English
There he might see a large sāla sapling, straight, young, without knots. He might cut it at the root; having cut it at the root, he might cut it at the top; having cut it at the top, he might thoroughly clean off the branches and leaves; having thoroughly cleaned off the branches and leaves, he might plane it with axes; having planed it with axes, he might plane it with adzes; having planed it with adzes, he might smooth it with a scraper; having smoothed it with a scraper, he might polish it with a stone ball; having polished it with a stone ball, he might launch it into the river. “What do you think, Sāḷha, would that man be capable of crossing the river?” “No, venerable sir.” “For what reason?” “Because, venerable sir, that sāla sapling is well-prepared externally but impure internally. It is to be expected that the sāla sapling will not sink, the man will not fall into misfortune and ruin.” “Even so, Sāḷha, those ascetics and brahmins who preach self-mortification, who are devoted to self-mortification, who are attached to self-mortification, they are incapable of crossing the flood. And those ascetics and brahmins, Sāḷha, whose bodily conduct is impure, whose verbal conduct is impure, whose mental conduct is impure, whose livelihood is impure, they are incapable of knowing and seeing, of supreme enlightenment. But those ascetics and brahmins, Sāḷha, who do not preach self-mortification, who are not devoted to self-mortification, who are not attached to self-mortification, they are capable of crossing the flood. And those ascetics and brahmins, Sāḷha, whose bodily conduct is pure, whose verbal conduct is pure, whose mental conduct is pure, whose livelihood is pure, they are capable of knowing and seeing, of supreme enlightenment. Just as, Sāḷha, a man wishing to cross a river might take a sharp axe and enter a forest. There he might see a large sāla sapling, straight, fresh, without knots. He would cut it at the root; having cut it at the root, he would cut it at the top; having cut it at the top, he would thoroughly clean off the branches and leaves; having thoroughly cleaned off the branches and leaves, he would trim it with axes; having trimmed it with axes, he would trim it with adzes; having trimmed it with adzes, he would take a gouge and thoroughly clean out the inside; having thoroughly cleaned out the inside, he would smooth it with a scraper; having smoothed it with a scraper, he would rub it with a stone; having rubbed it with a stone, he would make a boat; having made a boat, he would fasten a rudder; having fastened a rudder, he would launch it into the river. What do you think, Sāḷha, would that man be capable of crossing the river?” “Yes, venerable sir.” “For what reason?” “Because, venerable sir, that sāla sapling is well-prepared externally, thoroughly purified internally, made into a boat, with a rudder fastened. It is to be expected that ‘the boat will not sink, the man will easily will go to the other shore. “Even so, Sāḷha, those ascetics and brahmins who are not speakers of asceticism and abhorrence, who are not devoted to asceticism and abhorrence, who are not attached to asceticism and abhorrence, they are capable of crossing the flood. And those, Sāḷha, ascetics and brahmins whose bodily conduct is purified, whose verbal conduct is purified, whose mental conduct is purified, whose livelihood is purified, they are capable of knowledge and vision, of unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. Just as, Sāḷha, a warrior may know many feats of archery; yet he is worthy of the king, fit for the king, he is counted as the king’s very limb, by three qualities. Which three? He shoots far, he hits the mark, and he pierces a great body. “Just as, Sāḷha, a warrior shoots far; even so, Sāḷha, the noble disciple has right concentration. A noble disciple with right concentration, Sāḷha, whatever form there is, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near, all form, ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self’— thus he sees this as it really is with right wisdom. Whatever feeling there is… whatever perception there is… whatever volitional formations there are… whatever consciousness there is, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near, all consciousness, ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self’— thus he sees this as it really is with right wisdom. “Just as, Sāḷha, a warrior hits the mark; even so, Sāḷha, the noble disciple has right view. A noble disciple with right view, Sāḷha, ‘This is suffering’— he understands as it really is… ‘This is the path leading to the cessation of suffering’— he understands as it really is. “Just as, Sāḷha, a warrior pierces a great body; even so, Sāḷha, the noble disciple has right liberation. A noble disciple with right liberation, Sāḷha, the great mass of ignorance "he tears apart." The Sixth. 7. The Discourse to Queen Mallikā At one time the Blessed One was dwelling in Savatthi, in Jeta's Grove, in Anathapindika's monastery. Then indeed Queen Mallikā approached the Blessed One; having approached, and having paid homage to the Blessed One, she sat down to one side. As she sat to one side, Queen Mallikā said this to the Blessed One – "What, venerable sir, is the reason, what is the cause, by which some woman here is ugly, ill-favored, and repulsive to look at; and is poor, of little power, of little wealth, and of little influence? "What again, venerable sir, is the reason, what is the cause, by which some woman here is ugly, ill-favored, and repulsive to look at; but is rich, of great wealth, of great possessions, and of great influence? "What, venerable sir, is the reason, what is the cause, by which some woman here is beautiful, lovely, charming, endowed with supreme beauty of complexion; but is poor, of little power, of little wealth, and of little influence? "What again, venerable sir, is the reason, what is the cause, by which some woman here is beautiful, lovely, charming, endowed with supreme beauty of complexion; and is rich, of great wealth, of great possessions, and of great influence?" "Here, Mallikā, some woman is angry and full of vexation. Even when spoken to a little, she gets angry, she is displeased, she becomes hostile, she shows resentment, she displays anger, ill-will, and displeasure. She is not a giver to ascetics or brahmins of food, drink, clothing, vehicles, garlands, perfumes, ointments, beds, dwellings, or lamps. Furthermore, she is envious; at the gains, honors, respect, reverence, homage, and worship of others, she envies, she is malicious, she harbors envy. If, having passed away from that state, she comes to this state (is reborn as a human), wherever she is reborn, she is ugly, is ugly, ill-favored, and unsightly to behold; and she is poor, of little wealth, of little property, and of little influence. “Here, Mallikā, a certain woman is angry, and full of vexation. Even if spoken to a little, she abuses, gets angry, is hostile, and shows resentment, and she manifests anger, hatred, and displeasure. She is a giver to recluses or brahmins of food, drink, clothing, vehicles, garlands, perfumes, ointments, beds, dwellings, and lamps. But she is not envious; regarding the gains, honor, respect, reverence, homage, and worship of others, she does not envy, she does not feel malice, she does not bind herself with envy. If she, departing from that state, comes to this state of being, wherever she is reborn, she is ugly, ill-favored, and unsightly to behold; but she is rich, of great wealth, of great property, and of great influence. “Here, Mallikā, a certain woman is not angry, and not full of vexation. Even if spoken to a lot, she does not abuse, does not get angry, is not hostile, does not show resentment, and does not manifest anger, hatred, or displeasure. She is not a giver to recluses or brahmins of food, drink, clothing, vehicles, garlands, perfumes, ointments, beds, dwellings, or lamps. But she is envious; regarding the gains, honor, respect, reverence, homage, and worship of others, she envies, she feels malice, she binds herself with envy. If she, departing from that state, comes to this state of being, wherever she is reborn, she is beautiful, attractive, pleasing, and endowed with supreme beauty of complexion; but she is poor, of little wealth, of little property, and of little influence. “Here, Mallikā, a certain woman is not angry, and not full of vexation. Even if spoken to a lot, she does not abuse, does not get angry, is not hostile, does not show resentment, and does not manifest anger, hatred, or displeasure. She is a giver to recluses or brahmins of food, drink, clothing, vehicles, garlands, perfumes, ointments, beds, dwellings, and lamps. And she is not envious; regarding the gains, honor, respect, In honors, salutations, offerings, she does not envy, she does not become malicious, she does not harbor envy. If she, having passed away from there, comes to this state of womanhood, wherever she is reborn, she is beautiful, lovely to behold, charming, endowed with supreme beauty of complexion; and she is rich, with great wealth, with great possessions, and of great influence. "This, Mallikā, is the reason, this is the cause, by which some woman here is ill-favored, ugly, very unpleasant to behold; and is poor, with little property, with few possessions, and of little influence. But this, Mallikā, is the reason, this is the cause, by which some woman here is ill-favored, ugly, very unpleasant to behold; and is rich, with great wealth, with great possessions, and of great influence. This, Mallikā, is the reason, this is the cause, by which some woman here is beautiful, lovely to behold, charming, endowed with supreme beauty of complexion; and is poor, with little property, with few possessions, and of little influence. But this, Mallikā, is the reason, this is the cause,