Assādasutta

Bārāṇasiyaṁ viharanti isipatane migadāye …pe… ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā mahākoṭṭhiko āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ etadavoca: “‘avijjā, avijjā’ti, āvuso sāriputta, vuccati. Katamā nu kho, āvuso, avijjā; kittāvatā ca avijjāgato hotī”ti?

At Varanasi. Mahākoṭṭhita said to Sāriputta: “Reverend Sāriputta, they speak of this thing called ‘ignorance’. What is ignorance? And how is an ignoramus defined?”

“Idhāvuso assutavā puthujjano rūpassa assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca yathābhūtaṁ nappajānāti. Vedanāya …pe… saññāya … saṅkhārānaṁ … viññāṇassa assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca yathābhūtaṁ nappajānāti. Ayaṁ vuccatāvuso, avijjā; ettāvatā ca avijjāgato hotī”ti. Catutthaṁ.

“Reverend, an unlearned ordinary person doesn’t truly understand 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.”