The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
Three three-item chains, each fixed at imprudent and witless with one middle quality cycling through
Length
~2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
A rough counterpart may exist in the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama (T99), though this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★★★☆ — the third stage of a combinatorial descent running through this vagga's final five discourses
Why this discourse
The descent continues: this discourse fixes imprudent and witless as bookends, the third fixed opening term in a row after faithless (SN 14.18) and unconscientious (SN 14.19), and cycles through only three remaining middles — unlearned, lazy, and unmindful. Two possible pairings (imprudent with faithless, imprudent with unconscientious) are skipped because they already appeared, in reverse position, in the two discourses before this one. Compared to SN 14.19's tightly compressed single-segment chains, this discourse's three chains are each given a little more room, spread across several segments apiece rather than compressed into one.
Reading guide
Three chains, one step further along
Imprudent replaces unconscientious as the fixed opening term, continuing the same one-step-at-a-time progression through SN 14.17's original septet.
Two pairings skipped, not one
By this point, two of imprudent's possible partners — faithless and unconscientious — have already appeared paired with it in the two preceding discourses, leaving only three remaining middles for this discourse to work through.
A slightly looser compression than SN 14.19
Where SN 14.19 packed each entire chain into a single segment, this discourse gives each chain several segments — negative first term, negative middle, witless, then the positive mirror — though still far more compressed than SN 14.18's fully spelled-out first chains.
The descent's pattern growing harder to miss
Five chains, then four, now three — by this point the shrinking count across consecutive discourses is difficult to read as coincidence, though this reading guide holds off naming its exact shape until SN 14.22 confirms it directly.
Consistent bookends throughout
As in every discourse since SN 14.18, witless still closes every chain; only the opening term and the set of available middles keep shrinking.
Key terms
anottappamūlaka — “rooted in,” or “beginning with, imprudence” — this discourse's title, naming imprudent as every chain's fixed starting point.
anottappino … appassutā … duppaññā — “imprudent … unlearned … witless” — the first of this discourse's three chains.
ottappino … bahussutā … paññavanto — “prudent … learned … wise” — the positive mirror of the first chain.
kusītā, muṭṭhassatino — “lazy, unmindful” — the two remaining middle terms cycled through this discourse's second and third chains.
dasamaṁ — “the tenth” — the closing numbering tag, marking this discourse's place in the vagga.
The text
The discourse in full, including the source's own elision within each chain. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, sentient beings join together and converge because of an element: the imprudent with the imprudent … unlearned … witless. The prudent with the prudent … learned … wise.
§2… the imprudent with the imprudent … lazy … witless. The prudent with the prudent … energetic … wise.
§3… the imprudent with the imprudent … unmindful … witless. The prudent with the prudent … mindful … wise.”
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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 term does this discourse fix as every chain's opening?
Correct: A. The third fixed opening term in this descending sequence.
Question 2 of 10
How many chains does this discourse build?
Correct: A. One fewer than SN 14.19's four, continuing the descent.
Question 3 of 10
Why are only three middles available for this discourse's chains?
Correct: A. Faithless and unconscientious were already paired with imprudent earlier.
Question 4 of 10
How does this discourse's compression compare to SN 14.19's?
Correct: A. More room per chain than SN 14.19's tightly packed single-segment chains.
Question 5 of 10
What has stayed constant across SN 14.18, 14.19, and this discourse?
Correct: A. The one fixed element unchanged across this whole descending sequence.
Question 6 of 10
What middle term does this discourse's first chain use?
Correct: A. Imprudent, unlearned, witless — the first of three chains.
Question 7 of 10
What pattern does this reading guide hold off naming precisely until later?
Correct: A. Confirmed directly once SN 14.22's closing verse is reached.
Question 8 of 10
Who is the sole speaker in this discourse?
Correct: A. No interlocutor or visitor appears; the Buddha teaches directly.
Question 9 of 10
Where does the Buddha deliver this teaching?
Correct: A. The setting shared with most discourses in this collection.
