Reading guide
The reversed direction, continued
"Reverend Koṭṭhita, they speak of this thing called 'ignorance'" — Sāriputta remains the questioner here, exactly as in SN 22.133, confirming this is not an isolated instance but a settled reversal running through the vagga's final stretch.
The fullest criterion, in the combined format
"An unlearned ordinary person doesn't truly understand the origin, the disappearance, the gratification, the drawback, and the escape" for ignorance, then the identical five points inverted for knowledge — the same formula as SN 22.131-132, but now presented together in one discourse rather than split across two, exactly as SN 22.133 did for the triad.
A pattern of pairing criterion with format
Reading across this vagga's nine discourses so far reveals a consistent method: each criterion receives both a split presentation (in the earlier, Koṭṭhita-questions-Sāriputta discourses) and a combined presentation (in this later, reversed-direction set) — SN 22.126 combined the opening criterion, SN 22.127-128 split it; SN 22.129-130 split the triad, SN 22.133 combined it; SN 22.131-132 split the five-point formula, this discourse combines it.
One discourse remaining
SN 22.135 closes Avijjāvagga, continuing this same reversed direction and combined format, but returning to a fourth and final criterion — SN 22.113's own original four-point origin/cessation/practice formula — completing the vagga's systematic tour through every technical vocabulary this book has offered for defining ignorance and knowledge.
Key terms
The text
§1At Varanasi. “Reverend Koṭṭhita, 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 origin, the disappearance, 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.”
§3When he said this, Venerable Sāriputta said to him: “Reverend Koṭṭhita, they speak of this thing called ‘knowledge’. What is knowledge? And how is a knowing one defined?”
§4“Reverend, a learned noble disciple truly understands the origin, the disappearance, the gratification, the drawback, and the escape when it comes to form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. This is called knowledge. And this is how a knowing one is defined.”
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