Avijjāsutta

Saṁyutta Nikāya 56.17

Linked Discourses 56.17

2. Dhammacakkappavattanavagga

2. Rolling Forth the Wheel of Dhamma

Avijjāsutta

Ignorance

Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho so bhikkhu bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:

Seated to one side, that mendicant said to the Buddha:

“‘avijjā, avijjā’ti, bhante, vuccati.

“Sir, they speak of this thing called ‘ignorance’.

Katamā nu kho, bhante, avijjā;

What is ignorance?

kittāvatā ca avijjāgato hotī”ti?

And how is an ignoramus defined?”

“Yaṁ kho, bhikkhu, dukkhe aññāṇaṁ, dukkhasamudaye aññāṇaṁ, dukkhanirodhe aññāṇaṁ, dukkhanirodhagāminiyā paṭipadāya aññāṇaṁ—

“Not knowing about suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering.

ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhu, avijjā;

This is called ignorance.

ettāvatā ca avijjāgato hotīti.

And this is how an ignoramus is defined.

Tasmātiha, bhikkhu, ‘idaṁ dukkhan’ti yogo karaṇīyo …pe… ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti yogo karaṇīyo”ti.

That’s why you should practice meditation …”

Sattamaṁ.