Reading guide
Speech that fractures relationships
This project's own reading: “pesuñña” (“divisive speech, backbiting”) names speech deliberately aimed at breaking apart friendships or communities — a category this project notes is distinct in kind from lying's own simple falsehood, concerning speech's own relational damage rather than truth-value alone.
Key terms
appakā te sattā ye pisuṇāya vācāya paṭiviratā — “the sentient beings who refrain from backbiting are few” — the rare category, matching the tiny pinch of dirt
pesuñña — “divisive speech, backbiting” — speech deliberately aimed at breaking apart friendships or communities, the fifth of the ten courses of unwholesome action
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
pañcamaṁ — “the fifth” — 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 backbiting 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 divisive speech?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — matching this vagga's own recurring formula.
Question 2 of 3
How does this project's own reading distinguish "pesuñña" from lying?
Correct: A. This project's own reading of a category distinct in kind from simple falsehood.
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 "Pañcamaṁ" ("fifth").