A single question-and-answer exchange, addressing ignorance alone
Length
Short — more compressed than SN 22.126, with elisions throughout
Northern parallel
Shares its criterion with SN 22.126
Difficulty
Approachable — best read directly after SN 22.126
Why this discourse
Moves the same originate/vanish criterion from a mendicant questioning the Buddha to Mahākoṭṭhita questioning Sāriputta at Isipatana — the same deer park setting as SN 22.122-123 earlier in this book — now addressing ignorance alone rather than ignorance and knowledge together.
Reading guide
A shift in speakers, a return to a familiar setting
"Venerable Sāriputta and Venerable Mahākoṭṭhita were staying near Varanasi, in the deer park at Isipatana" — the identical setting and speaker pair as SN 22.122-123, confirming Isipatana as this book's recurring venue for dialogues between the Buddha's two chief disciples.
The identical criterion, compressed
"An unlearned ordinary person doesn't truly understand form, which is liable to originate ... liable to vanish ... liable to originate and vanish, as form which is liable to originate and vanish" — the same threefold criterion as SN 22.126, but now compressed with ellipses into a single flowing sentence rather than three separately stated failures.
Splitting what SN 22.126 combined
Where SN 22.126 addressed both ignorance and knowledge within one discourse, this discourse addresses ignorance alone, with knowledge left for its own separate companion discourse, SN 22.128 — the split-pair pattern already familiar from SN 22.113-114, SN 22.129-130, and SN 22.131-132.
A pattern now visible across the vagga
This discourse establishes the format that SN 22.129-130 and SN 22.131-132 will each follow in turn: Koṭṭhita asks Sāriputta about ignorance in one discourse using a given criterion, then asks about knowledge in the next using the identical criterion — the same dialogue structure, cycling through this vagga's several different technical formulas.
Key terms
uppādadhamma/vayadhamma/uppādavayadhamma — liable to originate / liable to vanish / liable to originate and vanish — the same threefold criterion as SN 22.126, now compressed
Isipatana — the deer park near Varanasi where the Buddha gave his first sermon, and the recurring setting for Sāriputta-Koṭṭhita dialogues in this book
āvuso — "Reverend" — the term of address between senior monks, replacing the Buddha's own "Mendicant" from SN 22.126
avijjā — ignorance — the sole subject of this discourse, unlike SN 22.126's combined treatment
aviddasu — an ignoramus — the person this discourse defines
The text
The complete discourse, addressing ignorance alone through the same criterion as SN 22.126, now compressed. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At one time Venerable Sāriputta and Venerable Mahākoṭṭhita were staying near Varanasi, in the deer park at Isipatana. … Mahākoṭṭhita said to Sāriputta: “Reverend Sāriputta, they speak of this thing called ‘ignorance’. What is ignorance? And how is an ignoramus defined?”
§2“Reverend, it’s when an unlearned ordinary person doesn’t truly understand form, which is liable to originate … liable to vanish … liable to originate and vanish, as form which is liable to originate and vanish. They don’t truly understand feeling … perception … choices … consciousness, which is liable to originate … liable to vanish … liable to originate and vanish, as consciousness which is liable to originate and vanish. This is called ignorance. And this is how an ignoramus is defined.”
· · ·
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
Where is this discourse set, matching an earlier dialogue in this book?
Correct: A. The identical setting as SN 22.122-123's own Sāriputta-Koṭṭhita dialogue.
Question 2 of 10
Who are the two speakers in this discourse?
Correct: A. Shifting from SN 22.126's Buddha-and-mendicant exchange to a dialogue between two chief disciples.
Question 3 of 10
What criterion does this discourse use to define ignorance?
Correct: A. Compressed with ellipses rather than stated in three full separate sentences.
Question 4 of 10
Does this discourse address both ignorance and knowledge, like SN 22.126?
Correct: A. Splitting what SN 22.126 combined into one discourse.
Question 5 of 10
What discourse is this discourse's direct companion, addressing knowledge with the same criterion?
Correct: A. The next discourse in the vagga, mirroring this discourse's structure with knowledge in place of ignorance.
Question 6 of 10
What pattern does this discourse establish for the rest of the vagga?
Correct: A. A structure that SN 22.129-130 and SN 22.131-132 will each follow with different criteria.
Question 7 of 10
What term of address replaces the Buddha's "Mendicant" from SN 22.126?
Correct: A. Marking the shift from a teacher-student exchange to a peer dialogue.
Question 8 of 10
How many aggregates does this criterion apply to?
Correct: A. Form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness, compressed with ellipses in this discourse.
Question 9 of 10
What does Isipatana's recurrence as a setting in this book suggest?
Correct: A. Shared with SN 22.122-123's own extended dialogue.
Question 10 of 10
How does this discourse's length compare to SN 22.126's?
Correct: A. Addressing only ignorance, and compressing the threefold criterion into elided phrasing.
