Exploring the Path - Pāli Course

Sahassamapi ce vācā, anatthapadasaṃhitā;
Ekaṃ atthapadaṃ seyyo, yaṃ sutvā upasammati.¹

Better than uttering thousands of meaningless words,
One should speak one word filled with beneficial meaning, Hearing it – it brings ease.

Tiracchānakathāsuttaṃ, literally meaning "talk that is not upright" or "animal talk," is explained by the commentary as "horizontal talk" or talk that does not lead to emancipation. It runs “horizontal” when compared to emancipating communication about paths that lead upward towards heaven and liberation.²

Whenever the Buddha found his disciples engaged in tiracchānakathā, he emphasized this sort of talk was not suitable for someone who has gone forth out of faith. Having left the householder’s life, they should not get involved in various kinds of useless talk.

… bhikkhave, tumhākaṃ patirūpaṃ kulaputtānaṃ saddhāya agārasmā anagāriyaṃ pabbajitānaṃ, yaṃ tumhe anekavihitaṃ³ tiracchānakathaṃ anuyuttā vihareyyātha, seyyathidaṃ. …

One should avoid exchanging talk about any of the topics described in the Pāli section of this lesson:⁴

… seyyathidaṃ – rājakathaṃ corakathaṃ mahāmattakathaṃ senākathaṃ bhayakathaṃ yuddhakathaṃ annakathaṃ pānakathaṃ vatthakathaṃ sayanakathaṃ mālākathaṃ gandhakathaṃ ñātikathaṃ yānakathaṃ gāmakathaṃ nigamakathaṃ nagarakathaṃ janapadakathaṃ itthikathaṃ sūrakathaṃ visikhākathaṃ kumbhaṭṭhānakathaṃ⁵ pubbapetakathaṃ nānattakathaṃ lokakkhāyikaṃ samuddakkhāyikaṃ itibhavābhavakathaṃ iti vāti. …⁶

… talk about kings, robbers, ministers of state; conversation engaging in armies, menaces, wars; talk about food or drink, clothing or beds; talk about garlands and fragrances; about relatives; vehicles; villages, towns, cities or countries; telling stories about women and heroes; engaging in gossip of the street and the well; tales of the departed and ghosts; distracting talk of all kinds, speculating about world and ocean; talk about becoming or not becoming thus or suchlike. …

A developed meditator should yearn to avoid all kinds of wrong speech. One will achieve this by automatically reducing tempting impurities to express or perform harm on others. One who meditates usually trains oneself to observe within, developing a watch over one’s tendencies and one’s volition. This is corroborated by the commentaries. Expressing false, misleading statements requires respective negative volition to deceive:

Thus intention to speak falsehood was the precondition of musāvādo. The intention to to hurt another's feeling was the prerequisite of pharusā vācā, and the volition to cause either separation among others or to generate regard for oneself was the mental precondition for pisuṇā vācā.

The commentary likewise underscores that corresponding negative volition, boredom, or ignorance to waste or just while away the time of others with purposeless, useless prattle needs to precede samphappalāpo.⁷ It is preceeded by the effort to put gossip into effect.

Yena samphaṃ palapati niratthakaṃ,⁸ so samphappalāpo. Anatthaviññāpakakāyavacīpayogasamuṭṭhāpikā⁹ akusalacetanā samphappalāpo.

That by which one chatters idly and meaningless, is gossip. Gossip is the unwholesome volition causing efforts by body or by speech to communicate what is purposeless.

It is less blameworthy when indulged in less, more blameworthy when indulged in a lot.

So āsevanamandatāya appasāvajjo, āsevanamahantatāya mahāsāvajjo. Tassa dve sambhārā bhāratayuddhasītāharaṇādiniratthakakathāpurekkhāratā,¹⁰ tathārūpīkathākathananti.

There are two constituents: having preference to purposeless stories such as the Bharata war or the abduction of Sita, etc., and the telling of such stories.¹¹

The Buddha further instructed the Bhikkhus that next to avoiding various kinds of samphappalāpo, it was wholesome practice to engage in the following ten topics of conversation:

…imesaṃ ce tumhe, bhikkhave, dasannaṃ kathāvatthūnaṃ upādāyupādāya¹² kathaṃ katheyyātha… Katamāni dasa? Appicchakathā, santuṭṭhikathā, pavivekakathā,¹³ asaṃsaggakathā, vīriyārambhakathā, sīlakathā, samādhikathā, paññākathā, vimuttikathā, vimuttiñāṇadassanakathāti – imāni kho, bhikkhave, dasa kathāvatthūni.