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- Sutta Nipata IV.4
- Suddhatthaka Sutta
- On Purity
- Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland
- For free distribution only,
by arrangement with the Buddhist Publication Society
- From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82),
translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983).
"'Here I see one who is pure, entirely free of sickness. By seeing him a man may
attain to purity!'
"Convinced of that and thinking it 'the highest,' he believes it to be knowledge
when he contemplates 'the pure one.'[1] But if by sights man
can gain purification or if through such knowledge he could leave suffering behind, then,
one who still has attachments could be purified by another.[2]
However, this is merely the opinion of those who so assert.
"The (true) brahmana[3] has said one is not purified by
another, nor by what is seen, heard or perceived (by the other senses), nor, by the
performance of ritual observances. He (the true brahmana) is not defiled by merit or
demerit. Having given up what he had (previously) grasped at, he no longer engages in
producing (any kamma). Having left a former (object) they attach themselves to another,
dominated by craving they do not go beyond attachment. They reject and seize, like a
monkey letting go of a branch to take hold of another.
"A person having undertaken a ritual act goes this way and that, fettered by his
senses. But one with a wide wisdom, having understood and gone into the Dhamma with his
experience, does not go this way and that. For a person indifferent towards all
conditions, whatever is seen, heard or cognized, he is one who sees it as it really is and
lives with clarity (of mind). With what could he be identified in the world?
"They do not speculate nor pursue (any notion), they do not claim perfect purity.
Loosening the knot (of clinging) with which they are bound, they do not have longing
anywhere in the world. The (true) brahmana who has gone beyond limitations, having
understood and seen there is no longer any assumption for him, he is neither disturbed by
lust nor agitated by revulsion. For him there is nothing upheld as 'the highest.'"
-- vv. 788-795
Notes
1. This refers to the old Indian belief in "auspicious
sights" (dittha-mangala), the belief that by merely beholding something or
someone regarded as a holy object or person, purity, or whatever else is desired, may be
gained. [Go back]
2. By another method, other than that of the Noble Eightfold
Path (Comy.); but it could also mean, "by the sight of another person." [Go back]
3. I.e., the Buddha. [Go back]