The king said: ‘What is the characteristic mark of reasoning, and what of wisdom?’

‘Reasoning has always comprehension as its mark; but wisdom has cutting off.’

‘But how is comprehension the characteristic of reasoning, and cutting off of wisdom? Give me an illustration.’

‘You remember the barley reapers?’

‘Yes, certainly.’

‘How do they reap the barley?’

‘With the left hand they grasp the barley into a bunch, and taking the sickle into the right hand, they cut it off with that.’

‘Just even, so, O king, does the recluse by his thinking grasp his mind, and by his wisdom cut off his failings. In this way is it that comprehension is the characteristic of reasoning, but cutting off of wisdom.’

‘Well put, Nāgasena!’