’s relationship to Iti 33, the next discourse in the collection?
Correct: B. The two discourses are a deliberately matched pair.
Question 6 of 10
Which grammatical quirk appears verbatim in the fetched source text and is preserved on this page?
Correct: A. This page reproduces the fetched translation verbatim, including this quirk.
Question 7 of 10
What is named as the first of the discourse’s two qualifying factors?
Correct: A. Bad conduct is named first, then bad view.
Question 8 of 10
Is any reason, story, or occasion given for why the Buddha states this teaching?
Correct: B. No narrative frame is supplied.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this discourse fall in the Book of the Twos?
Correct: C. Chapter One runs from the discourse before Iti 31 through Iti 37.
Question 10 of 10
What is this discourse’s exact opening attribution line?
Correct: D. This fixed formula opens every discourse in the Itivuttaka.
