1At Sāvatthī.

Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha and said to him:

“Sir, they speak of this thing called ‘ignorance’. What is ignorance? And how is an ignorant person defined?”

“Mendicant, it’s when an uneducated ordinary person doesn’t understand form, its origin, its cessation, and the practice that leads to its cessation. They don’t understand feeling … perception … choices … consciousness, its origin, its cessation, and the practice that leads to its cessation.

This is called ignorance. And this is how an ignorant person is defined.”

1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.

Atha kho aññataro bhikkhu yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami … pe … ekamantaṁ nisinno kho so bhikkhu bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:

"‘avijjā, avijjā’ti, bhante, vuccati. Katamā nu kho, bhante, avijjā; kittāvatā ca avijjāgato hotī"ti?

"Idha, bhikkhu, assutavā puthujjano rūpaṁ nappajānāti, rūpasamudayaṁ nappajānāti, rūpanirodhaṁ nappajānāti, rūpanirodhagāminiṁ paṭipadāṁ nappajānāti; vedanāṁ nappajānāti … saññaṁ … saṅkhāre nappajānāti … pe … viññāṇanirodhagāminiṁ paṭipadāṁ nappajānāti.

Ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhu, avijjā; ettāvatā ca avijjāgato hotī"ti.

Paṭhamaṁ.