The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A single five-item convergence chain, negative then positive, matching SN 14.23's structure exactly with one term swapped
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
A rough counterpart may exist in the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama (T99), though this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — brief, and best read as SN 14.23's direct companion
Why this discourse
This discourse repeats SN 14.23's exact chain structure — faithless, shameless, imprudent, [X], witless — with unethical (dussīlā) filling the fourth position instead of lacking immersion. The two discourses form a matched pair, each extending the familiar three-item opening with a single distinct term before this vagga turns, in its next discourse, to concrete named precepts rather than general character qualities. Sīla, ethical conduct, is a term with wide reach in the tradition, and its appearance here anticipates the specific behaviors — killing, stealing, and the rest — the next several discourses will name explicitly.
Reading guide
A matched pair with SN 14.23
Identical opening three terms, identical closing term, and an identical five-item length — the only difference between this discourse and the one before it is the single term filling the fourth position.
Sīla as a general term, not yet specific behaviors
Dussīlā, unethical, and sīlavanto, ethical, are broad character descriptions here, not yet cashed out into the specific list of actions the next discourse will name.
The last of this vagga's abstract-quality discourses
After this discourse, Kammapathavagga leaves behind the faithless-shameless-imprudent opening entirely; every remaining discourse in this vagga names specific, concrete behaviors instead of general dispositions.
A hinge word bridging character and conduct
Sīla sits conceptually between the purely internal qualities of Dutiyavagga (faith, conscience, learning) and the purely behavioral list about to follow (killing, stealing, lying) — ethical conduct as the pivot connecting who someone is to what they actually do.
Still bookended by the same fixed pair
Witless closes this chain exactly as it has since SN 14.18, the eighth consecutive discourse to end this way.
Key terms
dussīlā — “unethical,” lacking sīla — this discourse's title term, filling the fourth position in place of SN 14.23's lacking immersion.
sīlavanto — “ethical,” possessing sīla — the positive counterpart, closing the second half of this discourse's chain.
sīla — “ethical conduct,” a term with wide reach in the tradition, sitting conceptually between internal character and specific outward behavior.
assaddhā, ahirikā, anottappino — “faithless, shameless, imprudent” — the same three opening terms as SN 14.23 and several Dutiyavagga discourses.
dutiyaṁ — “the second” — the closing numbering tag, marking this discourse's place in the vagga.
The text
The discourse in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, sentient beings join together and converge because of an element: the faithless with the faithless … shameless … imprudent … unethical … witless …
§2The faithful with the faithful … conscientious … prudent … ethical … and the wise with the wise.”
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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
How does this discourse's structure compare to SN 14.23's?
Correct: A. A matched pair, differing only in one swapped term.
Question 2 of 10
What term fills the fourth position in this discourse's chain?
Correct: A. Unethical conduct, replacing SN 14.23's lacking immersion.
Question 3 of 10
What happens to this vagga's abstract-quality opening after this discourse?
Correct: A. SN 14.25 onward turns to specific, named actions rather than general dispositions.
Question 4 of 10
How does this reading guide describe sīla's conceptual position?
Correct: A. Connecting Dutiyavagga's internal qualities to the concrete precepts about to follow.
Question 5 of 10
What term closes this discourse's chain?
Correct: A. The same fixed final term as SN 14.23 and every discourse since SN 14.18.
Question 6 of 10
What three terms open this discourse's chain?
Correct: A. The same opening sequence as SN 14.23.
Question 7 of 10
How many items make up this discourse's full chain?
Correct: A. Faithless, shameless, imprudent, unethical, witless.
Question 8 of 10
Who is the sole speaker in this discourse?
Correct: A. No interlocutor or visitor appears; the Buddha teaches directly.
Question 9 of 10
Where does the Buddha deliver this teaching?
Correct: A. The setting shared with most discourses in this collection.
Question 10 of 10
What numbering tag closes this discourse?
Correct: A. The second discourse of Kammapathavagga.
