The vatthus are:[2] The ordinary process of the untaught world-ling's conception of the world is filled with ignorance and conceptual proliferation (papañca) from the initial moment of sensory perception.
[3] This process begins at perception, which is already distorted for the untaught person who conceives and projects self-hood, solidity and expectations into his field of experience.
[4] The stage of "conceiving" (mañati) is really a state of cognitive distortion, which is led by the three defilements of craving (taṇhā), conceit (māna), and views (diṭṭhi).
According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, this sutta is a response to the Indian philosophical school called Samkhya and parallels their philosophy while at the same time critiquing it.
According to the Theravadan commentaries, the monks listening in this sutta were Brahmins who even after being ordained continued to hold to some of their previous views.