IgnoranceAvijjāsutta

At Sāvatthī.Sāvatthinidānaṁ.

Then a mendicant went up to the BuddhaAtha kho aññataro bhikkhu yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami …pe… and said to him:ekamantaṁ nisinno kho so bhikkhu bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:

“Sir, they speak of this thing called ‘ignorance’.“‘avijjā, avijjā’ti, bhante, vuccati. What is ignorance?Katamā nu kho, bhante, avijjā; And how is an ignoramus defined?”kittāvatā ca avijjāgato hotī”ti?

“Mendicant, it’s when an unlearned ordinary person doesn’t understand form, its origin, its cessation, and the practice that leads to its cessation.“Idha, bhikkhu, assutavā puthujjano rūpaṁ nappajānāti, rūpasamudayaṁ nappajānāti, rūpanirodhaṁ nappajānāti, rūpanirodhagāminiṁ paṭipadaṁ nappajānāti; They don’t understand feeling …vedanaṁ nappajānāti … perception …saññaṁ … choices …saṅkhāre nappajānāti …pe… consciousness, its origin, its cessation, and the practice that leads to its cessation.viññāṇanirodhagāminiṁ paṭipadaṁ nappajānāti.

This is called ignorance.Ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhu, avijjā; And this is how an ignoramus is defined.”ettāvatā ca avijjāgato hotī”ti.