AN 3.163–182Ways of Performing Deeds
Pāli / Sanskrit:Kammapathapeyyāla
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Numbered Discourses 3 The Chapter on Ways of Performing Deeds
Untitled Discourses on Three Qualities
“Someone with three qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there. What three? They themselves kill living creatures. They encourage others to kill living creatures. And they approve of killing living creatures.
Someone with these three qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there.
Someone with three qualities is placed in heaven as if delivered there. What three? They don’t themselves kill living creatures. They encourage others to not kill living creatures. And they approve of not killing living creatures. …
They themselves steal. They encourage others to steal. And they approve of stealing. …
They don’t themselves steal. They encourage others to not steal. And they approve of not stealing. …
They themselves commit sexual misconduct. They encourage others to commit sexual misconduct. And they approve of committing sexual misconduct. …
They don’t themselves commit sexual misconduct. They encourage others to not commit sexual misconduct. And they approve of not committing sexual misconduct. … They themselves lie. They encourage others to lie. And they approve of lying. …
They don’t themselves lie. They encourage others to not lie. And they approve of not lying. … They themselves backbite. They encourage others to backbite. And they approve of backbiting. …
They don’t themselves backbite. They encourage others to not backbite. And they approve of not backbiting. …
They themselves speak harshly. They encourage others to speak harshly. And they approve of speaking harshly. …
They don’t themselves speak harshly. They encourage others to not speak harshly. And they approve of not speaking harshly. …
They themselves talk nonsense. They encourage others to talk nonsense. And they approve of talking nonsense. …
They don’t themselves talk nonsense. They encourage others to not talk nonsense. And they approve of not talking nonsense. …
They themselves are covetous. They encourage others to be covetous. And they approve of covetousness. …
They themselves are content. They encourage others to be contented. And they approve of being contented. …
They themselves have ill will. They encourage others to have ill will. And they approve of having ill will. …
They themselves are kind-hearted. They encourage others to be kind-hearted. And they approve of kind-heartedness. …
They themselves have wrong view. They encourage others to have wrong view. And they approve of wrong view. …
They themselves have right view. They encourage others to have right view. And they approve of right view.
Someone with these three qualities is placed in heaven as if delivered there.”
The “…” is an abbreviation carried over from the Pāli original itself, called peyyāla. The early canon was memorized and recited, so passages repeated verbatim from a preceding discourse were commonly contracted to an elision mark rather than written out in full. Venerable Thích Minh Châu's translation preserves this convention. Some texts therefore look short — but that is the canonical form, not missing content or a truncated translation. The elided passages can be read in full in the preceding discourses of the same chapter.
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