SN 14.21Beginning With the Unlearned
Pāli / Sanskrit:Appassutamūlakasutta
Those of bad qualities associate together, while those of good qualities associate together.
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
– Chapter 14: Linked Discourses on the Elements
– II: Chapter Two
14.21. Beginning With the Unlearned: Appassutamūlaka
Vi-n 1At Sāvatthī.
Vi-n 2—Mendicants, sentient beings join together and converge because of an element.
The unlearned join together and converge with the unlearned. The lazy … with the lazy. The witless … with the witless. The learned … with the learned. The energetic … with the energetic. The wise join together and converge with the wise.
Vi-n 3-5 … in the past … in the future … in the present.
Vi-n 6The unlearned join together and converge with the unlearned. The unmindful … with the unmindful. The witless … with the witless. The learned … with the learned. The mindful … with the mindful … . The wise join together and converge with the wise.
Vi-n 7-9 … in the past … in the future … in the present.
These discourses were translated into Vietnamese by Venerable Thích Minh Châu and published by Vạn Hạnh Meditation Monastery in the early 1980s. Later, as part of the Vietnamese Buddhist Canon translation and publication program, the collection was reprinted in 1993 and assigned sequence numbers 12 through 16.
Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala .
The “…” is an abbreviation carried over from the Pāli original itself, called peyyāla. The early canon was memorized and recited, so passages repeated verbatim from a preceding discourse were commonly contracted to an elision mark rather than written out in full. Venerable Thích Minh Châu's translation preserves this convention. Some texts therefore look short — but that is the canonical form, not missing content or a truncated translation. The elided passages can be read in full in the preceding discourses of the same chapter.
The version you're viewing was faithfully rendered by Inti AI in keeping with the tradition. Switch to the other language tab to read a human translation.
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.