ne.37 Niddesa

759. Herein, the eighteen Root-Terms: where are they to be seen?

In the Pattern of the Dispensation.

760. Herein what is the Pattern of the Dispensation? [It is the Thread grouped, firstly, as follows:]

[First Grouping—Schedule]

1. [A] type of Thread dealing with corruption,
2. [B] type of Thread dealing with morality,
3. [C] type of Thread dealing with penetration,
4. [D] type of Thread dealing with the Adept;
5. [AB] type of Thread dealing with corruption and morality,
6. [AC] type of Thread dealing with corruption and penetration,
7. [AD] type of Thread dealing with corruption and the Adept,
8. [ACD] type of Thread dealing with corruption, penetration, and the Adept,
9. [ABC] type of Thread dealing with corruption, morality, and penetration,
10. [BC] type of Thread dealing with morality and penetration;
11. [A1] type of Thread dealing with corruption by craving,
12. [A2] type of Thread dealing with corruption by view,
13. [A3] type of Thread dealing with corruption by misconduct;
14. [B-D1] type of Thread dealing with cleansing from craving,
15. [B-D2] type of Thread dealing with cleansing from view,
16. [B-D3] type of Thread dealing with cleansing from misconduct.

761. Herein, corruption is of three kinds: corruption by craving, corruption by view, and corruption by misconduct.

762. Herein, corruption by craving is purified by quiet, and that quiet is the concentration category. Corruption by view is purified by insight, and that insight is the understanding category. Corruption by misconduct is purified by good conduct, and that good conduct is the virtue category.

763. When someone is established in virtue, if clutching at the kinds of being arises in him, then any quiet and insight of his becomes the ground for making merit consisting in keeping in being since it causes reappearance to occur in some kind [of existence] or other.

764. These four [basic types of] Threads [A-D], when [combined] in common, come to eight; and those same eight [combined] in common come to sixteen. The [entire] Ninefold Thread is classifiable under these sixteen [types thus] classified.

765. Verse should be assessed by verse, prose-exposition should be assessed by prose-exposition, Thread should be assessed by Thread.

[First Grouping—Illustrative Quotations]

[1]

766. Herein, what is the type of Thread Dealing with Corruption?

Caught in the net of sensual murk,
And blocked by craving’s bondage,
Fenced in by fences of neglect
Like fishes in a funnel-trap,
They follow after ageing and death
As does the sucking-calf its mother.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

767. “Bhikkhus, there are these four goings on a bad way. What four? One goes a bad way through will, another goes a bad way through hate, another goes a bad way through fear, another goes a bad way through delusion”. So the Blessed One said. The Sublime One having said this, he, the Master, said further:

“When man strays from the True Idea
Through will, hate, fear, or through delusion,
His good fame wanes away, he finds,
As in its dark half does the moon”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

768.Ideas are heralded by mind,
Mind heads them, and they are mind-made.
If someone with corrupted mind
Is wont to speak or act, then pain
Sure follows after him as does
The wheel the harnessed [ox’s] hoof.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

769. A dullard, drowsy with much gluttony,
Engrossed in sleep, who wallows as he lies
Like a great porker stuffed with fatting food,
Comes ever and again back to the womb.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

770. As the rust-stain that grows out of the iron
Devours the iron wherefrom it takes its growth,
So too are led habitual transgressors
By their own acts to evil destinations.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

771. Just as a robber taken in house-breaking
Is haunted by and responsible for his act,
So too a man hereafter, when departed,
Is haunted by and responsible for his act.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

772. One with the rod maltreating cruelly
Beings that desire but pleasure,
When he too his own pleasure seeks
Departing hence, he finds it not.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

773. When cattle go across a ford
And the bull leader goes astray
Then all the others go astray
Because the guide has gone astray.
So too it is among mankind:
If the appointed ruler acts
Contrary to the True Idea,
How much more all the other folk;
The whole realm suffers when its king
Acts counter to the True Idea.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

774. Fine work indeed have men, who evil do
Through lusting for essentials of existence
Then crowd into the Unremitting Hell
To suffer there most fearful agonies!.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

775. Fruiting kills the plantain tree
And kills the bamboo and the rush,
And honours kill unworthy men
As foaling does she-mules.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

776. A bhikkhu given much to anger
And contempt through gain and honour
Grows in the True Idea no more
Than in good soil a rotten seed.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

777. (“Here, bhikkhus, with cognizance I penetrate some person’s cognizance by means of the Enlightened One’s eye, and I understand thus: According as this person is behaving, and according to the way he is practising and the path he is taking, were he to die on this occasion, then as if carried [there], so [he would be] placed in hell. Why is that? His heart is corrupt. It is because of his heart’s corruption that here, on the dissolution of the body, after death, someone reappears in a state of unease, in a bad destination, in perdition, in hell”. This is the meaning the Blessed One stated. Herein, it is stated as follows:

“On recognizing here some person
Whose heart was brimming with corruption,
The Master did expound the meaning
In the bhikkhus” presence thus:
“Now should it happen that this person
Came to die at such a moment
He then would reappear in hell
Through the corruption of his heart;
For heart-corrupted creatures go
On to an evil destination.
As if he had been carried off
And placed [there], so a fool like this,
After the body’s dissolution,
Reappears in Hell”.

This was the meaning stated by the Blessed One, so I heard).

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

778. Now if you are afraid of pain
And if you find pain disagreeable
Then do no sort of evil act
In public or in secrecy.
If you do or if you will do
An evil act, [no matter what,]
You will no safety find from pain,
Even by flight to future states.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

779. Whatever increment they get
Unlawfully, and what by lies,
Fools do conceive both to be “mine”;
Now how will that turn out to be?
There will be troubles, and besides,
What has been gathered vanishes;
No heaven for them when they die:
Now are they not undone thereby?.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

780. “How does a man consume himself?
How does he come to lose his friends?
How does he turn from the True Idea?
How does he fail to go to heaven”?
“Through greed a man consumes himself,
Through greed he comes to lose his friends,
Through greed he turns from the True Idea,
Through greed he fails to go to heaven”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

781. When fools show their stupidity
They are their own selves’ enemies;
For they do evil actions, which
Will bear an evil fruit.
The act is not well done, for which
When done regret comes in its wake,
Whose ripening one undergoes
Mourning with tearful face.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

782. The unfit man the monk’s state finds
Both hard to gain and hard to bear;
For many are the troubles there
Wherein a fool may come to grief.
For should a fool corrupt his mind
The while a Perfect One expounds
A meaning or an idea else,
Futile his life thereby becomes.

(“This pain I do indeed deserve, and worse besides, O venerable sir; for I, not lust-free, hate did nurse at heart for Perfect Ones immeasurable”).

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

783. Who is there, then, that knows would think
To measure the immeasurable?
I hold him dense, witless, who tries
To measure the immeasurable.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

784. When once a man has come to birth
An axe is born inside his mouth,
Whereby the fool will cut himself
By uttering ill-spoken words.

For never did well whetted blade
Or poison of kalāhala
So certainly undo a man
As can the ill-spoken word.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

785. Who the condemnable commends
Or the commendable condemns
Casts by his mouth an unlucky throw,
A throw through whose means no bliss he finds.
Trifling the unlucky throw at dice
That gambles away the wealth of all,
Including oneself; far worse indeed
Is that unluckiest of throws
That steels the heart against Sublime Ones.
A hundred thousand and thirty-six
Nirabbudas, and five abbudas,
[Of years] in evil hellish states
Reap men who Noble Ones revile
For so disposing their heart and speech.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

786. When a man is devoted to service of greed
He is one who gives vent to the slander of others.
He is faithless, ignoble, and cannot judge speech,
Avaricious as well and devoted to malice.
O foul-mouth, O trickster, O ignoble fellow,
Destroyer and renegade, doer of evil,
O miscreant, sinner, and son of the gutter,
Say little here now, you belong to the hells.
You have scattered pollution for [others’] misfortune,
You have censured the true and done hideous things;
Through all of the many misdeeds you have done,
You are going for long to remain in the pit.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

[2]

787. Herein, what is the type of Thread dealing with morality?

Ideas are heralded by mind,
Mind heads them, and they are mind-made.
If someone with a placid mind
Is wont to speak or act, then bliss
Sure follows after him as does
His shadow keep him company.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

(788. Mahānāma the Sakyan said this to the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, this [city of] Kapilavatthu is successful, prosperous, populous and crowded with people, its alleys are teeming. Now, venerable sir, it happens that when I have done honour to the Blessed One or to reverend bhikkhus, I then go in the evening into Kapilavatthu, and I encounter perhaps an uncontrolled elephant or an uncontrolled horse or an uncontrolled carriage or an uncontrolled cart or an uncontrolled man. On that occasion, venerable sir, mindfulness instigated by the Blessed One is forgotten, mindfulness instigated by the True Idea is forgotten, mindfulness instigated by the Community is forgotten. Venerable sir, I wonder: Were I to pass away on that evening, what would my destination be, what would my prospect be”?— “Do not fear, Mahānāma, do not fear. Your death will be free from evil, your passing away free from evil. When a noble hearer possesses four ideas he tends to extinction, he inclines to extinction, he leans to extinction. What are the four? Here a noble hearer, through experience undergone, has confidence in the Enlightened One thus: ‘That Blessed One is such since he is accomplished, … … teacher of gods and men, enlightened Blessed … in the True Idea … … in the Community … … And then he possesses the kinds of virtue desired by Noble Ones, untorn … … and conducive to concentration. Suppose that a tree tended to the east, inclined to the east, leaned to the east, what side would it fall to when cut at its root”?—“Venerable sir, it would fall where it tended, would fall where it inclined, would fall where it leaned”.—“So too, Mahānāma, when a noble hearer possesses four ideas he tends to extinction, he inclines to extinction, he leans to extinction. Do not fear, Mahānāma, do not fear. Your death will be free from evil, your passing away free from evil”).

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

789. Not with the rod maltreating cruelly
Beings that desire but pleasure,
When he too his own pleasure seeks
Departing hence he meets with it.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

790. When cattle go across a ford
And the bull leader goes aright
Then all the others go aright
Because the guide has gone aright.
So too it is among mankind;
If the appointed ruler acts
According to the True Idea,
How much more all the other folk;
The whole realm prospers when its king
Acts following the True Idea.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

791. (The Blessed One was living at Sāvatthi in Jeta’s Wood, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. Now on that occasion a number of bhikkhus were engaged on robe-work for the Blessed One, [thinking] “The Blessed One will go wandering when the robes are finished”. And on that occasion the officials, Isidatta and Purāṇa, were staying at Sāketa for some business or other. They heard: “It seems that a number of bhikkhus are engaged in robe-work for the Blessed One” [thinking] “The Blessed One will go wandering when the robes are finished”. Then they posted a man on the path, [telling him] “Good man, when you see the Blessed One coming, accomplished and fully enlightened, then tell us”. When the man had waited two days or three, he saw the Blessed One coming in the distance. When he saw him, he went to Isidatta and Purāṇa, and he told them “Sirs, this Blessed One is coming, accomplished and fully enlightened. Now is the time to do as you will”. Then the officials, Isidatta and Purāṇa, went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage they followed close behind him. Then the Blessed One stepped aside from the road and sat down on a seat made ready at the root of a tree. The officials, Isidatta and Purāṇa, paid homage and sat down at one side. When they had done so they said: “Venerable sir, when we hear that the Blessed One is going from Sāvatthi wandering among the Kosalans we are dissatisfied on that occasion and we grieve that the Blessed One will be far from us. And when we hear that the Blessed One has gone from Sāvatthi to wander among the Kosalans we are dissatisfied on that occasion and we grieve that the Blessed One is far from us. When we hear that the Blessed One is going wandering among the people of Kāsi and Magadha, we are dissatisfied on that occasion and we grieve that the Blessed One will be far from us. And when we hear that the Blessed One has gone to wander among the people of Kāsi and Magadha we are not a little dissatisfied on that occasion and we grieve not a little that the Blessed One is far from us. When we hear that the Blessed One is going wandering among the people of Magadha and Kāsi we are dissatisfied on that occasion and we grieve that the Blessed One will be far from us. And when we hear that the Blessed One has gone to wander among the people of Magadha and Kāsi we are dissatisfied on that occasion and we grieve that the Blessed One is far from us. But when we hear that the Blessed One is going wandering among the Kosalans back to Sāvatthi we are satisfied on that occasion and we rejoice that the Blessed One will be near to us. And when we hear that the Blessed One is living in Sāvatthi in Jeta’s Wood, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park, we have no little satisfaction and we rejoice no little that the Blessed One is near to us”.—“That, officers, is because the house-life is a constrained and dirty place; but the life gone forth is wide open: enough so indeed for you to be diligent”.—“Venerable sir, we have a constraint more constraining and counted more constraining than that”.—“What is this constraint of yours more constraining and counted more constraining than that”?—“Here, venerable sir, when king Pasenadi of Kosala would go to the parade-ground, we have to see that king Pasenadi of Kosala’s elephants are got ready for his mounting, and we have then to seat the king’s favourite consorts, one before him and one behind. Now, venerable sir, those ladies have scent like that of a scent-casket just opened, as may be expected of those embellished with scents that are fit for a king. And, venerable sir, those ladies have a bodily touch like that of tula-cotton or that of kappāsa-cotton, as may be expected of kings’ daughters brought up to pleasure. Now on that occasion, venerable sir, the elephant must be guarded and the ladies must be guarded and we ourselves too must be guarded. Yet we have never known evil thoughts to arise in regard to those ladies. Venerable sir, we have this constraint more constraining and counted more constraining than that”.—“That, officers, is because the house-life is a constrained and dirty place; but the life gone forth is wide open: enough so indeed for you to be diligent. When a noble hearer possesses four ideas he has entered the stream, he is no more inseparable from the idea of perdition, he is certain [of rightness] and bound for enlightenment. What are the four? Here a well taught noble hearer, through experience undergone, has confidence in the Blessed One thus: ‘That Blessed One is such since … … blessed’ … in the True Idea … … in the Community … … ‘field of merit for the world’. And then he abides in the house-life with his heart free from stain and avarice, freely generous, open-handed, delighting in relinquishing, expecting to be asked, and rejoicing in giving and sharing. A noble hearer possessing these four ideas has entered the stream, he is no longer inseparable from the idea of perdition, he is certain [of rightness] and bound for enlightenment. Now, officers, you, through experience undergone, have confidence in the Enlightened One thus: … in the True Idea thus: … in the Community thus: … And whatever there is in the clan to be given, none of it is withheld from the virtuous who are inseparable from the idea of good. How do you conceive this: how many people are there among the Kosalans your equals in giving and sharing”.—“For us, venerable sir, it is gain, for us it is great gain, that the Blessed One knows this about us”).

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

792. I gave only a single flower;
Thereafter eighty myriad aeons
Mid gods and human kind [I lived]
To reach extinction with trace left.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

793. Under a Wisdom Tree
Broad and tall-grown and greenly shining
As I sat meditating
A sign I saw as of an Enlightened One.
Today these thirty aeons
Have passed, and I since then no more have been
To a bad destination,
And the Triple Science has been verified,
The moral of that sign.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

794. The Foremost of Men entered for alms
The capital of Kosala
Before the meal, compassionate,
The Stilled One, healer of [all] craving.
A man had in his hand a chaplet
Bedecked with every kind of bloom;
He saw the Fully Enlightened One
With a Community of Bhikkhus
Entering on the king’s high way,
Honoured by gods and human beings.
Happy, with confidence at heart,
He drew near to the Blessed One.
The chaplet full of blossom-fragrance
Gay with many a charming colour
He gave with his own hand in faith
[To grace] the Fully Enlightened One.
Then from the Buddha’s lips came forth
With colour as of fiery flames
A beam of full a thousand rays,
Like lightning flashing from his mouth.
After rounding him to the right
It thrice revolved upon the head
Of the Sun’s Kinsman, and thereon
Vanished away upon his brow.
On seeing this most wonderful,
This marvellous hair-raising thing,
Ānanda asked the Blessed One,
Setting his robe upon one shoulder:
“O mighty Stilled One, tell the cause
Wherefore you manifest a smile.
It will light up the True Ideal
If you dispel our wonderings”.
Then he in whom is ready ever
Knowledge about everything
Did answer the Elder Ānanda
[Who stood there] wondering in doubt
“This man, Ānanda, since he has
Had confidence in me at heart
Will go to no bad destination
For four and eighty thousand aeons.
And after ruling heavenly realms
Of godly beings among the gods,
He will be ruler among men,
He will be king of a [whole]realm,
And in the end he will go forth
To find the True Idea’s own law
And be the Hermit Enlightened One
Vataṃsaka, free from all lust.
No trivial offering is that
Made with a heart [full resolute]
Confiding in a Perfect One
Fully enlightened, or his hearer.
Measureless are the Enlightened Ones,
Measureless is their True Idea,
Measureless fruit for those who place
Their confidence in the measureless”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

795. (“Here, bhikkhus, with cognizance I penetrate some person’s cognizance by means of the Enlightened One’s eye, and I understand thus: According as this person is behaving, and according to the way he is practising and the path he is taking, were he to die on this occasion, then as if carried [there], so [would he be] placed in heaven. Why is that? His heart is confident. It is because of his heart’s confiding that here, on the dissolution of the body, after death, someone reappears in a good destination, in heaven”. This is the meaning the Blessed One stated. Herein, it is stated as follows:

On recognizing here some person
Whose heart was full of confidence,
The Master did express the meaning
In the bhikkhus’ presence thus:
“Now should it happen that the person
Came to die at such a moment
He then would reappear in heaven
Through the confiding of his heart;
For confident-hearted creatures go
On to a happy destination.
As if he had been carried off
And placed [there], so a wise man like this
After the body’s dissolution
Reappears in heaven”.

This was the meaning stated by the Blessed One, so I heard.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

796. On board a boat a woman was
With a gold awning overspread.
She plunged her hand into the pool
And with it plucked a lotus flower.
“Whence comes the beauty that you have?
Whence comes the radiance of your being?
All riches seem to flow to you,
No matter what your mind may wish;
Tell me, O deity, when asked,
What is the action gave this fruit”?
Most happily the deity,
Thus questioned by the king of gods
In answering did thus reply
To Sakka’s question, as I heard:
“While I was on a journey going
I saw a truly lovely shrine,
Wherein my heart had confidence
In Kassapa of great renown.
I offered lotus flowers there
In confidence with my own hands.
Such is the fruit, the ripening of that action,
Which those that have made merit do obtain”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

797. (Talk on giving, talk on virtue, talk on heavens), (talk on merit, talk on ripening of merit) ().

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

798. Besides, men that have helped to build
Earth-monuments made dedicate
To those who wield the Powers Ten
Abide in the joys of heaven.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

799. All with a god’s son’s bodily appearance
And with the blessing of fair shapeliness,
Have earth prepared by wetting well with water
And raise a monument to Kassapa.
Fair-limbed ones, ’tis a shrine built for a sage
Sublime with the Ten Powers, walking in Truth:
These gods and men who work with confidence
Thereon will be released from ageing and death.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

800. It was indeed a mighty thing
That I upon the monument
Erected to the Greatest Sage
Did place four lilies and a wreath.
Today these thirty aeons have passed,
And I since then have no more been
To a bad destination; for
I honoured the Master’s monument.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

801. I honoured once the monument of him that wore
The Marks of a Great Man that number thirty-two,
The Helper of the World, Victorious in Battle,
For which I have rejoiced a hundred thousand aeons.
Such was the merit that I stored away [thereby]
And such the godly blessing through that merit [gained]
That I had work of kings to do [for all that time]
Without once ever going to perdition. [Now]
My heart is so disposed that I obtained in full
That Eye [of understanding]in the Dispensation
Of him that was the Tamer great of the untamed;
My heart is freed, and now the Creeper, has been shaken off.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

802. It was but a samaka-measure of rice
That I gave to a Hermit Enlightened One,
Whose heart was freed from the five Wildernesses,
Who, taintless, without conflict did abide,
And in his heart no clinging. I did fancy
In him to be the peerless True Ideal
And to that True Idea disposed my mind:
“O let me meet with those who thus abide,
Quite unconcerned for any kind of being”.
Then owing to the ripening of that action
I had a thousand births among the Kurus,
Those long-lived creatures who call nothing “mine”,
Who gain distinctions that they do not lose.
And owing to the ripening of that action
I had a thousand births among the Thirty,
Among those with distinguished bodies going,
Famously decked with many a garland gay.
And owing to the ripening of that action
My heart is freed from the [five]Wildernesses,
Taintless, I met those bearing their last bodies,
And who have passed beyond both woe and weal;
I realized what that Perfect One had told:
“What men of virtue want may well befall”;
According as my mind did think it out
So it befell. This is my last existence.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

803. Thirty-one aeons past the Blessed Victor
Sikhī lived, unperturbed, of infinite vision.
His brother was the king named Sikhaṇḍī,
Trusting the Buddha and the True Idea.
When that World-Guide attained complete extinction
The king built a tall stately monument,
One quarter-league around, to that great Sage,
That god of gods, that greatest of all men.
One day a man brought there an offering
And as he offered a wild-jasmine [spray],
One of its flowers fell blown by the wind.
I picked it up and gave it back to him.
And thereupon he said with confident heart:
“This flower I do give you as a gift”.
I took it then and there and offered it,
Minding repeatedly the Enlightened One.
Today these thirty aeons have passed
And I since then have no more been
To a bad destination, through
That bloom placed on that monument.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

804. There is the town named Kapila
Belonging to king Brahmadatta
Frequented, populous and crowded,
Successful, prosperous as well.
Now there as I was selling bread
At the last house of the Paūcālas
I saw the [Hermit]Enlightened One
Upariṭṭha of holy fame.
Glad and with a confident heart
I did invite that best of men,
Ariṭṭha, for a regular meal
To be provided in my house.
And when the moon was waxen full
Later, in the Kattika month,
I took out a new set of clothing
And to Ariṭṭha offered it
Knowing the confidence in my heart,
The best of men accepted it,
The Stilled One, cured of all craving,
By pity and compassion moved.
Now by my doing such good action
As the Enlightened Ones commend
I fared among both gods and men
Until I fell from that estate
To reappear in a rich clan
Inhabiting Benares city;
I was a banker’s only son
More dear than any living being.
But when I had discretion reached
A god’s son did exhort me then:
I left my mansion’s [upper chamber]
And went to the Enlightened One.
He, Gotama, compassionate,
Did teach the True Idea to me:
Suffering, and its Origin,
And what Beyond all Suffering,
And the Noble Eight-Factored Path
That leads to suffering’s surcease.
These four Truths of the Noble Ones,
This Stilled One’s True Ideal, he taught.
When I had heard his utterance
I dwelt glad in the Dispensation;
I penetrated Quiet, besides,
By night and day unfailingly;
And all the taints that had in me
Objects without, within myself,
Came once and for all to severance
And nevermore did they arise
Now suffering is ended [all];
This is my final body, too;
There is no further future being,
Or roundabout of birth and death.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

[3]

805. Herein, what is the type of Thread dealing with penetration?

Above, below, in every way released,
And seeing not at all that “I am this”;
Thus liberated, he has crossed the flood
Not crossed before, for non-renewal of being.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

806. (“Ānanda, no virtuous man has to choose ‘How shall I have no remorse’?; for it is essential to the idea of the virtuous man that he has no remorse. No man without remorse has to choose ‘How shall I be glad’?; for it is essential to the idea of a man without remorse that he is glad. No man who is glad has to choose ‘How shall I be happy’?; for it is essential to the idea of a man who is glad that he is happy. No happy man has to choose ‘How will my body become tranquil’?; for it is essential to the idea of a happy man that his body is tranquil. No one tranquil in body has to choose ‘How shall I feel [bodily] pleasure’?; for it is essential to the idea of one tranquil in body that he feels [bodily] pleasure. No one [feeling bodily] pleasure has to choose ‘How shall I become concentrated’?; for it is essential to the idea of one [feeling bodily] pleasure that he is concentrated. No one who is concentrated has to choose ‘How shall I understand how [things] are’?; for it is essential to the idea of one who is concentrated that he understands how [things] are. No one who understands how [things] are has to choose thus ‘How shall I find dispassion’?; for it is essential to the idea of one who understands how [things] are that he finds dispassion. No one finding dispassion has to choose ‘How will lust fade in me’?; for it is essential to the idea of one finding dispassion that lust fades in him. No one in whom lust has faded has to choose ‘How shall I be liberated’?; for it is essential to the idea of one in whom lust has faded that he is liberated. No one liberated has to choose ‘How shall I have knowledge and seeing of deliverance’?; for it is essential to the idea of one liberated that he has knowledge and seeing of deliverance”).

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

807. When true ideas are manifest to him that lives
As one become divine by ardent meditation;
Then all his doubts do vanish since he understands
How each idea [arising]has its cause.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

808. When true ideas are manifest to him that lives
As one become divine by ardent meditation;
Then all his doubts do vanish since he understands
Exhaustion of conditions [for arising].

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

809. Why are you angry? Never be angry.
Non-anger, Tissa, should be your rule.
The Life Divine is lived for outguiding
Anger, conceit and contemptuousness.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

810. When shall I see Nanda a forest-dweller,
Wearer of robes made out of refuse-rags,
Gleaning his sustenance unrecognized
And unconcerned for sensual desires?.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

811. “One lies in bliss with what burnt out?
One sorrows not with what burnt out?
Destruction of what one idea
Do you proclaim, O Gotama”?
“One lies in bliss with anger burnt out
One sorrows not with anger burnt out.
The Noble Ones commend destruction
Of anger, as the poison-root
With a sweet-tasting sprout; with that
Burnt out, Divine, one sorrows not”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

812. “What should, when once sprung up, be killed?
What should, when born, be guided out?
What should the steadfast man reject?
And what, when actualized, is bliss”?
“Anger should, when sprung up, be killed.
Lust should, when born, be guided out.
Ignorance steadfast men reject.
And actualizing truth is bliss”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

813. “As pierced by a down-falling spear,
As though he had his head on fire,
A mindful bhikkhu sets about
Abandoning lust for sense desires”
“As pierced by a down-falling spear,
As though he had his head on fire,
A mindful bhikkhu sets about
Abandoning embodiment-view”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

814. “The end of all stores is exhaustion,
The built-up ends by falling down,
None is there but must come to death,
And none has everlasting life.
So then, remembering this fear of death,
Make merit because merit bliss provides”.
“The end of all stores is exhaustion,
The built-up ends by falling down,
None is there but must come to death,
And none has everlasting life.
So then, remembering this fear of death,
Leave worldly matters, look instead to peace”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

815. It is the Stilled Ones lie in bliss,
They never sorrow, Māvidha,
Whose minds delight in meditations.
He that is wise, well concentrated,
Energetic and self-controlled,
Crosses the flood so hard to cross,
Shunning percepts of sense-desires,
Gone beyond every kind of fetter,
With relish and being both exhausted,
He never founders in the deeps.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

816. When he has faith in the True Idea
Whereby the Accomplished reach extinction,
Through wish to hear gains understanding,
Is diligent and has discretion,
Does what is right, is loyal, alert,
He will experience its riches,
And truth will bring him a good name,
And giving ensures friends for him,
And when from this world to the next
He goes, he knows no sorrowing.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

817. “For you who have all this rejected
As a monk completely freed,
It is improper that you should
Impart instruction to another”.
“Sakka, no matter how it is
Companionship may come about,
To let his mind be stirred by that
Befits no man of understanding.
But if, with mind clear-confident,
He should instruct another, then
He is by that in no way fettered
With any stirrings of emotion”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

818. “Lusting and hating have what for their source?
Delight, boredom, horror: from what are they born?
And where is the mould for the thoughts in the mind
Like to boys who would dangle a crow [on a string]?
“Lusting and hating have this for their source.
Delight, boredom, horror: from this they are born.
And this is the mould for the thoughts in the mind
Like to boys who would dangle a crow [on a string].
They are born and gain being from [sappy]affection
Like suckers that sprout from a banyan-tree stump;
And attached far and wide among sensual desires
Like a wood tented over with maluva-creeper.
When men understand it and wherefrom it sources
They put it away. And now listen, O spirit:
’Tis they that cross over the flood hard to cross,
Not crossed before, for non-renewal of being”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

819. “O Blessed One ’tis hard to do; O Blessed One His very hard to do!”
“Yet what is hard to do Initiates do,
Kāmada” the Blessed One said,
“Through virtue concentrated, steady in themselves,
Content brings bliss to one in homelessness”.
“O Blessed One, ’tis hard to gain content”!
“Yet what is hard to gain they yet do gain,
Kāmada” the Blessed One said,
“Whom peaceful cognizance delights, whose minds
Delight to keep it day and night in being”.
“O Blessed One, ’tis hard to concentrate”!
“They concentrate the hard-to-concentrate,
Kāmada” the Blessed One said,
“Whom having faculties at peace delights,
Who cut the net Mortality has made
And thereby go ennobled, Kāmada”.
“O Blessed One, hard going the uneven way”!
“Yet, Kāmada, the ennobled go where going
Is hard, uneven. While ignoble ones
On paths uneven fall head-over-heels,
For those ennobled that same path is even,
Since they are even in unevenness”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

820. O healing Jeta’s Wood, frequented
By the community of Seers,
Where lives the True Idea’s own king,
The fount of all my happiness.
By acts, by science, by the True Idea,
By virtue, the sublimest life,
By these are mortals purified
And not by lineage or riches.
A wise man, therefore, when he sees
His own good should investigate
The True Idea in reasoned way,
That there he may be purified.
Sāriputta is first of all
In virtue, understanding, peace:
At best a bhikkhu who has gone
Across can only equal him.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

821. Let not a man trace back the past
Or wonder what the future holds:
The past is … but the left-behind,
The future … but the yet-unreached.
Rather, with insight let him see
Each idea presently-arisen:
To know and to be sure of that,
Invincibly, unshakably.
Today the effort must be made:
Tomorrow death may come, who knows?
No bargain with Mortality
Can keep him and his hordes away.
But one who bides thus ardently,
Relentlessly, by day, by night,
’Tis he, the Hermit Stilled has said,
That “has One Fortunate Attachment”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

822. (Bhikkhus, there are these four verifiables. What four? (1) There are ideas verifiable by the eye and by understanding, (2) There are ideas verifiable by mindfulness and by understanding, (3) There are ideas verifiable by the body and by understanding. (4) There are ideas experienceable through understanding and verifiable by understanding. (1) What ideas are verifiable by the eye and by understanding? The heavenly eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, is verifiable by the eye and by understanding. (2) What ideas are verifiable by mindfulness and by understanding? The recollection of past life is verifiable by mindfulness and by understanding. (3) What ideas are verifiable by the body and by understanding? The power of supernormal success, and cessation, are verifiable by the body and by understanding. (4) What ideas are experienceable through understanding and verifiable by understanding? The knowledge of exhaustion of taints is experienceable through understanding and verifiable by understanding).

This is the type of Thread dealing with penetration.

[4]

823. Herein, what is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept?

Whose cognizance is steady as a rock
And never can be made to shudder,
Is free from lust and lust-provoking things
Untroubled too by any trouble;
Whose cognizance is thus maintained in being,
How then shall suffering come to him?.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

824. Also the tenth (?) prose-exposition of the venerable Sāriputta’s [in reply to a certain bhikkhu’s accusation that after insulting him he was going] wandering [without apologizing] can be quoted.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

825. When a divine excludes ideas of evil,
Eschews “ha-hum”, is unsoiled, self-controlled,
And, perfect in science, lives the life divine,
Then he might use the word “divine” by right
As one who has no favourites in the world.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

826. Enlightened Ones with fetters none,
Excluding all ideas of evil
Walking always in mindfulness:
They are divine ones in the world.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

827. Where neither water nor yet earth
Nor fire nor air a footing finds,
There the white [stars]never shine,
There no sun’s orb is displayed,
There no full moon ever beams,
There no darkness can be found.
When he knows this for himself,
The Stilled One made divine by stillness,
Then he is free from form and formless,
And [free]from pain and pleasure too.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

828. When a divine has reached the further shore
Concerning all ideas that are his own,
Then [it is certain that]he has outstripped
This goblin with his shouts of “Pakkula”!.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

829. He had no relish for her coming,
And had no sorrow when she left,
Sangāmajī is freed from clinging
As one, I say, become divine.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

830. Purity comes not through water;
Many people wash in that.
In whom are Truth and Trite Idea,
He is pure, he is divine.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

831. When true ideas are manifest to him that lives
As one become divine by ardent meditation,
Then where he stands he scatters Māra’s [serried]hosts
As the sun’s orb illuminates the firmament.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

832. See how he goes with faculties [all]quieted,
He has the Triple Science, naught [remains]
For his abandoning, all bonds outstripped,
He with no owning goes, wears refuse-rags.
And many a mighty deity draws near
To that [great]thoroughbred, designed divinely,
Who did reject the lineage power, and they
Pay homage to him here with confident minds:
“Honour to thee, Man-thoroughbred, First among men,
Whose meditation’s field we do not know”.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

833. Indeed, bhikkhus, these [two] companions [here]
For very long have been together meeting,
And the true object of their faith is met
In the Ideal the Enlightened One proclaimed.
By Kappina they were well guided out
In the Ideal proclaimed by Noble Ones,
And now for the last time they bear a body,
After conquering Māra with his mount.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

834. Extinction giving freedom from all ties,
In no case can that ever be arrived at
Either with weakness as the instigation
Or yet through insufficient fortitude.
And this young bhikkhu [here has now attained]
The state that is foremost among mankind
Since now he bears for the last time a body,
After conquering Māra with his mount.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

835. Mogharāja the unsightly,
Coarse robes wearing, ever mindful,
Taints exhausted, rid of fetters,
Task completed, rid of taints,
With Triple Science, Magic Powers,
Skill in penetrating hearts;
And now for the last time he bears a body,
After conquering Māra with his mount.

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

836. (“Bhikkhus, a Perfect One, accomplished and fully enlightened, who is liberated owing to dispassion, fading of lust, cessation, and non-arising, in the case of form, is called a ‘Fully Enlightened One’, [and] a bhikkhu liberated through understanding, who is liberated owing to dispassion, fading of lust, cessation, and non-arising, in the case of form, is called ‘liberated through understanding’ … [similar paragraphs for] feeling … perception … determinations … consciousness … Herein, what is a distinction, what is a difference, what is a variance, between a Perfect One, accomplished and fully enlightened, and a bhikkhu liberated through understanding”.—“Venerable sir, our ideas are rooted in the Blessed One, [the Blessed One is their guide and their home. It is good that the meaning of these words should occur to the Blessed One. Having heard it from the Blessed One, the bhikkhus will remember it”.—“Then listen, bhikkhus, and attend carefully to what I shall say”.—“Even so, venerable sir” they replied. The Blessed One said this:]—“Bhikkhus, a Perfect One, accomplished and fully enlightened, is the arouser of the unarisen path, the producer of the unproduced path, the declarer of the undeclared path, path-knower, path-seer, and skilled in the path. But now when his hearers become possessed of the path by abiding in conformity therewith, they do so following after him. This is a distinction, this is a difference, this is a variance, between a Perfect One, accomplished and fully enlightened, and a bhikkhu liberated through understanding”).

This is the type of Thread dealing with the Adept.

[5]

837. Herein, what is the type of Thread dealing with corruption and dealing with morality?

Rain soddens what is covered up,
But what is open it soddens not.
So open out the covered up,
That rain may never sodden you.

“Rain soddens what is covered up” is corruption. “But what is open it soddens not” is morality. “So open out the covered up That rain may never sodden you” is corruption and morality. This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption and dealing with morality.

838. (Great king, there are these four kinds of persons to be found in the world. What four? Dark with a dark supreme value, dark with a bright supreme value, bright with a dark supreme value, bright with a bright supreme value).

Herein the two kinds, the person called “bright with a dark supreme value” and the person called “dark with a dark supreme value”, deal with corruption, while the two kinds, the person called “dark with a bright supreme value” and the person called “bright with a bright supreme value”, deal with morality.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption and dealing with morality.

[6]

839. Herein, what is the type of Thread dealing with corruption and dealing with penetration?

The steadfast will never call that a strong bond
Made of iron or consisting of wood or of thongs.
But greed flushed with lusting for jewels [and gems]
And concern for a wife and for children as well,

is corruption, while

’Tis these that the steadfast will call a strong bond,
Which pulls a man down, subtle, hard to get free from;
But this too they sever, and wander [in freedom],
Unconcerned, and [all]sensual desires foregone,

is penetration.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption and dealing with penetration.

840. (Whatever one chooses, and whatever one asserts, and whatever one lets tendencies underlie, that becomes the object whereby consciousness has a steadying-point. It is when there is an object that consciousness has a standing-point. When consciousness with a standing-point has developed thereon, then renewal of being is made to occur in the future, then birth, ageing and death, sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair, have actual being in the future. That is how there is an origin to this whole category of suffering. If one does not choose and if one does not assert, but still one lets tendencies underlie, that becomes the object whereby consciousness has a steadying-point. It is when there is an object that consciousness has a standing-point. When consciousness with a standing-point has developed thereon, renewal of being is made to occur in the future. When renewal of being is made to occur in the future, then birth, ageing and death, sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief and despair, have actual being in the future. That is how there is an origin to this whole category of suffering). This is corruption.

([But] as soon as one no more chooses and one no more asserts and one no more lets tendencies underlie, then there is no object whereby consciousness might have a steadying-point. It is when there is no object that consciousness has no standing-point. When consciousness, having no standing-point, thereon develops no more, then no renewal of being is made to occur in the future. When no renewal of being is made to occur in the future, then birth, ageing and death, sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief and despair, cease in the future. That is how there is a cessation to this whole category of suffering).

This is penetration.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption and dealing with penetration.

[7]

841. Herein, what is the type of Thread dealing with corruption and dealing with the Adept?

(“Bhikkhus, the untaught ordinary man says ‘sea, sea’, yet that vast mass of water, that vast expanse of water is no sea in the Noble Ones’ Outguiding (Discipline). The eye is man’s sea, whose tide is forms”).

This is corruption.

(“Whoever overcomes that tide of forms, of him it is said: He has crossed the sea of the eye, with its waves, its whirlpools, its monsters and its ogres; he has crossed over, gone to the further shore, and he stands upon firm ground, as one divine”).

This is the Adept.

(“The ear is man’s sea … The nose … The tongue … The body … The mind is man’s sea, whose tide is ideas”).

This is corruption.

(“Whoever overcomes that tide of ideas, of him it is said: He has crossed the sea of the mind, with its waves, its whirlpools, its monsters and its ogres; he has gone to the further shore, and he stands upon firm ground as one divine”).

This is the Adept.

(That is what the Blessed One said. The Sublime One having said that, he, the Master, said further:

Who crossed the sea with all its monsters, ogres, waves,
Fearfully hard to cross, of him it can be said:
He found the end of science; he lived the life divine;
The world’s end he has found, gone to the further shore”.

This is the Adept.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption and dealing with the Adept.

842. (Bhikkhus, there are these six kinds of bait in the world for the guiding of creatures astray, for the affliction of breathing things. What are the six? There are forms cognizable through the eye that are wished for, desired, agreeable and likeable, connected with sensual desire and productive of lust. If a bhikkhu relishes and affirms them and steadily cleaves to them, then it is said of him: He has swallowed Māra’s bait, he has let himself be guided astray, he is heading for ruin, he is one whom the Evil One can do as he will with. There are sounds cognizable through the ear … odours cognizable through the nose … flavours cognizable through the tongue … tangibles cognizable through the body … There are ideas cognizable through the mind that are wished for, desired, agreeable and likeable, connected with sensual desire and productive of lust. If a bhikkhu relishes and affirms them and steadily cleaves to them, then it is said of him: He has swallowed Māra’s bait, he has let himself to be guided astray, he is heading for ruin, he is one whom the Evil One can do as he will with).

This is corruption.

(Again, there are forms cognizable through the eye that are wished for, desired, agreeable and likeable, connected with sensual desire and productive of lust. If a bhikkhu does not relish or affirm them or steadily cleave to them, then it is said of him: He has not swallowed Māra’s bait, he has destroyed the bait, he has quite destroyed the bait, he has not let himself be guided astray, he is not one whom the Evil One can do as he will with. Again, there are sounds cognizable through the ear … odours cognizable through the nose … flavours cognizable through the tongue … tangibles cognizable through the body … There are ideas cognizable through the mind that are wished for, desired, agreeable and likeable, connected with sensual desire and productive of lust. If a bhikkhu does not relish or affirm them or steadily cleave to them, then it is said of him: He has not swallowed Māra’s bait, he has destroyed the bait, he has quite destroyed the bait, he has not let himself be led astray, he is not heading for ruin, he is not one whom the Evil One can do as he will with).

This is the Adept.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption and dealing with the adept.

[8]

843. Herein, what is the type of Thread dealing with corruption, dealing with penetration and dealing with the Adept?

This world is born to anguish, and subject to [painful]contact;
It is a sickness that it calls self;
For however it conceives [it]
’Tis [ever]other than that.
Maintaining its being otherwise [than it conceives],
The world clings to being, expectantly relishes only being.
[But]what it relishes brings fear,
And what it fears is pain.

This is corruption.

(Now this divine life is lived to abandon being) (Ibid.).

This is penetration.

(Whatever monks and divines have declared liberation from being [to come about] through [some kind of] being, none of them, I say, are liberated from being. And whatever monks or divines have declared escape from being [to come about] through non-being, none of them, I say, escape from being. It is by depending on (by asserting) the essentials of existence that this suffering has actual being.) (Ibid.).

This is corruption.

(With exhaustion of all kinds of assumption, suffering has no actual being) (Ibid.).

This is penetration.

See this wide world subjected to ignorance,
Which is, which delights to be, never freed from being:
[Yet]whatever the kinds of being, in any way, anywhere,
All are impermanent, pain[-haunted], inseparable from the idea of change (Ibid.).

This is corruption.

So when a man sees thus
With right understanding how it is,
[His]craving for being is abandoned,
And he no more expectantly relishes non-being.
That is the utter exhaustion of all craving,
That is the remainderless fading, cessation, that is extinction (Ibid.).

This is penetration.

That bhikkhu being quenched through not assuming,
No more his being comes to a renewal.
Transcended is Death’s being the battle won,
One such as this outstrips all [modes of]being (Ibid.).

This is the Adept.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption, dealing with penetration and dealing with the Adept.

844. (Bhikkhus, there are these four kinds of persons. What four? One goes with the stream, one goes against the stream, one has steadied himself, and one has crossed over, gone to the further shore, and stands on firm ground as one divine).

Herein, the person who “goes with the stream” is the [type of Thread] dealing with corruption. Herein the two persons, namely the one who “goes against the stream” and the one who “has steadied himself”, are that dealing with penetration. Herein, the person who “has crossed over, gone to the further shore and stands on firm ground as one divine”, is that dealing with the Adept.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption, dealing with penetration and dealing with the Adept.

[9]

845. Herein, what is the type of Thread dealing with corruption, dealing with morality and dealing with penetration?

(There are six kinds of giving birth. There is the black person given birth by blackness who gives birth to a black ideal. There is the black person given birth by blackness who gives birth to a white ideal. There is the black person given birth by blackness who is interested in extinction as the infinite goal, not black, not white, and with no ripening black or white. There is the white person given birth by whiteness who gives birth to a black ideal. There is the white person given birth by whiteness who gives birth to a white ideal. There is the white person given birth by whiteness who is interested in extinction as the infinite goal not black, not white, and with no ripening black or white).

Herein, the two persons, namely the “black person given birth by blackness who gives birth to a black ideal” and the “white person given birth by whiteness who gives birth to a black ideal”, are that dealing with corruption. Herein, the two persons, namely the “black person given birth by blackness who gives birth to a white ideal” and the “white person given birth by whiteness who gives birth to a white ideal”, are that dealing with morality. Herein, the two persons, namely the “black person given birth by blackness who is interested in extinction as the infinite goal, not black, not white” and “with no ripening black or white” and the “white person given birth by whiteness who is interested in extinction as the infinite goal, not black, not white, with no ripening black or white”, are that dealing with penetration.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption, dealing with morality and dealing with penetration.

846. (Bhikkhus, there these four kinds of action. What four? There is black action with black ripening. There is white action with white ripening. There is black-white action with black-white ripening. There is not-black-not-white action with not-black-not-white ripening, which is the supreme kind of action, the best kind of action, which conduces to the exhaustion of action).

Herein, any “black action with black ripening” and any “black-white action with black-white ripening” are corruption. Any “white action with white ripening” is morality. Any “not-black-not-white action with not-black-not-white ripening, which is the supreme kind of action, the best kind of action, which conduces to the exhaustion of action”, is penetration.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption, dealing with morality and dealing with penetration.

[10]

847. Herein, what is the type of Thread dealing with morality and dealing with penetration?

After obtaining the human state, two [things]:
What is the task and what is not the task.
The proper task is any kind of merit,
And then abandoning of [all]the fetters.

“The proper task is any kind of merit” is morality. “The abandoning of [all] the fetters” is penetration.

Those who by meritorious performance
Have merit made pass on from heaven to heaven.
But those who have abandoned [all]the fetters
Are liberated from old age and death

“Those who by meritorious performance Have merit made pass on from heaven to heaven” is morality. “But those who have abandoned [all] the fetters Are liberated from old age and death” is penetration.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality and dealing with penetration.

848. (Bhikkhus, there are these two principal endeavours. What two? (i) That which gives away robes, alms-food, lodging, and requisite of medicine as cure for the sick [by distribution] among those gone forth from the house-life into homelessness; and (ii) that which is the relinquishment of all essentials of existence, exhaustion of craving, fading out, cessation, extinction, [to be found] among those who have gone forth from the house-life into homelessness).

Herein, “that which gives away robes … cure for the sick among those … into homelessness” is morality. “That which is the relinquishment of all essentials of existence … extinction, [to be found] among those … into homelessness” is penetration.

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality
and dealing with penetration.

[11]

849. Herein, the type of Thread dealing with corruption by craving can be demonstrated by whatever is on the side of craving: by the three kinds of craving, namely (craving for sensual desire, craving for being, and craving for non-being), or it can be demonstrated by whatever is the thing cleaved to. Its detail is the thirty-six ways of behaviour of the net of craving.

[12]

850. Herein, the type of Thread dealing with corruption by views can be demonstrated by whatever is on the side of views: by annihilationism and eternalism, or it can be demonstrated by whatever object anyone insists on by means of a view thus (Only this is truth, anything else is wrong). Its detail is the sixty-two types of view.

[13]

851. Herein, the type of Thread dealing with corruption by misconduct can be demonstrated by [action as] choice and by action as concomitant of cognizance: by the three kinds of misconduct, namely bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, and mental misconduct. Its detail is the ten unprofitable courses of action.

[14–16]

852. Herein, the type of Thread dealing with cleansing from craving can be demonstrated by quiet.

853. The type of Thread dealing with cleansing from views can be demonstrated by insight.

854. The type of Thread dealing with cleansing from misconduct can be demonstrated by good conduct.

[Discussion]

855. (Three roots of the unprofitable … why is that? For the occurrence of the roundabout … When the roundabout is made to occur thus, [there is] misconduct of body … good conduct of body … misconduct of speech … good conduct of speech … misconduct of mind … good conduct of mind … It is by this ugly ripening of action that this characteristic of the fool is made to occur) ().

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.(It is by this beautiful ripening of action that this characteristic of the Great Man is made to occur) ().

This is the type of Thread dealing with morality.

856. Herein, the type of Thread dealing with corruption can be demonstrated by the four planes of defilement: by the plane of underlying tendencies, by the plane of obsessions, by the plane of fetters, and by the plane of the kinds of assumption. In one who has an underlying tendency an obsession is born; one who is obsessed is fettered; when he is fettered, he assumes; with assuming as condition, being; with being as condition, birth; with birth as condition, ageing and death have actual being and also sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief and despair; that is how there is an origin to this whole category of suffering. All defilements are included and comprised by these four planes of defilement.

This is the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

857. The type of Thread dealing with morality can be demonstrated by the three kinds of good conduct.

858. The type of Thread dealing with penetration can be demonstrated by the four truths.

859. The type of Thread dealing with the Adept can be demonstrated by the three kinds of ideas: by ideas of Enlightened Ones, by ideas of Hermit Enlightened Ones, and by the plane of the hearer in the province of the meditator.

[Second Grouping]

860. Herein, what [of the] eighteen Root-Terms?

[Schedule]

1. (a) Belonging to worlds, (b) disjoined from worlds, (c) belonging to worlds and disjoined from worlds;
2. (a) expressed in terms of creatures, (b) expressed in terms of ideas, (c) expressed in terms of creatures and in terms of ideas;
3. (a) knowledge, (b) the knowable, (c) knowledge and the knowable;
4. (a) seeing, (b) keeping-in-being, (c) seeing and keeping-in-being;
5. (a) our own statement, (b) someone else’s statement, (c) our own statement and someone else’s statement;
6. (a) the answerable, (b) the unanswerable, (c) the answerable and unanswerable;
7. (a) action, (b) ripening, (c) action and ripening;
8. (a) the profitable, (b) the unprofitable, (c) the profitable and unprofitable;
9. (a) the agreed, (b) the refused, (c) the agreed and refused;
10. Eulogy.

[Illustrative Quotations]
[i (a)]

861. Herein, what is that belonging to worlds?

For evil action when performed,
Like new milk, does not turn at once;
It follows, like a lurking spark,
The fool, burning him [later on].

This is that belonging to worlds.

862. Bhikkhus, there are these four kinds of goings on a bad way. Which four? … [all as in, down to] …

(As in its dark half does the moon).

This is that belonging to worlds.

863. (Bhikkhus, there are these eight worldly ideas. What eight? Gain, non-gain, fame, ill-fame, blame, praise, pleasure, pain. These eight worldly ideas).

This is that belonging to worlds.

[i (b)]

864. Herein, what is that disjoined from worlds?

Whose faculties are well and truly quieted,
Like horses by a charioteer well trained,
With [all]conceit abandoned in him, taintless,
Then even to the gods he will be dear.

This is that disjoined from worlds.

865. (Bhikkhus, there are these five faculties disjoined from worlds. What five? The faith faculty, the energy faculty, the mindfulness faculty, the concentration faculty, the understanding faculty. These five faculties disjoined from worlds).

This is that disjoined from worlds.

[i (c)]

866. Herein, what is that belonging to worlds and disjoined from worlds? The two verses [beginning]

After obtaining the human state, two things: ….

Here [the words] “the proper task is any kind of merit” and “those who by meritorious performance Have merit made pass on from heaven to heaven” belong to worlds. But [the words] “And then abandoning of [all] the fetters” and “But those who have abandoned [all] the fetters Are liberated from old age and death” are disjoined from worlds.

This is that belonging to worlds and disjoined from worlds.

867. (Bhikhhus, when there is consciousness as nutriment there is the finding of a footing for name-and-form. When there is the finding of a footing for name-and-form there is renewal of being. When there is renewal of being there is birth. When there is birth, then ageing and death have actual being, and also sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief and despair; that is how there is an origin to this whole category of suffering. Suppose there were a great tree whose roots, whether they went downward or around, all brought up nourishment, then in that way, with that nutriment, with that assuming, the great tree would long remain, so too, when there is consciousness as nutriment there is the finding of a footing for name-and-form … That is how there is an origin to this whole category of suffering) ().

This belongs to worlds.

(Bhikkhus, when there is no consciousness as nutriment there is no finding of a footing for name-and-form. When there is no finding of a footing for name-and-form there is no renewal of being. When there is no renewal of being, then ageing and death cease, and also sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair; that is how there is a cessation to this whole category of suffering. Suppose there were a great tree, and then a man came with a spade and a basket, and he cut down the tree and then he dug all round it, and then he pulled up the roots even to the very fibres and then he cut it up bole and branch, and then he split it, and then he chopped it, and then he dried it in the sun, and then he burnt it in a fire, and then he reduced it to ash, and then he winnowed it in a high wind, and then he let a swift-flowing river wash it away; in that way the great tree would be cut off at the root, made like a palm-stump, done away with, and no more inseparable from the idea of future arising; —so too, when there is no consciousness as nutriment there is no finding a footing for name-and-form … that is how there is a cessation to this whole category of suffering) ().

This is disjoined from worlds.

This is that belonging to worlds and disjoined from worlds.

[ii (a)]

868. Herein, what is that expressed in terms of creatures?

I visited all quarters with my mind
Nor found I any dearer than myself;
Likewise is self to every other dear,
Who loves himself will never harm another.

This is expressed in terms of creatures.

869. All beings there are, and that will come to be,
Will travel on, abandoning their bodies;
A man with skill in births, knowing all that,
Would lead the life divine most ardently.

This is expressed in terms of creatures.

870. (“Bhikkhus, when a good friend possesses seven factors he should never be rejected by one as long as life lasts, even if one is sent away and dismissed, even if one is driven away What seven? He is endearing, venerable and emulatable, he is willing to talk to one and willing for one to talk with him, and he never exhorts groundlessly [in a manner not in conformity with the True Idea and Outguiding Discipline]. When a good friend possesses these seven factors … even if driven away”. That is what the Blessed One said. When the Sublime One had said this, he, the Master, said further:

“Dear, venerable, to be emulated,
Who talks to one, and can be talked with, too,
Is willing to explain what is profound,
And never gives a groundless exhortation:
A friend like that may well be served for life
By one who is desirous of a friend”.

This is expressed in terms of creatures.

[ii (b)]

871. Herein, what is that expressed in terms of ideas?

Whatever bliss in sense desires
Or bliss of heaven in the world,
All are not worth a sixteenth part
Of bliss that comes with craving’s exhaustion.

This is expressed in terms of ideas.

872. Extinction is true bliss indeed
As taught by the Enlightened One:
The sorrowless, secure, stainless,
Where suffering does come to cease.

This is expressed in terms of ideas.

[ii (c)]

873. Herein, what is that expressed in terms of creatures and in terms of ideas?

Having slaughtered a mother and a father,
And then two warrior-kings, and having slaughtered
A realm together with its governor,

this is expressed in terms of ideas.

(One wanders in immunity, divine)

this is expressed in terms of creatures.

This is expressed in terms of creatures and in terms of ideas.

874. (Bhikkhus, there are these four bases for success. What four? The basis for success that possesses concentration of will, as well as endeavour and determinations … the basis for success that possesses concentration of energy … the basis for success that possesses concentration of cognizance … the basis for success that possesses concentration of inquiry, as well as endeavour and determinations).

This is expressed in terms of ideas.

(He mounts cognizance upon the body, and he mounts the body upon cognizance, and after finding a footing in easy perception and quick perception, he enters upon that and abides therein).

This is expressed in terms of creatures.

This is expressed in terms of creatures and in terms of ideas.

[iii (a)]

875. Herein, what is knowledge?

That knowledge which has spanned the worlds,
Whereby he is called omniscient,
Which knows no wane at all, and which
Has access to all times.

This is knowledge.

876. Best in the world is understanding—
The kind that leads on to extinction—
Whereby one understands completely
Exhaustion of both birth and death.

This is knowledge.

[iii (b)]

877. Herein, what is the knowable?

“Then I will tell you what peace is,
Dhotaka” the Blessed One said
“Peace here and now, no hearsay tale,
Which knowing, one who mindful goes,
Surmounts attachment to the world”.
“Indeed, great Seer, I look with hope
To that, the state of peace supreme,
Which knowing, one who mindful goes,
Surmounts attachment to the world”.
“Whatever [is],that understand,
Dhotaka” the Blessed One said
“Or up or down, around, amid,
Know that as wants, and have no clinging
To better or worse being in the world”.

This is the knowable.

878. (“Bhikkhus, it is owing to the non-discovery, to the non-penetration, of four noble truths that both I and you have had to run on and on and go the roundabout of this long journey. When this noble truth of suffering has been discovered and penetrated, when this noble truth of the origin of suffering has been discovered and penetrated, when this noble truth of the cessation of suffering has been discovered and penetrated, when this noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering has been discovered and penetrated, then need for being is annihilated, that Guide to Being is exhausted, there is now no renewal of being”. That is what the Blessed One said. When the Sublime One had said this, he, the Master, said further:

“By lack of seeing four noble truths
[With understanding]how they are
Long was the journey travelled through
The roundabout of varied births.
The Guide that leads men to exist
Is slain as soon as these are seen;
With roots of pain annihilated
There is no more renewal of being”.

This is the knowable.

[iii (c)]

879. Herein, what is knowledge and the knowable?

(Form is impermanent, feeling is impermanent, perception is impermanent, determinations are impermanent, consciousness is impermanent).

This is the knowable.

(Knowing and seeing thus, the noble hearer sees form as impermanent, sees feeling as impermanent, sees perception as impermanent, sees determinations as impermanent, sees consciousness as impermanent) ().

This is knowledge.

(He is liberated from form, liberated from feeling, liberated from perception, liberated from determinations, liberated from consciousness; he is liberated from suffering, I say) ().

This is knowledge and the knowable.

880. Impermanent are all determinations.

This is the knowable.

And so when he sees thus with understanding (Ibid.).

This is knowledge.

He then dispassion finds in suffering; This path it is that leads to purification (Ibid.).

This is knowledge and the knowable.

881. [And]painful too are all determinations (Ibid.).

This is the knowable.

And so when he sees thus with understanding (Ibid.).

This is knowledge.

He then dispassion finds in suffering; This path it is that leads to purification (Ibid.).

This is knowledge and the knowable.

882. ([And then besides]not-self are all ideas (Ibid.).

This is the knowable.

And so when he sees thus with understanding (Ibid.).

This is knowledge.

He then dispassion finds in suffering; This path it is that leads to purification (Ibid.).

This is knowledge and the knowable.

883. (Soṇa, when any monk or divine, with form as the reason, which [form] is impermanent, [liable to] pain, and inseparable from the idea of change, sees “I am better”, “I am like” or “I am worse”, then what is that other than not seeing how it is? When, with feeling … perception … determinations … consciousness as the reason, which [consciousness] is impermanent, [liable to] pain, and inseparable from the idea of change, sees “I am better”, “I am like” or “I am worse”, what is that other than not seeing how it is?).

This is the knowable.

(Soṇa, when any monk or divine does not, with form as the reason, which [form] is impermanent, [liable to] pain, and inseparable from the idea of change, see “I am better”, “I am like” or “I am worse”, what is that other than seeing how it is? When he does not, with feeling … perception … determinations … consciousness as the reason, which [consciousness] is impermanent, [liable to] pain, and inseparable from the idea of change, see “I am better”, “I am like” or “I am worse”, what is that other than seeing how it is?).

This is knowledge.

This is knowledge and the knowable.

[iv. (a)]

884. Herein, what is seeing?

Such as clearly evince the Noble Truths
Well taught by Him profound in understanding,
Although they may be mightily neglectful,
Still they can never take an eighth existence.

This is seeing.

885. As a locking-post deep-planted in the earth
Would stand unshaken by the four winds’ blast,
So too is the True Man, I say, that sees
The Noble Truths by undergoing them.

This is seeing.

886. (Bhikkhus, when a noble hearer possesses the four factors of Stream-Entry he could, if he wished, declare himself to himself thus: “I have exhausted [risk of rebirth in] the hells, the animal womb, the ghost realm, the states of unease, the bad destinations, and the perditions; I am a Stream-Enterer, no longer inseparable from the idea of perdition, certain [of rightness], and bound for enlightenment; ) (after running on and on and going the roundabout among gods and men seven times at most, I shall make an end of suffering”).(What four? Here, bhikkhus, (i) a noble hearer’s faith in a Perfect One is completely established, with roots fully developed, invincible by monk or divine or god or Māra or High Divinity or anyone in the world in any way that accords with the idea [of truth]. (ii) He has reached his goal in the True Idea:) (“The True Idea is well proclaimed by the Blessed One, to be seen for oneself, not delayed (timeless), inviting inspection, onward-leading, and directly experienceable by the wise).(When a noble hearer is possessed of these four factors of Stream-Entry he could, if he wished, declare himself to himself thus: “I am … [as above] … I shall make an end of suffering”) [as above].

This is seeing.

[iv (b)]

887. Herein, what is keeping in being?

Whose faculties are well maintained in being
As to himself, without, and to all the world,
Who, this and the next world knowing, bides his time
Keeping [the path]in being in himself,
’Tis such as he that can be called “well tamed”.

This is keeping in being.

888. (Bhikkhus, there are these four traces of the True Idea. What four? Non-covetousness is a trace of the True Idea, non-ill-will is a trace of the True Idea, right mindfulness is a trace of the True Idea, and right concentration is a trace of the True Idea. These are the four traces of the True Idea).

This is keeping in being.

[iv (c)]

889. Herein, what is seeing and keeping-in-being?

Five one should sever, five abandon,
And five too one should keep in being;
The bhikkhu who outstrips five clingings
Is called “One who has crossed the flood”.

“Five one should sever, five abandon” is seeing. “And five too one should keep in being, The bhikkhu who outstrips five clingings is called ‘One who has crossed the flood’,” is keeping in being.

This is seeing and keeping-in-being.

890. (Bhikkhus, there are these three faculties. What three? The I-shall-come-to-know-finally-the-as-yet-not-finally-known faculty, the act-of-final-knowing faculty, and the final-knower faculty). (What is the I-shall-come-to-know-finally-the-as-yet-not-finally-known faculty? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu arouses will to actualize the as yet unactualized noble truth of suffering, he makes efforts, instigates energy, exerts his cognizance, and endeavours. He arouses will to actualize the as yet unactualized noble truth of the origin of suffering … of cessation of suffering … He arouses will to actualize the as yet unactualized noble truth of the way leading to cessation of suffering, he makes efforts, instigates energy, exerts his cognizance, and endeavours. This is the I-shall-come-to-know-finally-the-as-yet-not-finally-known faculty).

This is seeing.

(What is the act-of-final-knowing faculty? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu understands how it is, thus “This is suffering”; he understands how it is, thus “This is the origin of suffering”; he understands how it is, thus “This is cessation of suffering”; he understands how it is, thus “This is the way leading to cessation of suffering”. This is the act-of-final-knowing faculty. What is the final-knower faculty? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, verifying by his own direct acquaintanceship, here and now enters upon and abides in the heart-deliverance and understanding-deliverance that are taintless with [final] exhaustion of taints. He understands “Birth is exhausted, the divine life has been lived out, what can be done is done, of this there is no more beyond”. This is the final-knower faculty).

This is keeping in being.

This is seeing and keeping-in-being.

[v (a)]

891. Herein, what is our own statement?

No doing any kind of evil,
Perfecting profitable skill,
And purifying one’s own heart:
This is the Buddhas’ Dispensation.

This is our own statement.

892. (Bhikkhus, there are these three fool-characteristics of a fool by which others know that a fool is a fool. What are the three? A fool thinks what is ill-thought, speaks what is ill-spoken, and the actions he does are ill-done. These are the fool-characteristics of a fool, by which others know that a fool is a fool. Bhikkhus, there are these three wise-man-characteristics of a wise man, by which others know that a wise man is wise. What are the three? A wise man thinks what is well thought, speaks what is well spoken, and the actions he does are well done. These are the three wise-man-characteristics of a wise man, by which others know that a wise man is wise).

This is our own statement.

[v (b)]

893. Herein, what is someone else’s statement?

Nothing so broad as to equal the Earth,
No chasm is found that can equal the Pit,
Nothing so high as to equal Mount Meru,
And no man can equal a Wheel-Turning Monarch.

This is someone else’s statement.

894. (“Ruler of Gods, let there be victory won through what is well spoken”.—“Vepacitti, let there be victory won through what is well spoken”.— … —“Vepacitti, say a verse”. Then Vepacitti Ruler of Asura Demons uttered this verse:

“Fools would display their anger more
Were no one to withstand them, so
Let the steadfast keep fools in check,
With a right heavy punishment”.

Now, bhikkhus, when this verse was uttered by Vepacitti Ruler of Asura Demons, the Asura demons applauded but the gods were silent. Then Vepacitti Ruler of Asura Demons said to Sakka Ruler of Gods: “Ruler of Gods, say a verse”. Then Sakka Ruler of Gods uttered this verse:

“In my opinion, [Sirs,]there is
But one way to withstand a fool:
When one another’s anger knows,
He mindfully maintains his peace”.

Now, bhikkhus, when this verse was uttered by Sakka Ruler of Gods, the gods applauded but the Asura demons were silent. Then Sakka Ruler of Gods said to Vepacitti Ruler of Asura Demons: “Vepacitti, say a verse”. Then Vepacitti Ruler of Asura Demons uttered this verse:

“As to forbearance, Vasava,
I find that it has this defect:
That once a fool should choose to fancy
That my forbearance springs from fear,
Then surely he will chase me more,
As does a bull a fugitive”.

Now, bhikkhus, when this verse was uttered by Vepacitti Ruler of Asura Demons, the Asura demons applauded but the gods were silent. Then Vepacitti Ruler of Asura Demons said to Sakka Ruler of Gods: “Ruler of Gods, say a verse”. Then Sakka Ruler of Gods uttered these verses:

“Let him fancy, or let him not,
That my forbearance springs from fear:
One’s own good is the best of all,
And there is none surpasses patience.
It is when one endowed with strength
Will show forbearance to the weak
That patience shows supreme, they say:
If weak, a man is always patient,
Whose strength is but the strength of fools,
His strength is weakness, as they say;
But there is none can countervail
Strength fortified by True Ideal.
To repay angry men in kind
Is worse than to be angry first;
Repay not angry men in kind,
And win a battle hard to win.
The good of both he does promote,
His own and then the other’s too,
Who shall another’s anger know
And mindfully maintain his peace.
’Tis men unskilled in the True Ideal
Who, when a man forbears for both
His own [good]and the other’s, too,
Do fancy him to be a fool”.

Now, bhikkhus, when this verse was uttered by Sakka Ruler of Gods, the gods applauded and the Asura demons were silent)

This is someone else’s statement.

[v (c)]

895. Herein, what is our own statement and someone else’s statement?

(What is [already] reached and what is [yet] to be reached are both soiled with dirt in him who trains as one [still] sick. [And] those for whom the core consists [only in undertaking] training [precepts], for whom the core consists [only] in sustaining virtue, duty, livelihood, and the divine life [consisting in chastity]; these are one extreme. And those with such theories and views as “There is nothing wrong in sensual desires”: these are the second extreme. So both these extremes go on swelling the cemeteries, and the cemeteries go on swelling [wrong] view. It is through lack of acquaintanceship with both these extremes that some hold back and some over-reach).

This is someone else’s statement.

(But of those who, through acquaintanceship with both these extremes, no more therein found being, who no more thereby conceived [the conceit “I am”], there is no describing any round [of renewed being]) (Ibid.)

This is our own statement.

This Exclamation is our own statement and someone else’s statement.

896. (King Pasenadi of Kosala said this to the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, here while I was alone in retreat the following thought arose in my mind: ‘To whom is self dear? To whom is self not dear?’ Venerable sir, it occurred to me as follows: ‘Self is not dear to those who practise misconduct by body, speech or mind; and for all that they may say self is dear to them, still it is not. Why is that? Because of themselves they do to themselves what one who is not dear would do to one not dear [to him]. That is why self is not dear to them. But self is dear to those who practise good conduct by body, speech and mind; and for all that they may say self is not dear to them, still it is dear to them. Why is that? Because of themselves they do to themselves what one who is dear would do to one dear [to him]. That is why self is dear to them”.—“So it is, great king, so it is. Self is not dear to those who practise misconduct by body, speech or mind; and for all that they may say self is dear to them, still it is not. Why is that? Because of themselves they do to themselves what one who is not dear would do to one not dear [to him]. That is why self is not dear to them. But self is dear to those who practise good conduct by body, speech and mind; and for all that they may say self is not dear to them still it is dear to them. Why is that? Because of themselves they do to themselves what one who is dear would do to one dear [to him]. That is why self is dear to them”.) That is what the Blessed One said. The Sublime One having said this, he, the Master, said further:

If a man would know himself as dear,
Then let no evil fetter him;
For pleasure comes not easily
To him that does what is ill-done.
Once seized by the Exterminator,
Once letting go the human state,
What is there, then, that is his own?
What takes he with him when he goes?
And what will follow him as would
His shadow keep him company?
The merit and the evil, both,
That here a mortal has performed,
That then is there and is his own,
That takes he with him when he goes,
And that will follow him as would
His shadow keep him company.
So let him make a store of good
For him to reap in lives to come:
For merit in the world beyond
Provides a breathing thing’s foundation.

Here the Thread is someone else’s statement and the paraphrasing-verse is our own statement.

This is our own statement and someone else’s statement.

[vi (a)]

897. Herein, what is the answerable?

When a question is asked [whether] one should be acquainted with this, [whether] this should be diagnosed, [whether] this should be abandoned, [whether] this should be kept in being, [whether] this should be verified, [whether] these ideas, being taken thus, make this fruit occur, [whether] this is the meaning of those [ideas] taken thus, this is answerable.

898. [When it is asked whether] one should demonstrate unreservedly the Enlightened One’s grandeur thus “Great is the Enlightened One, the Blessed One”, and the True Idea’s well-proclaimedness, and the Community’s goodly practice [correspondingly, or when it is asked whether] one should demonstrate unreservedly that (Impermanent are all determinations), ([and] painful too are all determinations) [or] ([and then besides] not-self are all ideas), or anything else of the same sort, this is answerable.

[vi (b)]

899. Herein, what is the unanswerable? [When it is asked as follows:]

O Leader of men to be tamed,
When you design,
No gods or men or even all
The whole [array
Of] breathing things can know what is
Thought by your mind
Using the quiet concentration
Without conflict:
“What is it that the Blessed One
Is there intending”?

This is unanswerable.

900. [When it is asked whether] the Blessed One is this much in respect of the virtue category, the concentration category, the understanding category, the deliverance category, or the knowing-and-seeing-of-deliverance category, in respect of behaviour, in respect of dignity, in respect of seeking welfare, in respect of compassion, in respect of supernormal success, this is unanswerable.

901. [When it is said] (Bhikkhus, with the arising of a Perfect One, accomplished and fully enlightened, in the world, there is the arising of the three Jewels, of the Enlightened-One Jewel, of the True-Idea Jewel, and of the Community Jewel) () [and it is asked] “What is the measure of the three Jewels”?, that is unanswerable.

902. [When it is asked likewise about] the province of an Enlightened One, That is unanswerable.

903. [When it is asked likewise about] the Knowledge of diversity in [the faculties of other] persons, that is unanswerable.

904. [When it is said] (Bhikkhus, a past term is not evident of creatures who, with ignorance as hindrance and craving as fetter run on and on, going the roundabout now in hell, now in the animal womb, now in the ghost realm, now in the Asura-Demon womb, now among gods, now among men), [and it is asked] “What is the past term”, that is unanswerable. It is “not evident” owing to deficiency in the hearer’s knowledge.

905. [Now] the teaching of the Enlightened Ones, the Blessed Ones, is of two kinds, namely with themselves as guiding example and with another as guiding example. [The teaching] (is not evident) is with another as guiding example, while [the teaching] (The Enlightened Ones, the Blessed Ones, have no non-cognition) () is with themselves as guiding example. According as the Blessed One told a certain bhikkhu about the bhikkhu Kokālika: (Bhikkhu, suppose there were a Kosalan sesamum-seed waggon of twenty khārika-measures’ capacity, [and at the end of every hundred years or every thousand years a man took a single sesamum seed away, that Kosalan sesamum-seed waggon of twenty khārika-measures’ capacity would in this manner sooner be exhausted and come to an end] than would the abbuda hell; and like twenty abbuda hells is the one-nirabbuda hell; and like twenty nirabudda-hells is the one-atata hell; and like twenty atata hells is the one-ahaha hell; and like twenty ahaha hells is the one-kumuda hell; and like twenty kumuda hells is the one-sogandhika hell; and like twenty sogandhika hells is the one-uppala hell; and like twenty uppala hells is the one-puṇḍarīka hell; and like twenty puṇḍarīka hells is the one-paduma hell. Now it is the paduma hell that Kokālika has reappeared in through hardening his heart against Sāriputta and Moggallāna).

906. Or in fact, [any question about the measure of] anything of which the Blessed One has said “This is measureless, incalculable” is always unanswerable.

This is the unanswerable.

[vi (c)]

907. Herein, what is the answerable and unanswerable?

When the ascetic Upaka asked the Blessed One “Where are you going, friend Gotama”? and the Blessed One said “I am going to Benares. I am going to set rolling the True Idea’s Wheel, the Deathless Drum, not to be stopped in the world” and the ascetic Upaka asked, “Do you claim to be a Victor, friend Gotama”? and the Blessed One said:

“The Victors like me, Upaka,
Are those whose taints are quite exhausted;
I vanquished all ideas of evil,
And that is why I am a Victor”.

[Now the questions] “How a Victor”? or “By what reason a Victor”? are answerable; [but the question] “What [is] a Victor”? is unanswerable. [Again, the question] “Which exhaustion of taints? [Is it] exhaustion of lust, exhaustion of hate, exhaustion of delusion”? is answerable; [but the question] “How much exhaustion of taints”? is unanswerable.

This is the answerable and unanswerable.

908. [The question] “Is there (atthi) a Perfect One (tathāgata)”? is answerable.

[The question] “Is there form”? is answerable. [The question] (“[Is] a Perfect One form”?) is unanswerable; [the question] “Does a Perfect One possess form”? is unanswerable; [the question] (“[Is] a Perfect One in form”?) is unanswerable; [the question] “[Is] form in a Perfect One”? is unanswerable.

Likewise “Is there feeling”? …

Likewise “Is there perception”? …

Likewise “Are there determinations”? …

[Likewise] “Is there consciousness”? is answerable.(“[Is] a Perfect One consciousness?”) is unanswerable; “Does a Perfect One possess consciousness”? is unanswerable; (“[Is] a Perfect One in consciousness?”) is unanswerable.

“[Is] a Perfect One apart from form”? is unanswerable; “[Is] a Perfect One apart from feeling … from perception … from determinations … from consciousness”? are unanswerable.

“[Is] this Perfect One without form? … without feeling … without perception … without determinations … without consciousness”? are unanswerable.

This is the answerable and unanswerable.

909.“Does the Blessed One with the heavenly eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, see creatures passing away and reappearing … and so all the rest … does he understand how creatures pass on according to their actions”? is answerable.

“What [are] creatures”? and “What [is] a Perfect One”? are unanswerable.

This is the answerable and unanswerable.

910.“Is there (atthi) a Perfect One”? is answerable. “Is there (atthi) a Perfect One after his death”? is unanswerable.

This is the answerable and unanswerable.

[vii (a)]

911. Herein, what is action?

When one is overcome by death
And letting go the human state,
What is there then that is his own?
What takes he with him when he goes?
And what will follow him as would
His shadow keep him company?
The merit and the evil, both,
That here a mortal has performed,
That then is there and is his own,
That takes he with him when he goes,
And that will follow him as would
His shadow keep him company.

This is action.

912. (Again, bhikkhus, when a fool is on his chair or his bed or resting on the ground, then the evil actions that he did in the past through misconduct by body, speech or mind cover him and overspread and envelop him. Just as the shadow of a great rock-peak in the evening sun covers and overspreads and envelops the ground, so too, when a fool is on his chair or his bed or resting on the ground, then the evil actions that he did in the past through misconduct by body, speech or mind cover him and overspread and envelop him. Then it occurs to the fool “I have left undone what is good, I have left undone what is profitable, I have made myself no shelter from anguish, I have done what is evil, I have done what is cruel, I have done what is wicked. Whatever is the destination of those who have so acted, there I shall go when I depart”, and he sorrows and laments, beating his breast, he weeps and becomes distraught).(Again, bhikkhus, when a wise man is on his chair or his bed or resting on the ground, then the good actions that he did in the past through good conduct by body, speech and mind cover him and overspread and envelop him. Just as the shadow of a great rock-peak in the evening sun covers and overspreads and envelops the ground, so too, when a wise man is on his chair or his bed or resting on the ground, then the good actions that he did in the past through good conduct by body, speech and mind cover him and overspread and envelop him. Then it occurs to the wise man “I have left undone what is evil, I have left undone what is cruel, I have left undone what is wicked, I have done what is good, I have done what is profitable, I have made myself a shelter from anguish. Whatever is the destination of those who have so acted, there I shall go when I depart”, and he neither sorrows nor laments, nor, beating his breast, does he weep and become distraught).([He knows] “Merit has been made by me and no evil done. Whatever is the destination of those who have left undone what is evil, left undone what is cruel, left undone what is wicked, who have done what is good, done what is profitable, and made themselves a shelter from anguish, with that destination I shall coexist in the existence that follows the departing”, and so he has no remorse. Bhikkhus, I say that death is auspicious, completion of time is auspicious, for a woman or a man, whether householder or gone forth from the house-life, who has no remorse) ().

This is action.

913. (Bhikkhus, there are these three kinds of misconduct. What three? Misconduct by body, misconduct by speech, and misconduct by mind. These three kinds of misconduct). (Bhikkhus, there are three kinds of good conduct. What three? Good conduct by body, good conduct by speech, and good conduct by mind. These three kinds of good conduct).

This is action.

[vii (b)]

914. Herein, what is ripening?

(Bhikkhus, it is gain for you, it is great gain for you, to have found the moment for living the divine life out. Bhikkhus, I have seen hells that provide the six bases for contact. There whatever the form one sees with the eye, one sees only the un-wished-for, never the wished for, sees only the undesired, never the desired, sees only the disagreeable, never the agreeable. Whatever the sound one hears with the ear … odour one smells with the nose … flavour one tastes with the tongue … tangible one touches with the body … Whatever the idea one cognizes with the mind, one cognizes only the un-wished-for never the wished for, cognizes only the undesired, never the desired, cognizes only the disagreeable, never the agreeable. Bhikkhus, it is gain for you, it is great gain for you, to have found the moment for living the divine life out. Bhikkhus, I have seen heavens that provide the six bases for contact. There whatever the form one sees with the eye, one sees only the wished for, never the un-wished-for, sees only the desired, never the undesired, sees only the agreeable, never the disagreeable. Whatever the sound one hears with the ear … odour one smells with the nose … flavour one tastes with the tongue … tangible one touches with the body … Whatever the idea one cognizes with the mind, one cognizes only the wished for, never the un-wished-for, cognizes only the desirable, never the undesirable, cognizes only the agreeable, never the disagreeable. Bhikkhus, it is gain for you, it is great gain for you, to have found the moment for living the divine life out).

This is ripening.

915. Full sixty thousand years gone by
Ripened in hell. When will it end?
There is no end! Where is the end?
No sign of any end at all
Appears for you and me, good sir;
For evil we did then perform.

This is ripening.

[vii (c)]

916. Herein, what is action and ripening?

Whenever a negligent man has done wrong,
Then wherever he goes in the bad destinations
The wrong that he did will [continue to]hurt him
Like a black cobra snake that lays hold of itself.
The right idea and wrong idea
Have never the same ripening:
The wrong idea guides men to hell,
The right idea brings them to heaven.

This is action and ripening.

917. (Bhikkhus, fear no kinds of merit. It is a designation for the pleasure that is wished for, desired, dear, and agreeable, namely “The kinds of merit”. For long I had acquaintance with merit made, whose ripening was coessential with the wished for, and desirable, the dear and agreeable. For seven years I maintained loving-kindness in being in my heart. Thereafter for seven aeons of world-contraction and world-expansion I never came back to this world; for with the aeon contracting, I passed on up into the [world of] the Ābhassara (Streaming-Radiance) [High Divinity]; and with the aeon expanding, I reappeared [in the next lower world] in a High Divinity’s empty mansion. There I was the Divinity, the High Divinity, the Transcendent Being Untranscended, Infallible in Vision, Wielder of Mastery. And then thirty-six times I was Sakha Ruler of Gods [in the second paradise of sensual desire]. And many hundred times I was a Wheel-Turning Monarch as a rightful emperor with the ideal of righteousness, conqueror of the Earth’s four corners, with stabilized provinces, and in possession of the seven Jewels. What need to speak of local kingship? It occurred to me [to wonder] “What action of mine is it the fruit of, with what action’s ripening is it, that I have now such vast success and might”?, [and the answer] occurred to me “It is the fruit of three kinds of action of mine, it is with three kinds of action’s ripening, that I now have such vast success and might: It is owing to giving, it is owing to [self-]taming, and it is owing to refraining”).

Herein, the “giving”, the “taming” and the “refraining” are action, while the ripening, with that as its condition, that was coessential with the experience, is ripening.

918. Likewise the Cūḷa-Kammavibhanga-Sutta should be quoted as taught to the student Subha Todeyyaputta.

Herein, those ideas that conduce to short life and to long life, to much affliction and to little affliction, to little influence and to much influence, to uncomely looks and to comely looks, to low birth and to high birth, to little property and to great property, to want of understanding and to possession of understanding, are action, while the short life and long life, … the want of understanding and the possession of understanding, therein, are ripening.

This is action and ripening.

[viii (a)]

919. Herein, what is the profitable?

Who guards his speech, is well restrained in mind,
Does no unprofit by the body’s means:
Who purifies this triple course of action,
Will win the path the Sages have divulged.

This is the profitable.

920. Who has no more wrongdoing done
By body or by speech or mind,
Who is in triple mode restrained,
’Tis him I call divine.

This is the profitable.

921. (Bhikkhus, there are these three roots of profit. What three? They are non-greed as a root of profit, non-hate as a root of profit, and non-delusion as a root of profit. These are the three roots of profit).

This is the profitable.

922. (Bhikkhus, science heralds the perfecting of profitable ideas, with conscience and shame following in its wake).

This is the profitable.

[viii (b)]

923. Herein, what is the unprofitable?

A man who is excessive in unvirtue,
Like māluva-vines choking said-trees,
Does act in such a way he makes himself
Exactly as his enemy would wish.

This is the unprofitable.

924. The evil by oneself performed, self-born,
Owing to self its actual existence,
Grinds away them so stupid [as to do it],
As does the adamant the stony gem.

This is the unprofitable.

925. The profitless, who profit miss
In action’s tenfold course fulfilling,
Are censurable, deity,
As fools who ripen out in hell.

This is the unprofitable.

926. (Bhikkhus, there are these three roots of unprofit. What three? They are greed as a root of unprofit, hate as a root of unprofit, and delusion as a root of unprofit. These are the three roots of unprofit).

This is the unprofitable.

[viii (c)]

927. Herein, what is the profitable and unprofitable?

According as the seed is sown
So [later]is the harvest reaped:
And good is for the doer of good,
And evil for the evil-doer.

Herein, the words “good is for the doer of good” are the profitable, while the words “And evil for the evil-doer” are the unprofitable.

This is the profitable and unprofitable.

928. It is by actions beautiful
That men fare on to heaven,
And owing to their ugly acts,
To states where is no ease.
The heart is liberated;
Like lamps with fuel [all]used up
They reach extinguishment.

Herein, the words “It is by actions beautiful That men fare on to heaven” are the profitable, while the words “And owing to their ugly acts, To states where is no ease” are the unprofitable.

This is the profitable and unprofitable.

[ix (a)]

929. Herein, what is the agreed?

And as the bee comes to the flower
And soon flies off with nourishment,
Leaving the colour and scent intact,
So goes the Stilled One to the town.

This is the agreed.

930. (Bhikkhus, there are these three [tasks] to be done by bhikkhus. What three? Here (i) a bhikkhu abides restrained with the restraint of the Patimokkha Rule, perfect in conduct and resort, and seeing fear in the slightest fault, he undertakes the training precepts and trains in them; then since his bodily, verbal, and mental action is profitable, he has purified his livelihood. (ii) Then he has instigated energy, is firm and staunch in persistence, never shirking the task in abandoning unprofitable ideas and in keeping in being and verifying profitable ideas. (iii) And then he has understanding, he possesses understanding that extends to rise and disappearance; is noble and penetrative, and extends to the complete exhaustion of suffering. These, bhikkhus, are the three [tasks] to be done by bhikkhus).

This is the agreed.

931. (Bhikkhus, there are these ten ideas to be constantly reviewed by one gone forth from the house-life. What ten? “I have come to a casteless state” is [an idea] to be constantly reviewed by one gone forth. [“My livelihood is bound up with others” … “I have a different (special) way to behave” … “Does my self reproach me on my virtue’s account”? … “Do wise companions in the divine life, on considering me, reproach me on my virtue’s account”? … “There will be division and separation from all that are dear to me and beloved” … “I am an owner of action, heir of action, womb of action, responsible for (kin of) action, home of action, whatever action I do, whether good or bad, that I shall inherit” … “How has my passing of the nights and days been”? … “Do I delight in an empty house”? … “Have I arrived at any superhuman idea worthy of the Noble Ones’ knowing and seeing, so that if I am questioned in my last hours by companions in the divine life, I shall not have been in vain”? is [an idea] to be constantly reviewed by one gone forth from the house-life.] These ten ideas are to be constantly reviewed by one gone forth from the house-life).

This is the agreed.

932. (Bhikkhus, there are these three tasks to be done. What three? They are good conduct by body, good conduct by speech, and good conduct by mind. These are three tasks to be done) ().

This is the agreed.

[ix (b)]

933. Herein, what is the refused?

[When it was said]

There is no loved one equal to one’s child,
There are no riches equal to one’s cow,
No radiance is equal to the sun,
The sea is sure the greatest of the waters,

The Blessed One replied

There is no loved one equal to oneself
There are no riches equal to one’s corn,
No radiance can equal understanding,
The rain is sure the greatest of the waters.

Here the first verse is refused [by the second].

934. (Bhikkhus, there are these three [tasks] not to be done. What three? They are misconduct by body, misconduct by speech, and misconduct by mind. These are three tasks not to be done).

This is the refused.

[ix (c)]

935. Herein, what is the agreed and refused?

“What are the multitude afraid of here?
A path with many a base divulged—I ask,
O Gotama with breadth of understanding,
Where stands he that fears not the other world”?
“When speech and mind have rightly been disposed,
When no more evil bodily is done,
Then [even]in a house of plenty dwelling,
A man who takes his stand on four ideas—
Who is faithful, gentle, generous, wise-spoken—
Here stands he that fears not the other world”.

Herein, when it is said “When speech and mind have rightly been disposed” this is the agreed. When it is said “When no more evil bodily is done” this is the refused. When it is said “Then [even] in a house of plenty dwelling A man who takes his stand on four ideas—Who is faithful, gentle, generous, wise-spoken—Here stands he that fears not the other world” this is the agreed.

This is the agreed and refused.

936. No doing any kind of evil,
Perfecting profitable skill,
And purifying one’s own heart:
This is the Buddhas’ Dispensation.

Herein, when it is said “No doing any kind of evil” this is the refused. When it is said “Perfecting profitable skill” this is the agreed.

This is the agreed and refused.

937. (Ruler of Gods, bodily behaviour is of two kinds, I say, to be cultivated and not to be cultivated. And verbal behaviour is of two kinds, I say, to be cultivated and not to be cultivated. And mental behaviour is of two kinds, I say, to be cultivated and not to be cultivated. And search is of two kinds, I say, to be cultivated and not to be cultivated. “Bodily behaviour is of two kinds, I say, to be cultivated and not to be cultivated”: so it was said; and with reference to what was this said? There is bodily behaviour such that when a man cultivates it unprofitable ideas increase in him and profitable ideas diminish. Such bodily behaviour is not to be cultivated. Herein, when he knows of any bodily behaviour that “This bodily behaviour is such that when I cultivate it unprofitable ideas diminish and profitable ideas increase”, such bodily behaviour is to be cultivated. So it was with reference to this that it was said “Bodily behaviour is of two kinds, I say, to be cultivated and not to be cultivated”. “Verbal behaviour” … “Mental behaviour” … “Search is of two kinds, I say, to be cultivated and not to be cultivated”: so it was said; and with reference to what was this said? There is search such that when a man cultivates it unprofitable ideas increase and profitable ideas diminish. Such search is not to be cultivated. Herein, when he knows of any search that “This search is such that when I cultivate it unprofitable ideas diminish and profitable ideas increase” such search is to be cultivated. So it was with reference to this that it was said “Search is of two kinds, I say, to be cultivated and not to be cultivated”) ().

Herein, when it is said “to be cultivated” this is the agreed. And when it is said “not to be cultivated” this is the refused.

This is the agreed and refused.

[x]

938. Herein, what is eulogy?

The Eightfold is the best of paths,
The four states are the best of truths,
Fading of lust the best idea,
And one with vision best of bipeds.

This is eulogy.

939. (Bhikkhus, there are these three foremost things. What three? In so far as there are creatures, footless or two-footed or four-footed or many-footed, or with form or without form or percipient or non-percipient or neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient, of these a Perfect One is reckoned foremost, reckoned best, reckoned supreme, that is to say, one accomplished and fully enlightened. In so far as there is any description of True Ideas, whether determined or undetermined, of these the fading of lust is reckoned foremost, reckoned best, reckoned supreme, that is to say, disillusionment of vanity, elimination of thirst, outguiding of reliance, termination of the round, exhaustion of craving, fading, ceasing, extinction. In so far as there is any description of communities, any description of societies, any description of multitudes gathered together, of these the Community of a Perfect One’s hearers is reckoned foremost, reckoned best, reckoned supreme, that is to say, the four Pairs of Mature Men, the eight Types of Mature Persons … … field of merit for the world.

940. A Master who all worlds crossed over,
A True Idea on profit’s side,
A Lion-Man’s society:
These are the most distinguished three.
A lily-sheaf of saints is the Community,
The glorious Ideal its knower venerated,
Man’s Tamer glorious, possessed of [perfect]vision:
This is the Trinity beyond the world.
A Master without equal [anywhere],
An Ideal with no essentials of existence,
A glorious Community ennobled
This is the Trinity the most distinguished.
Truly named is the Conqueror Secure
All-Transcendent with Truth for his Ideal,
None other beyond Him. His Comity
Of Noble Ones the wise ever revere.
This is the Trinity beyond the world.
The Seer of [all]birth’s exhaustion understood
The Path of single [aim], compassionate for weal,
And it is by that path that men who cross the flood
Crossed over in the past and will do so in future.
nd even such was He, the best of gods and men,
Whom creatures do adore, hoping for purity.

This is eulogy.

[Discussion]

941. Herein, (i (a)) the type of Thread belonging to worlds [in the second grouping] can be demonstrated by two types of Thread [in the first grouping], namely by (1) that dealing with corruption and (2) that dealing with morality.

(i (b)) the type of Thread dissociated from worlds can be demonstrated by three types of Thread, namely by [(3) that dealing with penetration subdivided into] (3a) that dealing with seeing and (3b) that dealing with keeping in being, and (4) that dealing with the Adept.

(i (c)) the type of Thread belonging to worlds and dissociated from worlds can be demonstrated in so far as regards that belonging to worlds by either type of Thread to which the word is appropriate, namely by (1) that dealing with corruption or (2) that dealing with morality, and in so far as regards that dissociated from worlds it can be demonstrated by whichever type of Thread the word is appropriate to, namely by (3a) that dealing with seeing, (3b) that dealing with keeping in being, or (4) that dealing with the Adept.

942. (2) The type of Thread dealing with morality is for counteracting (1) the type of Thread dealing with corruption. (3a) The type of Thread dealing with seeing is for counteracting (2) the type of Thread dealing with morality. (3b) The type of Thread dealing with keeping in being is for relinquishing (3a) the type of Thread dealing with seeing. (4) The type of Thread dealing with the Adept is for relinquishing (3b) the type of Thread dealing with keeping in being. (4) The type of Thread dealing with the Adept has [also] the purpose of a pleasant abiding here and now.

943. (i (b)) the type of Thread dissociated from worlds that is (ii (a)) expressed in terms of creatures can be demonstrated by the [following] thirty-six types of persons, and they are to be sought for in the three types of Threads, namely (3a) that dealing with seeing, (3b) that dealing with keeping in being, and (4) that dealing with the Adept.

944. Herein, (3a) the type of Thread dealing with seeing can be demonstrated by five types of persons, namely the Single-Seed, the Clan-to-Clan, the Seven-at-Most, the Follower by Faith, and the Follower by Ideas. The type of Thread dealing with seeing can be demonstrated by these five types of persons.

945. (3b) The type of Thread dealing with keeping in being can be demonstrated by twelve types of persons, namely by him who is on the way to verification of the fruit of Once-Return, by the Once-Returner, by him who is on the way to verification of the fruit of Non-Return, by the Non-Returner, by One Who Attains Extinction Early On [In His Next Existence], by One Who Attains Extinction Late [In His Next Existence], by One Who Attains Extinction Without Prompting-determinations, by One Who Attains Extinction With Prompting-determinations, by The Up-Streamer Bound For The Not-Junior Gods, by One Liberated By Faith, by One Attained To Right View, and by a Bodily Witness. The type of Thread dealing with keeping in being can be demonstrated by these twelve types of persons.

946. (4) The type of Thread dealing with the Adept can be demonstrated by nine types of persons, namely by One Liberated By Faith, by One Liberated By Understanding, by One Liberated Through Voidness, by One Liberated Through Signlessness, by One Liberated Through Dispositionlessness, by One Both-Ways Liberated, by a Level-Headed One, by a Hermit Enlightened One, and by a Fully Enlightened One. The type of Thread dealing with the Adept can be demonstrated by these nine types of persons.

That is how the supramundane type of Thread expressed in terms of creatures can be demonstrated by these thirty-six types of persons.

947. (i (a)) The type of Thread belonging to worlds (ii (a)) expressed in terms of creatures can [also] be demonstrated by the [following] nineteen types of persons, and they are to be sought for among the types of temperament. Some are of lusting temperament, some are of hating temperament, some are of deluded temperament; some are of lusting temperament and hating temperament, some are of lusting temperament and deluded temperament, some are of hating temperament and deluded temperament, some are of lusting temperament and hating temperament and deluded temperament.

[Then there are:] One of lusting temperament steadied under the heading of lust, one of hating temperament steadied under the heading of lust, one of deluded temperament steadied under the heading of lust, and one of lusting temperament and hating temperament and deluded temperament steadied under the heading of lust. [And there are:] one of hating temperament steadied under the heading of hate, one of deluded temperament steadied under the heading of hate, one of lusting temperament steadied under the heading of hate, and one of lusting temperament and hating temperament and deluded temperament steadied under the heading of hate. [And there are:] one of deluded temperament steadied under the heading of delusion, one of lusting temperament steadied under the heading of delusion, one of hating temperament steadied under the heading of delusion, and one of lusting temperament and hating temperament and deluded temperament steadied under the heading of delusion. The type of Thread belonging to worlds expressed in terms of creatures can be demonstrated by these nineteen types of persons.

948. (2) The type of Thread dealing with morality can be demonstrated by the types of the virtuous. These types of the virtuous are the five types of persons, namely [those possessing the following ideas:] natural virtue, virtue as undertaking, confidence of cognizance (heart), quiet, insight. The type of Thread dealing with morality can be demonstrated by these five types of persons.

949. By means of these five ideas, (1 (b)) the type of Thread dissociated from worlds can be demonstrated by the three types of Thread, namely (3a) that dealing with seeing, (3b) that dealing with keeping in being, and (4) that dealing with the Adept.

950. (i (c)) That belonging to worlds and dissociated from worlds (ii (c)) expressed in terms of creatures and in terms of ideas can be demonstrated in both ways.

951. (iii (a)) Knowledge can be demonstrated by understanding, and by the understanding faculty, understanding power, training in the higher understanding, investigation-of-ideas enlightenment factor, right view, judgment, adjudgment, knowledge about an idea, knowledge about an inference, knowledge about exhaustion, knowledge about non-arising, the I-shall-come-to-know-finally-the-as-yet-not-finally-known faculty, the act-of-final-knowing faculty, the final-knower faculty, vision, (eye), science, discovery, breadth, wit or it can be demonstrated by any designation for understanding that is appropriate.

952. (iii (b)) The knowable can be demonstrated by the past, future, and presently-arisen, by the in-oneself and external, by the inferior and superior, by the far and near, by the determined and undetermined, by the profitable, unprofitable, and undeclared; or in brief by the six objects [of the six bases in oneself].

953. (iii (c))Knowledge and the knowable can be demonstrated by both. And also understanding that is made the object [of subsequent knowledge] is the knowable; and also anything whatever, whether in-oneself or external, that is made the object [of knowledge is the knowable, and] all that can be demonstrated as determined and undetermined.

954. (iv (a)) Seeing and (iv (b)) keeping in being, (v (a)) our own statement and (v (b)) someone else’s statement, (vi (a)) the answerable and (vi (b)) the unanswerable, (vii (a)) action and (vii (b)) ripening, and (c) the double form in each instance, can be demonstrated appropriately by observing how it is demonstrated in the Thread; or whatever other statement the Blessed One utters can all [be demonstrated] by observing how it is demonstrated in the Thread.

955. Cause is twofold as action and as defilements. Defilements are origin.

956. Herein, defilements can [only] be demonstrated by (1) the type of Thread dealing with corruption. Origin can be demonstrated [both] by (1) the type of Thread dealing with corruption and by (2) the type of Thread dealing with morality.

957. Herein (viii (a)) the profitable can be demonstrated by four types of Threads, namely (2) by that dealing with morality, (3a) that dealing with seeing, (3b) that dealing with keeping in being, and (4) that dealing with the Adept.

958. (viii (b)) The unprofitable can be demonstrated by (1) the type of Thread dealing with corruption.

959. (viii (c)) The profitable and unprofitable can be demonstrated by both [as appropriate].

960. (ix (a)) The agreed can be demonstrated by what the Blessed One has agreed, which is of five kinds, namely restraint, abandoning, keeping in being, verification, and what is allowable [explicitly in the texts] and what is in conformity with that. Whatever is found in the several planes [beginning with that of the ordinary man] can be demonstrated by the allowable and what is in conformity [with it].

961. (ix (b)) What is refused by the Blessed One can be demonstrated by the reason for the refusal.

962. (ix (c)) The agreed and refused can be demonstrated by both [as appropriate].

963. (x) Eulogy can be demonstrated by praise. That should be understood as of five kinds, namely [praise] of the Blessed One, of the True Idea, of the Noble Community, of the Training in Noble Ideas, and success in mundane qualities. That is how eulogy can be demonstrated.

964. The plane of the faculties can be demonstrated by nine terms and the plane of defilements can be demonstrated by nine terms. So these terms are eighteen: nine profitable terms and nine unprofitable terms, according as it was said [earlier] “The eighteen Root-Terms: where are they to be seen? In the Pattern of the Dispensation”.

965. That is why the venerable Mahā-Kaccāna said:

“With nine terms on the side of profit
And nine terms on unprofit’s side
Construed, these Root-Terms [thus] do come
[In all] to number eighteen terms”.

The Pattern of the Dispensation is ended.

At this point the Guide is completed, which was spoken by Mahā-Kaccāna, approved by the Blessed One, and chanted at the original Council.

End of The Guide