Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 45.21

The Wrong Way

Micchattasutta — Micchattavagga

Setting
Sāvatthī
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A single teach-you announcement, defining two eightfold lists side by side
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — very short, a direct pairing

Why this discourse

This discourse opens a new vagga by naming its own governing term directly: micchatta, “the wrong way,” is simply the wrong eightfold path (wrong view through wrong immersion), and sammatta, “the right way,” its mirror. The first of five consecutive discourses (SN 45.21–25) this project confirms by direct comparison teach the identical pairing under five different framing terms.

Reading guide

The vagga's own name, defined in its own opening discourse

Micchattavagga takes its name directly from this discourse's own central term, confirmed by reading the vagga's own uddāna, which opens by naming “micchattaṁ” first among its ten discourses' own topics.

The first of a five-discourse run, honestly noted

SN 45.21–25 each teach the identical wrong/right eightfold-path pairing, varying only the framing term (the way itself, skillful/unskillful qualities, practice, an untrue/true person), confirmed by reading all five directly — this reading guide notes this repetition honestly rather than inventing distinctions the source itself does not support.

Key terms

micchattaṁ — “the wrong way” — this discourse's own central term, giving this vagga its own name
sammattaṁ — “the right way” — the mirrored term, the right eightfold path
micchādiṭṭhi... micchāsamādhi — “wrong view... wrong immersion” — the eight factors defining the wrong way
sammādiṭṭhi... sammāsamādhi — “right view... right immersion” — the eight factors defining the right way
micchattavaggo — this vagga's own name, taken directly from this discourse's own opening term, confirmed by the vagga's own closing uddāna

The text

The complete discourse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, I will teach you the wrong way and the right way. Listen … And what is the wrong way? It is wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong immersion. This is called the wrong way. And what is the right way? It is right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. This is called the right way.”

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Self-check quiz

3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 3
What does this discourse define as "the wrong way" (micchatta)?
Correct: A. This discourse's own central term, giving this vagga its own name, confirmed by the vagga's closing uddāna.
Question 2 of 3
How do SN 45.21-25 relate to each other, according to this reading guide?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct comparison — the repetition is noted honestly, not disguised with invented distinctions.
Question 3 of 3
What does this vagga's own name, Micchattavagga, come from?
Correct: A. Confirmed by the vagga's own closing uddāna, which names "micchattaṁ" first among its ten discourses' own topics.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0