The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
Two three-item chains, each fixed at unlearned 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 fourth stage of this vagga's combinatorial descent, one discourse from its conclusion
Why this discourse
The descent narrows further: this discourse fixes unlearned and witless as bookends, and cycles through only two remaining middles — lazy and unmindful. Three possible pairings with unlearned (with faithless, with unconscientious, with imprudent) have already appeared in the three discourses before this one, leaving just two genuinely new combinations left to state. With this discourse's two chains given, the entire septet's pairwise combinations are nearly exhausted; only one pairing remains for the vagga's closing discourse to supply.
Reading guide
Two chains, the descent's fourth step
Unlearned replaces imprudent as the fixed opening term, continuing the same systematic progression through SN 14.17's septet, now down to just two chains.
Three pairings already spoken for
By this point, unlearned's combinations with faithless, unconscientious, and imprudent have all already appeared in the three preceding discourses, leaving only lazy and unmindful as genuinely new middles.
Nearly the full set of pairs, almost exhausted
Counting every chain given so far across SN 14.18–21 — five, four, three, and now two — this vagga has built fourteen of the fifteen total pairwise combinations available among the septet's six non-witless qualities.
One combination left for the vagga to close on
Only the pairing of lazy with unmindful hasn't yet appeared; the vagga's final discourse exists specifically to supply this one remaining chain.
The same fixed final term, unbroken since SN 14.18
Witless has closed every chain across four consecutive discourses now, the one element of this whole sequence that has never varied.
Key terms
appassutamūlaka — “rooted in,” or “beginning with, the unlearned” — this discourse's title, naming unlearned as every chain's fixed starting point.
appassutā … kusītā … duppaññā — “unlearned … lazy … witless” — the first of this discourse's two chains.
bahussutā … āraddhavīriyā … paññavanto — “learned … energetic … wise” — the positive mirror of the first chain.
muṭṭhassatino — “unmindful” — the second and final middle term this discourse cycles through.
ekādasamaṁ — “the eleventh” — 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 unlearned with the unlearned … lazy … witless. The learned with the learned … energetic … wise.
§2… the unlearned with the unlearned … unmindful … witless. The learned with the learned … 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 fourth fixed opening term in this descending sequence.
Question 2 of 10
How many chains does this discourse build?
Correct: A. One fewer than SN 14.20's three, continuing the descent.
Question 3 of 10
How many of the septet's total pairwise combinations have been given by the end of this discourse?
Correct: A. Five, four, three, and now two chains across four discourses, with one pairing still to come.
Question 4 of 10
Which single pairing remains for the vagga's final discourse to supply?
Correct: A. The one combination not yet given by any discourse so far.
Question 5 of 10
What has remained unbroken across all four discourses from SN 14.18 through this one?
Correct: A. The one fixed element that has never varied across this whole sequence.
Question 6 of 10
What middle term does this discourse's first chain use?
Correct: A. Unlearned, lazy, witless — the first of two chains.
Question 7 of 10
Why does this discourse have only two chains rather than three?
Correct: A. Faithless, unconscientious, and imprudent were already paired with unlearned earlier.
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.
Question 10 of 10
What numbering tag closes this discourse?
Correct: A. The eleventh discourse of Dutiyavagga, one before its close.
