‘Venerable Nāgasena, what is the distinction, what the difference, between a layman who has done wrong, and a Samaṇa (member of the Order) who has done wrong? Will they both be reborn in like condition? Will the like retribution happen to both? Or is there any difference?’
‘There are, O king, ten qualities which abound in the guilty Samaṇa, distinguishing him from the guilty layman. And besides that, in ten ways does the Samaṇa purify the gifts that may be given him.
‘And what are the ten qualities which abound in the guilty Samaṇa, distinguishing him from the guilty layman? the guilty Samaṇa, O king, is full of reverence for the Buddha, for the Law, for the Order, and for his fellow-disciples; he exerts himself in putting questions about, and in recitation of (the sacred texts); he is devoted to learning, though he has done wrong. Then, O king, the guilty one entering the assembly, enters it decently clad, he guards himself alike in body and mind through fear of rebuke, his mind is set upon exerting himself (towards the attainment of Arahatship), he is of the companionship of the brethren. And even, O king, if he does wrong he lives discreetly. just, O king, as a married woman sins only in secret and in privacy, so does the guilty Samaṇa walk discreetly in his wrongdoing. These are the ten qualities, O king, found in the guilty Samaṇa, distinguishing him from the guilty layman.
‘And what are the ten ways in which, besides, he purifies a gift given to him? He purifies it in that he wears an invulnerable coat of mail ; in that he is shorn in the fashion of the characteristic mark of renunciation used by the seers of old ; in that he is one who is included in the multitude of the brethren; in that he has taken his refuge in the Buddha, the Law, and the Order; in that he dwells in a lonely spot suitable for the exertion (after Arahatship); in that he seeks after the treasure of the teaching of the Conquerors; in that he preaches the most excellent law (Dhamma); in that his final destiny is to be reborn in the island of truth ; in that he is possessed of an honest belief that the Buddha is the chief of all beings; in that he has taken upon himself the keeping of the Uposatha day. These, O king, are the ten ways in which, besides, he purifies a gift given to him.
‘Even, O king, when thoroughly fallen, a guilty Samaṇa yet sanctifies the gifts of the supporters of the faith—just as water, however thick, will wash away slush and mud and dirt and stains—just as hot, and even boiling water will put a mighty blazing fire out—just as food, however nasty, will allay the faintness of hunger. For thus, O king, hath it been said by the god over all gods in the most excellent Majjhima Nikāya in the chapter “On gifts:”
“Whene’er a good man, with believing heart,
Presents what he hath earned in righteousness
To th’ unrighteous—in full confidence
On the great fruit to follow the good act—
Such gift is, by the giver, sanctified.”’
‘Most wonderful, Nāgasena, and most strange! We asked you a mere ordinary question, and you, expounding it with reasons and with similes, have filled, as it were, the hearer with the sweet taste of the nectar (of Nirvāṇa). just as a cook, or a cook’s apprentice, taking a piece of ordinary nutmeg, will, treating it with various ingredients, prepare a dish for a king—so, Nāgasena, when we asked you an ordinary question, have you, expounding it with reasons and similes, filled the hearer with the sweet taste of the nectar of Nirvāṇa.’
Here ends the dilemma as to the guilty recluse.