SN 45.21PTS SN 5.171 min read

The Wrong Way

Micchattasutta

The wrong eightfold path is a wrong state; the right eightfold path is a right state.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 45.21Linked Discourses 45.21
0.23. Micchattavagga3. The Wrong Way

0.3MicchattasuttaThe Wrong Way

1.1PTS 5.18Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2“Micchattañca vo, bhikkhave, desessāmi, sammattañca.“Mendicants, I will teach you the wrong way and the right way.¹1.3Taṁ suṇātha.Listen …

1.4Katamañca, bhikkhave, micchattaṁ?And what is the wrong way?1.5Seyyathidaṁ—micchādiṭṭhi …pe… micchāsamādhi.It is wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong immersion.1.6Idaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, micchattaṁ.This is called the wrong way.

1.7Katamañca, bhikkhave, sammattaṁ?And what is the right way?1.8Seyyathidaṁ—sammādiṭṭhi …pe… sammāsamādhi.It is right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion.1.9Idaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammattan”ti.This is called the right way.”

1.10Paṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

“Wrong way” is micchattā, literally “wrongness”.
The roots of both sammā (Sanskrit samyak) and micchā (Sanskrit mithyā) convey a similar sense of “together”, but sammā implied harmonious union (Rig Veda 4.58.6, 5.9.5, 9.73.2), while micchā was associated with contention or clashing (1.119.3, 1.144.3, 6.25.2). Over time, micchā came to convey “wrong, false, vain, mistaken”, while sammā was “right, harmonious, integrated”.
↩ sn45.21:1.2