“Mendicants, ignorance leads the attainment of unskillful qualities, with lack of conscience and prudence following along. Knowledge leads the attainment of skillful qualities, with conscience and prudence following along.” The Buddha spoke this matter. On this it is said:
“Bad destinies of whatever kind, in this world or the next, are all rooted in ignorance, compounded of greed and desire.
Since one of corrupt wishes is unconscientious, lacking regard for others, they brim with much wickedness, which sends them to a place of loss.
Therefore, dispelling desire and greed and ignorance, a mendicant arousing knowledge would abandon all bad destinies.”
This too is a matter that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.
So It Was Said 41 The Book of the Twos Chapter Two Bereft of Wisdom
This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
“Those sentient beings are truly bereft, mendicants, who are bereft of noble wisdom. They live unhappily in this very life—with distress, anguish, and fever—and when the body breaks up, after death, they can expect a bad rebirth. Those sentient beings are not bereft who are not bereft of noble wisdom. In this very life they’re happy—free of distress, anguish, and fever—and when the body breaks up, after death, they can expect a good rebirth.” The Buddha spoke this matter. On this it is said:
“See the world with its gods, bereft of wisdom, habituated to name and form, imagining this is truth.