Reading guide
Four verbal actions, in the traditional order
This project's own reading: lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, and idle chatter follow in the same order this project recognizes as standard across the wider canon's own listings of the ten courses of unwholesome action — each already familiar from this project's own earlier work, here recast as claims about rarity.
Key terms
appakā te sattā ye musāvādā paṭiviratā — “the sentient beings who refrain from lying are few” — the rare category, matching the tiny pinch of dirt
musāvāda — “false speech, lying” — the fourth of the ten courses of unwholesome action, and the first of the four verbal ones
appaṭiviratā — “those who don't refrain” — the vast majority category, matching the whole earth
… — the elision marking, standing in for the fingernail demonstration already given in full at SN 56.61-62
catutthaṁ — “the fourth” — this discourse's own root text confirming its own position directly, read rather than assumed
The text
Every genuinely translated fragment given in the consulted English source, which itself preserves the elision back to SN 56.61's own full statement. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“… the sentient beings who refrain from lying are few, while those who don’t refrain are many. …”
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Self-check quiz
3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 3
What does this discourse claim about those who refrain from lying?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — matching this vagga's own recurring formula.
Question 2 of 3
What four-discourse sequence does this discourse open, per this project's own reading?
Correct: A. This project's own reading of the traditional ordering across four adjacent discourses.
Question 3 of 3
What position does this discourse occupy in this vagga's own ten-discourse sequence?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading of the root text's own closing marker "Catutthaṁ" ("fourth").