sn.iii.2591At Sāvatthī. Then the wanderer Vacchagotta approached the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him.[n.294] Vacchagotta appears as the inquirer in three suttas in MN, Nos. 71, 72, and 73. In the third he becomes a monk and attains arahantship. In SN he reappears in 44:7–11, again with questions about the undeclared points. When they had concluded their greetings and cordial talk, he sat down to one side and said to him:

"Master Gotama, what is the cause and reason why these various speculative views arise in the world:
‘The world is eternal’ or ‘The world is not eternal’; or
‘The world is finite’ or ‘The world is infinite’; or
‘The soul and the body are the same’ or
‘The soul is one thing, the body is another’; or
‘The Tathāgata exists after death,’ or
‘The Tathāgata does not exist after death,’ or
‘The Tathāgata both exists and does not exist after death,’ or
‘The Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist after death’?"

"It is, Vaccha, because of not knowing perception, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation that those various speculative views arise in the world.

This, Vaccha, is the cause and reason why those various speculative views arise in the world."[n.295] This sutta, and those to follow, apply the framework of the Four Noble Truths to each of the five aggregates. Since not knowing the Four Noble Truths (dukkhe aññāṇaṁ, etc.) is ignorance (avijjā; see SN12.2; II 4,11–14), these suttas collectively establish that ignorance (i.e., lack of knowledge) is the underlying cause of the ten speculative views. Spk says that this saṁyutta contains eleven suttas with a total of fifty-five explanations, but I have followed the printed editions, which count each explanation as a separate sutta.

1Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho vacchagotto paribbājako bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:

"ko nu kho, bho gotama, hetu, ko paccayo, yānimāni anekavihitāni diṭṭhigatāni loke uppajjanti – sassato lokoti vā, asassato lokoti vā … pe … neva hoti na na hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇāti vā"ti?

"Saññāya kho, vaccha, aññāṇā, saññāsamudaye aññāṇā, saññānirodhe aññāṇā, saññānirodhagāminiyā paṭipadāya aññāṇā; evamimāni anekavihitāni diṭṭhigatāni loke uppajjanti – sassato lokoti vā, asassato lokoti vā … pe … neva hoti na na hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇāti vāti.

Ayaṁ kho, vaccha, hetu, ayaṁ paccayo, yānimāni anekavihitāni diṭṭhigatāni loke uppajjanti – sassato lokoti vā, asassato lokoti vā … pe … neva hoti na na hoti tathāgato paraṁ maraṇāti vā"ti.

Tatiyaṁ.