A single question-and-answer exchange, addressing ignorance alone
Length
Very short — the most compressed criterion used in this vagga
Northern parallel
The gratification/drawback/escape triad recurs throughout this book, most fully at SN 22.26-28
Difficulty
Approachable — the triad itself is already familiar from earlier discourses
Why this discourse
Applies this book's most recognizable triad — gratification, drawback, and escape — to the recurring ignorance/knowledge question, in the most compressed form yet: no verb-by-verb elaboration across each aggregate, simply a bare list of five aggregates followed by the single missing understanding.
Reading guide
A shift to Varanasi alone, without naming Isipatana
"At Varanasi" — a briefer setting notice than SN 22.127's full "near Varanasi, in the deer park at Isipatana," though the same two speakers and implied location continue.
The triad, stated once, applied to all five aggregates together
"An unlearned ordinary person doesn't truly understand the gratification, the drawback, and the escape when it comes to form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness" — the triad given only once, then the five aggregates simply listed one after another rather than each receiving its own restated definition.
This is the most compressed presentation yet in this vagga — even more economical than SN 22.127's elided but still aggregate-by-aggregate treatment of the originate/vanish criterion.
Why this triad needs no further explanation here
Unlike the originate/vanish criterion introduced fresh at SN 22.126, the gratification/drawback/escape triad has already received extensive treatment earlier in this book — most fully at SN 22.26-28, and referenced again at SN 22.107-108 — so this discourse can simply name it and move on, trusting the reader's accumulated familiarity.
Setting up its own companion
This discourse addresses ignorance alone; SN 22.130, its direct companion, will apply the identical triad to define knowledge, completing the pair exactly as SN 22.127-128 did for the originate/vanish criterion.
Key terms
assāda — gratification — the first of the triad, giving this discourse its title
ādīnava — drawback — the second of the triad
nissaraṇa — escape — the third of the triad
avijjā — ignorance — defined here as the failure to understand this triad regarding each aggregate
Bārāṇasī — Varanasi — this discourse's own brief setting notice, without repeating the fuller Isipatana description
The text
The complete discourse, applying the gratification/drawback/escape triad to define ignorance in its most compressed form yet. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Varanasi. Mahākoṭṭhita said to Sāriputta: “Reverend Sāriputta, they speak of this thing called ‘ignorance’. What is ignorance? And how is an ignoramus defined?”
§2“Reverend, an unlearned ordinary person doesn’t truly understand the gratification, the drawback, and the escape when it comes to form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. This is called ignorance. And this is how an ignoramus is defined.”
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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 triad does this discourse use to define ignorance?
Correct: A. This book's most recognizable triad, already familiar from SN 22.26-28.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse present the triad across the five aggregates?
Correct: A. The most compressed presentation yet in this vagga.
Question 3 of 10
Why does this discourse not re-explain the triad in detail?
Correct: A. Trusting the reader's accumulated familiarity from earlier discourses.
Question 4 of 10
How does this discourse's setting notice differ from SN 22.127's?
Correct: A. A more economical setting notice, though the same speakers and implied location continue.
Question 5 of 10
What discourse is this discourse's direct companion, addressing knowledge with the same triad?
Correct: A. Completing the pair exactly as SN 22.127-128 did for the previous criterion.
Question 6 of 10
Who are the two speakers in this discourse?
Correct: A. Continuing the same dialogue pair from SN 22.127-128.
Question 7 of 10
How many aggregates does this triad apply to?
Correct: A. Form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness, listed in sequence.
Question 8 of 10
Where else in this book has the gratification/drawback/escape triad appeared?
Correct: A. Extensive earlier treatment this discourse can simply reference rather than repeat.
Question 9 of 10
What is ignorance defined as, in this discourse?
Correct: A. A precise application of the familiar triad to this vagga's recurring question.
Question 10 of 10
What is the significance of using an already-familiar triad in this new context?
Correct: A. One of several criteria this vagga systematically applies to the same basic question.
