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or a wood-gatherer, or a forest worker, I flee from forest to forest, from thicket to thicket, from hollow to hollow, from hill to hill. For what reason? 'May they not see me, and may I not see them.' This, Sāriputta, is how it is for me in seclusion. I, Sāriputta, where there are cattle pens with cows that have calved, and the cowherds have departed, there, going on all fours, I eat the dung of the young calves and heifers. And as long as, Sāriputta, my own urine and excrement are not exhausted, I eat my own urine and excrement. This, Sāriputta, is how it is for me in eating great abominations. I, Sāriputta, a certain terrifying forest... I dwell having plunged into a thicket. There, Sāriputta, in that terrifying forest thicket, there is terror – whoever, not free from passion, enters that forest thicket, for the most part, their hairs stand on end. So I, Sāriputta, during those cold, wintry nights, in the period between seasons, at the time of frost, during such nights, I dwell at night in the open air, and by day in the forest thicket; in the last month of summer, I dwell by day in the open air, and at night in the forest thicket. Moreover, Sāriputta, this extraordinary verse occurred to me, unheard before – Scorched, shriveled, alone in a terrifying forest; Naked, not seated by a fire, a sage devoted to seeking. So I, Sāriputta, made my bed in a charnel ground, resting on bones. Moreover, Sāriputta, cowherds would come up to me and spit on me, urinate on me, cover me with dust, and insert sticks into my ear canals. Yet I, Sāriputta, do not recall having generated an evil thought towards them. This, Sāriputta, was my dwelling in equanimity. 158. There are, Sāriputta, some ascetics and brahmins who speak thus and hold this view – ‘Purity is by food.’ They say thus – ‘We subsist on jujube fruits.’ They eat jujube fruits, they eat jujube powder, they drink jujube water – they consume various kinds of jujube preparations. I, Sāriputta, recall having eaten only one jujube fruit as food. It might be, Sāriputta, that you think – ‘Surely, the jujube fruit at that time must have been large.’ But, Sāriputta, it should not be seen that way. Even then, the jujube fruit was just as it is now. For me, Sāriputta, eating only one jujube fruit as food, my body reached extreme emaciation. Just as eighty-year-old reeds or black reeds, so too my limbs and minor limbs became, due to that very little food. Just as a camel's hoof, so too my buttocks became, due to that very little food. Just as a string of beads, so too my backbone was prominent and sunken, due to that very little food. Just as the rafters of an old house are dilapidated and broken, so too my ribs were dilapidated and broken, due to that very little food. Just as in a deep well, the water-stars are seen deep down and sunken, so too in my eye-sockets, my eye-pupils were seen deep down and sunken, due to that very little food. Just as a bitter gourd, cut while unripe, is shriveled and withered by wind and sun, so too my scalp was shriveled and withered, due to that very little food. Then I, Sāriputta, when I wanted to touch my belly-skin, would grasp only my backbone; when I wanted to touch my backbone, would grasp only my belly-skin. So much so, Sāriputta, my belly-skin was stuck to my backbone, due to that very little food. Then I, Sāriputta, when I wanted to pass stool or urine, would fall headlong right there, due to that very little food. Then I, Sāriputta, massaged my limbs with my hand, to comfort that very body. As I, Sāriputta, massaged my limbs with my hand, the hairs, rotten at their roots, fell from my body, due to that very little food. But there are, Sāriputta, some ascetics and brahmins who hold such views, who say such things: 'Purity is by food.' They say this: 'We sustain ourselves with mung beans... ...we sustain ourselves with sesame seeds... ...we sustain ourselves with rice grains.' They eat rice grains, they eat rice flour, they drink rice water— they consume various kinds of rice preparations. they rub. I recall, Sāriputta, eating just one grain of rice as food. It might occur to you, Sāriputta, 'Surely that grain of rice was large at that time.' But, Sāriputta, it should not be seen that way. Even then, that grain of rice was just as it is now. As I, Sāriputta, ate just one grain of rice as food, my body reached extreme emaciation. Just as the joints of an eighty-year-old or a ninety-year-old man, so too were my limbs and minor limbs, due to that very little food. Just as a camel's hoof print, so too was my posterior, due to that very little food. Just as a string of beads, so too was my backbone, protruding and receding, due to that very little food. Just as the rafters of an old house are dilapidated and broken, so too were my ribs, dilapidated and broken, due to that very little food. Just as in a deep well, the water-stars are seen deep down and sunken, so too were my eye-pupils in their sockets, deep down and sunken, due to that very little food. Just as a bitter gourd, cut while raw, is shriveled and withered by wind and sun, so too was the skin of my head, shriveled and withered, due to that very little food. When I, Sāriputta, would touch my belly skin, I would grasp my backbone instead; when I would touch my backbone, I would grasp my belly skin instead. So much so, Sāriputta, was my belly skin clinging to my backbone, due to that very little food. When I, Sāriputta, would want to pass stool or urine, I would fall over right there, headfirst, due to that very little food. When I, Sāriputta, would try to comfort that body, I would stroke my limbs with my hand. As I, Sāriputta, would stroke my limbs with my hand, hairs with rotten roots would fall from my body, due to that very little food. Thus Indeed, Sariputta, by that posture, by that practice, by that difficult asceticism, I did not attain a superhuman state, a distinction of noble knowledge and vision. For what reason? Because of not having attained this noble wisdom, which noble wisdom, when attained, is noble, leading out, it leads one who practices it to the complete destruction of suffering. 160. There are, Sariputta, some ascetics and brahmins who speak thus, who hold this view: ‘Purity is through wandering on.’ But that wandering on, Sariputta, is not easy to find, which I have not wandered on before through this long journey, except among the Suddhāvāsa gods. If I, Sariputta, were to wander on among the Suddhāvāsa gods, I would not return to this world again. There are, Sariputta, some ascetics and brahmins who speak thus, who hold this view: ‘Purity is through rebirth.’ But that rebirth, Sariputta, is not easy to find, which I have not been reborn into before through this long journey, except among the Suddhāvāsa gods. If I, Sariputta, were to be reborn among the Suddhāvāsa gods, I would not return to this world again. There are, Sariputta, some ascetics and brahmins who speak thus, who hold this view: ‘Purity is through dwelling.’ But that dwelling, Sariputta, is not easy to find, which I have not dwelt in before through this long journey, except among the Suddhāvāsa gods. If I, Sariputta, were to dwell among the Suddhāvāsa gods, I would not return to this world again. There are, Sariputta, some ascetics and brahmins who speak thus, who hold this view: ‘Purity is through sacrifice.’ But that sacrifice, Sariputta, is not easy to find, which I have not sacrificed before through this long journey, and that, too, as a king, an anointed warrior, or as a great wealthy brahmin. There are, Sariputta, some ascetics and brahmins who speak thus, who hold this view: ‘Purity is through tending the sacred fire.’ But that is not So, Sāriputta, a fire easy to kindle, which I had not previously attended to for this long time, whether by a king, a consecrated warrior, or a wealthy brahmin. 161. There are, Sāriputta, some ascetics and brahmins who speak thus, who hold such a view: ‘As long as this good person is young, youthful, with jet-black hair, endowed with the prime of youth, in the first stage of life, just so long is he endowed with supreme wisdom and skill. But when this good person is old, aged, decrepit, has passed his prime, reached the end of his years, eighty, or ninety, or a hundred years old by birth, then he declines from that wisdom and skill.’ But this, Sāriputta, should not be seen thus. I, Sāriputta, am now old, aged, decrepit, have passed my prime, reached the end of my years; my age is eighty. Suppose, Sāriputta, I had four disciples who lived for a hundred years, who were a hundred years old, endowed with supreme mindfulness, and supreme swiftness, and supreme steadfastness, and supreme wisdom and skill. Just as, Sāriputta, a strong-bowed archer, trained, skilled, practiced, could easily and effortlessly shoot across a palm-tree's shadow, so would they be exceedingly mindful, exceedingly swift, exceedingly steadfast, endowed with supreme wisdom and skill. They would question me about the four foundations of mindfulness, taking up one by one; and I, being questioned, would answer them; and they would remember my answers as they were answered; and they would not question me a second time further. Apart from eating, drinking, chewing, tasting, apart from urinating and defecating, apart from dispelling sleep and weariness, the Tathāgata's teaching of the Dhamma would not be exhausted, Sāriputta; the Tathāgata's exposition of Dhamma-terms would not be exhausted; not exhausted... ...is the Tathagata's ready wit in answering questions. Then those four disciples of mine, living for a hundred years, having a life-span of a hundred years, would pass away after a hundred years. Even if you carry me, Sāriputta, on a bed, there is no change in the Tathagata's ready wisdom. That which, Sāriputta, one speaking rightly would say: 'An undeluded being has arisen in the world for the welfare of many, for the happiness of many,