Lzh Mu Bi Vb Pc 150Learning Pointless Knowledge
Pāli / Sanskrit:Tiracchānavijjāpariyāpuṇana
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Discourse on Learning Pointless Knowledge
Background
The discourse "Tiracchānavijjāpariyāpuṇana" (learning pointless knowledge) appears in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Pāli Canon, specifically in the Pātimokkha Sutta section, the rules of conduct for monks and nuns. Its content concerns the training of disciples and practitioners regarding fields of learning that should be avoided when entering the path of Buddhist practice.
The Buddha taught that although such knowledge is not absolutely wrong in worldly society, for those who have gone forth or committed themselves to the Buddhadharma, spending time and mental energy pursuing it is a waste of precious resources. This is a violation of the spirit of practice, not a violation of direct action, but a violation concerning the direction of the mind and the use of time.
Main Content
"Tiracchānavijjā" is translated as "animal knowledge" or "secondary knowledge": skills, crafts, or fields of study whose main purpose is profit, increased fame, or satisfaction of worldly desires. This includes such activities as learning how to spy on others, matters of good or bad fortune, forms of fine art or physical technique aimed only at livelihood, and so forth.
The law in the Vinaya establishes that monks and nuns should not organize courses or specialize in such knowledge. If one who has gone forth is still drawn into studying such fields, they are straying from the fundamental goal of Buddhism: liberation from suffering (dukkha) through understanding the impermanent, not-self, and painful nature of phenomena.
This discourse emphasizes the clear distinction between spiritually valuable knowledge (ariya-vijjā) and pointless knowledge (tiracchāna-vijjā). Valuable knowledge includes the practice of concentration (samādhi), wisdom (paññā), and morality (sīla), which lead directly to nirvana or at least to the reduction of greed, hatred, and delusion.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.