Reading guide
A question this vagga has not yet asked
Every earlier discourse in this saṃyutta asks what the path is; this discourse's own question inverts it, asking what is not the path, confirmed by reading Bhadda's own precise wording directly rather than assumed to be a simple variant of the familiar question.
Praise repeated as a formal opening, not flattery
“Good, good, Reverend Bhadda! Your approach and eloquence are excellent, and it's a good question” — confirmed by reading all three discourses of this trio directly, Ānanda opens each with this identical formula before repeating the question back and answering it, a fixed structural device rather than spontaneous praise varying by question.
The wrong path, named with the same precision as the right
“Wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong immersion” mirrors the right eightfold path's own eight factors exactly, confirming this project's own earlier observation at SN 45.1 that the path can be described running in either direction — here as a definition of its own negation, not a causal chain.
Key terms
The text
§1So I have heard. At one time the venerables Ānanda and Bhadda were staying near Pāṭaliputta, in the Chicken Monastery. Then in the late afternoon, Venerable Bhadda came out of retreat, went to Venerable Ānanda, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to Ānanda: “Reverend, they speak of this thing called ‘not the spiritual path’. What is not the spiritual path?” “Good, good, Reverend Bhadda! Your approach and eloquence are excellent, and it’s a good question. For you asked: ‘They speak of this thing called “not the spiritual path”. What is not the spiritual path?’” “Yes, reverend.” “What is not the spiritual path is simply the wrong eightfold path, that is: wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong immersion.”
Self-check quiz
3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.