Skip to reading
← Aṅguttara Nikāya

Action

AN 3.119 · Kammantasutta

A calm brown horse stands among pale grasses near a wooded slope.

“Mendicants, there are three failures. What three? Failure in action, livelihood, and view.

And what is failure in action? It’s when someone kills living creatures, steals, commits sexual misconduct, and uses speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical. This is called ‘failure in action’.

And what is failure in livelihood? It’s when a noble disciple has wrong livelihood and earns a living by wrong livelihood. This is called ‘failure in livelihood’.

And what is failure in view? It’s when someone has wrong view, a distorted perspective, such as: ‘There’s no meaning in giving, sacrifice, or offerings. There’s no fruit or result of good and bad deeds. There’s no afterlife. There’s no such thing as mother and father, or beings that are reborn spontaneously. And there’s no ascetic or brahmin who is rightly comported and rightly practiced, and who describes the afterlife after realizing it with their own insight.’ This is called ‘failure in view’. These are the three failures.

There are three accomplishments. What three? Accomplishment in action, livelihood, and view.

And what is accomplishment in action? It’s when someone doesn’t kill living creatures, steal, commit sexual misconduct, or use speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical. This is called ‘accomplishment in action’.

And what is accomplishment in livelihood? It’s when a noble disciple has right livelihood and earns a living by right livelihood. This is called ‘accomplishment in livelihood’.

And what is accomplishment in view? It’s when someone has right view, an undistorted perspective, such as: ‘There is meaning in giving, sacrifice, and offerings. There are fruits and results of good and bad deeds. There is an afterlife. There are such things as mother and father, and beings that are reborn spontaneously. And there are ascetics and brahmins who are rightly comported and rightly practiced, and who describe the afterlife after realizing it with their own insight.’ This is called ‘accomplishment in view’.

These are the three accomplishments.”

Connections

Collection & context

Books

About this edition

Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato · SuttaCentral · CC0

This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.

Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.