Reading guide
Ignorance, defined by its object
Not a general confusion but a specific fourfold not-knowing — the four noble truths (suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path to its cessation), named individually rather than as a single bundled term.
Key terms
dukkhe aññāṇaṁ, dukkhasamudaye aññāṇaṁ, dukkhanirodhe aññāṇaṁ, dukkhanirodhagāminiyā paṭipadāya aññāṇaṁ — “not knowing suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the practice leading to its cessation” — ignorance defined precisely as not knowing the four noble truths
āvuso — “reverend, friend” — the reciprocal address term Jambukhādaka and Sāriputta use throughout this saṃyutta
pañhā — “question” — the recurring suffix naming every discourse's own Pali title throughout this saṃyutta
atthi... maggo atthi paṭipadā — “is there a path and a practice” — this saṃyutta's own recurring path-confirmation question, asked with only its object changing from SN 38.1 through SN 38.15
navamaṁ — “ninth” — this discourse's own untranslated closing ordinal
The text
The portion of this discourse Sujato's own English translation renders. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Reverend Sāriputta, they speak of this thing called ‘ignorance’. What is ignorance?” “Not knowing about suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering. This is called ignorance.” “But, reverend, is there a path and a practice for giving up that ignorance?” “There is.” …
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Self-check quiz
1 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 1
How does Sāriputta define "ignorance" (avijjā)?
Correct: A. A specific fourfold not-knowing, stated as a single direct sentence.