DiscoverANAN 2AN 2.230-279

The Buddha abbreviates repeated contrasts between unskillful and skillful qualities—blameworthy and blameless, leading to suffering or happiness—and culminates with freedom from anger and acrimony and the pair of conscience and fear of wrongdoing.

AN 2.230-279 The Chapter of Abbreviated Texts Beginning With the Unskillful

“Dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā akusalā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā kusalā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā sāvajjā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā anavajjā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā dukkhudrayā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā sukhudrayā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā dukkhavipākā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā sukhavipākā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā sabyābajjhā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā abyābajjhā. Katame dve? Akkodho ca anupanāho ca … amakkho ca apaḷāso ca … anissā ca amacchariyañca … amāyā ca asāṭheyyañca … hirī ca ottappañca. Ime kho, bhikkhave, dve dhammā abyābajjhā”ti.

Akusalapeyyālaṁ niṭṭhitaṁ.

Reference Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0).

“Dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā akusalā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā kusalā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā sāvajjā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā anavajjā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā dukkhudrayā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā sukhudrayā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā dukkhavipākā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā sukhavipākā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā sabyābajjhā … dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā abyābajjhā.

“These two things are unskillful … are skillful … are blameworthy … are blameless … have suffering as outcome … have happiness as outcome … result in suffering … result in happiness … are hurtful … are not hurtful.

Katame dve?

What two?

Akkodho ca anupanāho ca … amakkho ca apaḷāso ca … anissā ca amacchariyañca … amāyā ca asāṭheyyañca … hirī ca ottappañca.

Freedom from anger and acrimony … freedom from disdain and contempt … freedom from jealousy and stinginess … freedom from deceit and deviousness … conscience and prudence.

Ime kho, bhikkhave, dve dhammā abyābajjhā”ti.

These are the two things that are not hurtful.”

Akusalapeyyālaṁ niṭṭhitaṁ.

Qualities:

Conscience

Conscience

☀️ bright quality

An inner moral sensitivity that shrinks from wrongdoing out of self-respect and personal integrity. It is the voice within that knows what is beneath one's dignity, guarding conduct through an inward standard of honor.

Also known as: with sense of right and wrong, sense of shame, modesty, (comm) originating from inside
Pāli: hirī
View all discourses →
Fear of wrongdoing

Fear of wrongdoing

☀️ bright quality

A wholesome dread of misconduct that considers consequences and the censure of the wise. It looks outward—aware of blame, loss of reputation, and the suffering that follows unskillful action—and holds the mind back from crossing ethical boundaries.

Also known as: conscientious, moral dread, respect for others, (comm) originating from outside
Pāli: ottappa
View all discourses →
Happiness

Happiness

☀️ bright quality

Bodily ease and comfort; a pleasant feeling experienced with the body. In the third jhāna, one dwells experiencing this pleasure with the body. It is abandoned, along with bodily pain, for the fourth jhāna to arise.

Also known as: pleasant abiding, positive state of mind, sense of ease
Pāli: sukha
View all discourses →
Suffering

Suffering

☁️ dark quality

Unpleasantness, discontentment, dissatisfaction, stress, pain, disease, i.e. mild or intense suffering that is inherent in conditioned existence.

Also known as: discomfort, unpleasantness, discontentedness, dissatisfaction, stress, pain, disease, distress, affliction
Pāli: dukkha
View all discourses →
Unwholesome

Unwholesome

☁️ dark quality

Conducive to or suggestive of poor health and mental well-being.

Also known as: blameworthy, unhealthy, unskillful, unbeneficial, karmically unprofitable
Pāli: akusala
View all discourses →
Wholesome

Wholesome

☀️ bright quality

Conducive to or suggestive of good health and mental well-being.

Also known as: blameless, skillful, beneficial, good, useful, healthy, nourishing, sustaining
Pāli: kusala
View all discourses →

Last updated on July 27, 2026

View Pāli source ↗