English
they touch green things, they touch cow dung, they touch a tortoise, they step on a ploughshare, sesame... They touch urine, they eat urine-soaked sesame, they anoint with urine-soaked oil, they chew urine-soaked tooth-sticks, they bathe with urine-soaked clay, they wear urine-soaked robes, they wrap themselves with urine-soaked wraps. These recluses and brahmins are purified by urine. They achieve purity, purification, complete purification, liberation, complete liberation, ultimate liberation through urine. A brahmin does not declare purity from anything else. In what is seen, heard, in virtue, in vows, or in what is perceived. A brahmin does not declare purity by what is seen, nor purity by what is heard, nor purity by virtue, nor purity by vows, nor purity by what is perceived; he does not speak, does not declare, does not illuminate, does not express – a brahmin does not declare purity from anything else, whether in what is seen, heard, virtue, vows, or what is perceived. "Untainted by merit and demerit." Merit is called any wholesome volitional formation pertaining to the three realms. Demerit is called all unwholesome things. When volitional formations of merit, volitional formations of demerit, and imperturbable volitional formations are abandoned, uprooted, made like a palm stump, brought to non-existence, not liable to arise in the future; to that extent, one is not stained, not defiled, not tainted by merit and demerit, untainted, undefiled, unbesmirched, gone forth, released, completely liberated, disjoined, dwelling with an unbounded mind – "Untainted by merit and demerit." "Having abandoned self, not making anything here." "Having abandoned self" means having abandoned self-view. "Having abandoned self" means having abandoned grasping. "Having abandoned self" means that which is grasped, clung to, adhered to, settled upon, inclined towards, by way of craving or by way of views – all that is given up, vomited forth, released, abandoned, relinquished. "Not making anything here" means not making, not generating, not producing, not bringing forth, not causing to arise, volitional formations of merit, or volitional formations of demerit, or imperturbable volitional formations – "Having abandoned self, not making anything here." Therefore the Blessed One said – "A brahmin is not purified by anything else" He does not say, "In what is seen, heard, virtuous, or thought," "He is unattached to merit and demerit, abandoning self, not acting here." 26. Abandoning the former, they cling to the latter, Following craving, they do not cross the entanglement; They grasp and they let go, Like a monkey letting go of a branch and grasping another. "Abandoning the former, they cling to the latter." Abandoning the former teacher, they cling to another teacher; abandoning the former teaching, they cling to another teaching; abandoning the former group, they cling to another group; abandoning the former view, they cling to another view; abandoning the former practice, they cling to another practice; abandoning the former path, they cling to another path—they are attached, clinging, approached, settled, resolved—"abandoning the former, they cling to the latter." "Following craving, they do not cross the entanglement." Craving is called taṇhā. That which is lust, attachment... greed, avarice, a root of unwholesomeness. "Following craving" means following craving, gone after craving, pervaded by craving, fallen into craving, overcome, with minds seized by it. "They do not cross the entanglement" means they do not cross, do not overcome, do not pass over, do not transcend, do not go beyond the entanglement of lust, the entanglement of hatred, the entanglement of delusion, the entanglement of conceit, the entanglement of views, the entanglement of defilements, the entanglement of misconduct—"following craving, they do not cross the entanglement." "They grasp and they let go." They grasp a teacher, and letting go of that, they grasp another teacher; they grasp a teaching, and letting go of that, they grasp another teaching; they grasp a group, and letting go of that, they grasp another group; they grasp a view, and letting go of that, they grasp another view; they grasp a practice, and letting go of that, they grasp another practice; they grasp a path, and letting go of that, they grasp another path; they grasp and they let go, they take up and they cast away—"they grasp and they let go." "Like a monkey letting go of a branch and grasping another." Just as a monkey, wandering in the forest, in the wilderness, grasps a branch, leaves one branch and grasps another. Even so, ordinary recluses and brahmins, holding various views, grasp and release, take up and cast away— like a monkey, releasing a branch, grasps another. Therefore, the Blessed One said: “Abandoning the former, they cling to the latter; those pursuing agitation do not cross the entanglement. They grasp and cast away, like a monkey, releasing a branch, grasps another.” 27. A being, having himself undertaken vows, goes up and down, a being entangled in perceptions. But the wise one, having understood the Dhamma with the Vedas, does not go up and down, the one of vast wisdom. “A being, having himself undertaken vows”— “having himself undertaken” means having undertaken by himself. “Vows” means having taken up, having undertaken, having grasped, having embraced, having clung to, having become fixated on elephant vows, or horse vows, or cow vows, or dog vows, or crow vows, or Vāsudeva vows, or Baladeva vows, or Puṇṇabhadda vows, or Maṇibhadda vows, or fire vows, or Nāga vows, or Supaṇṇa vows, or Yakkha vows, or Asura vows, or… vows of directions. “A being” means a sentient being, a person… a human being— “a being, having himself undertaken vows.” “Goes up and down, a being entangled in perceptions”— he goes from teacher to teacher; he goes from Dhamma exposition to Dhamma exposition; he goes from group to group; he goes from view to view; he goes from practice to practice; he goes from path to path. “A being entangled in perceptions” means a being entangled, attached, clinging, stuck, fastened, bound by perception of sensual desire, by perception of ill-will, by perception of harm, by perception of views. Just as goods are entangled, attached, clinging, stuck, fastened, bound to a wall-peg or an elephant's tusk, even so, a being is entangled, attached, clinging, stuck, fastened, bound by perception of sensual desire, by perception of ill-will, by perception of harm, by perception of views— “goes up and down, a being entangled in perceptions.” “But the wise one, having understood the Dhamma with the Vedas”— “the wise one” means the wise one, the one who has attained knowledge, the knowing one, the discerning one, the intelligent one. “With the Vedas” means the Vedas are called knowledge, wisdom, the faculty of wisdom, wisdom in the four paths. The power of investigation of phenomena as an enlightenment factor, investigation, insight, right view. By these knowledges, one has gone to the end, reached the end of birth, aging, and death, gone to the limit, reached the limit, gone to the boundary, reached the boundary, gone to the cessation, reached the cessation, gone to protection, reached protection, gone to shelter, reached shelter, gone to refuge, reached refuge, gone to fearlessness, reached fearlessness, gone to the unshakeable, reached the unshakeable, gone to the deathless, reached the deathless, gone to Nibbāna, reached Nibbāna. One who has gone to the end of feelings is a knower of the Vedas, or one who has gone to the end by knowledges is a knower of the Vedas, or one who knows the seven phenomena is a knower of the Vedas. Wrong view of self is known, doubt is known, grasping at rites and rituals is known, lust is known, hatred is known, delusion is known, conceit is known. Known to him are evil, unwholesome phenomena, defiling, leading to renewed existence, accompanied by suffering, with painful results, leading to birth, aging, and death in the future. Having analyzed all knowledges, which exist here for ascetics and brahmins; Dispassionate towards all feelings, having transcended all knowledge, he is called a knower of the Vedas. And the wise one, having understood the Dhamma through knowledges. Having understood, having fully understood the Dhamma. "All formations are impermanent" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "All formations are suffering" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "All phenomena are non-self" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "Ignorance is the condition for formations" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "Formations is the condition for consciousness" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "Consciousness is the condition for name-and-form" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "Name-and-form is the condition for the six sense bases" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "The six sense bases are the condition for contact" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "Contact is the condition for feeling" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "Feeling is the condition for craving" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "Craving is the condition for clinging" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "Clinging is the condition for becoming" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "Becoming is the condition for birth" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "Birth is the condition for aging and death" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "With the cessation of ignorance, formations cease" - having understood, having fully understood this Dhamma; "With the cessation of formations, consciousness ceases" -