Not narrated in this discourse's source text; presumably the same recurring frame as the rest of this vagga
Speakers
A deity, addressing the Buddha by name (‘Gotama’), and the Buddha, replying at unusual length
Form
A four-line question, answered by three four-line verses
Length
~1.5 minutes to read
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — simple in language, demanding in what it asks the reader to hold together
A famous question
This discourse's opening verse is traditionally said to be the verse that prompted Buddhaghosa's 5th-century treatise the Visuddhimagga, written as an extended answer to it
Why this discourse
The deity's question is direct, and addresses the Buddha by his clan name, Gotama, rather than an honorific: people are tangled within and tangled without, tangled in tangles — who can untangle this tangle? The Buddha's answer unfolds in three verses rather than this vagga's usual one, moving from a practitioner in training, to the fully perfected arahant, to the very point — the cessation of name and form — where the tangle is finally cut.
Reading guide
A tangle within and without
The deity's opening image, jaṭā, names matted or knotted hair, used here for the condition of being entangled both internally (in one's own mental confusion) and externally (in one's relationships and circumstances). The question ‘who can untangle this tangle’ treats this as the single most pressing human problem.
Three verses, three stages
The Buddha's answer does not name a single untangler but traces a sequence: first, a wise person grounded in ethics (sīla), developing mind and wisdom (citta, paññā), keen and alert, who can untangle the tangle; second, those in whom greed, hate, and ignorance have faded, the perfected ones (arahant) with defilements ended, who have untangled it; third, the specific point — where name and form (nāmarūpa) cease without residue — where the tangle is actually cut.
A famous verse, traditionally
This discourse's opening question is traditionally identified as the verse that prompted Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga (‘Path of Purification’), the great 5th-century Theravāda commentarial treatise, which frames its own entire systematic exposition of ethics, concentration, and wisdom as an extended answer to precisely this question.
From training to cutting, not merely untangling
The verse's final line shifts its own verb: the first two stages ‘untangle’ (vijaṭaye) the tangle, but the third names the tangle as ‘cut’ (chinna) at the specific point where name-and-form and the perception of form cease entirely — suggesting untangling is not the final image; cutting off the very conditions for tangling is.
Key terms
jaṭā — “a tangle” — literally matted hair, this discourse's title and central image for both inner and outer entanglement.
gotama — the Buddha's clan name, used here by the deity directly rather than an honorific title — a notably informal address in this collection.
sīla, citta, paññā — “ethics, mind, wisdom” — the three qualities the first stage of the reply names as grounding one who can untangle the tangle.
nāmarūpa — “name and form” — mental and physical phenomena together, whose cessation without residue the verse's final stage names as where the tangle is actually cut.
vijaṭaye — “can untangle” — the verb used for the first two stages of the reply, before the final line shifts to chinna, “cut.”
The text
The discourse in full: a famous question, and an answer unfolding in three stages. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
A question, addressed to Gotama by name
§1“Tangled within, tangled without: these people are tangled in tangles. I ask you this, Gotama: who can untangle this tangle?”
Three stages of an answer
§2“A wise person grounded in ethics, developing the mind and wisdom, a keen and alert mendicant—they can untangle this tangle.
§3Those in whom greed, hate, and ignorance have faded away; the perfected ones with defilements ended—they have untangled the tangle.
§4And where name and form cease with no residue left behind; and impingement and perception of form: it’s here that the tangle is cut.”
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Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What image does the deity's question use for human confusion?
Correct: A. Matted or knotted hair, used for both inner and outer entanglement.
Question 2 of 10
How does the deity address the Buddha in this discourse?
Correct: A. A notably informal address for this collection.
Question 3 of 10
How many verses does the Buddha's answer run to, and what does this signal?
Correct: A. A sequence from training, to arahantship, to cessation itself.
Question 4 of 10
What does the reply's first stage name as grounding one who can untangle the tangle?
Correct: A. The first of three stages in the Buddha's answer.
Question 5 of 10
What does the reply's second stage describe?
Correct: A. Those who have already untangled the tangle, not merely those capable of doing so.
Question 6 of 10
What does the reply's third and final stage name as the actual point of cutting?
Correct: A. Cessation itself, not merely training or even arahantship, is named as the cutting point.
Question 7 of 10
What treatise is this discourse's opening question traditionally said to have prompted?
Correct: A. A 5th-century systematic treatise on ethics, concentration, and wisdom.
Question 8 of 10
What verb does the verse's final line use, distinct from the earlier stages?
Correct: A. Suggesting cessation is a different kind of resolution than mere untangling.
Question 9 of 10
What is the setting of this discourse?
Correct: A. Like several discourses in this vagga, no setting is given directly.
Question 10 of 10
Is the tangle described as only an external, social problem?
Correct: A. Jaṭā jaṭinī — both inner and outer entanglement named together.
