English
"Furthermore, great king, water is cool in nature, even so, great king, a yogi, a practitioner, should be endowed with patience, loving-kindness, and compassion towards all beings, wishing their welfare, and sympathetic. This, great king, is the second quality of water to be adopted. "Furthermore, great king, water makes the impure pure, even so, great king, a yogi, a practitioner, should be without disputes everywhere, whether in villages or forests, towards preceptors, towards those like preceptors, towards teachers, towards those like teachers, acting without leaving anything undone. This, great king, is the third quality of water to be adopted. "Furthermore, great king, water is desired by many people, even so, great king, a yogi, a practitioner, should be content with little, satisfied, secluded, withdrawn, constantly desired by all the world. This, great king, is the fourth quality of water to be adopted. "Furthermore, great king, water does not cause harm to anyone, even so, great king, a yogi, a practitioner, should, with body, speech, and mind, avoid causing quarrels, disputes, strife, arguments, emptiness, meditation, and discontent, evil... What should not be done? This, O great king, is the fifth quality of water to be taken. This, O great king, was also spoken by the Blessed One, the God of gods, in the Kaṇha Jātaka – ‘‘‘If you grant me a boon, Sakka, lord of all beings; May no mind or body, on my account, Sakka, of anyone; Ever be harmed, this, Sakka, is the boon I choose.’’’ The second question on the quality of water. 3. The question on the quality of fire. 3. ‘‘Venerable Nāgasena, when you say, ‘Five qualities of fire are to be taken,’ what are those five qualities to be taken?’’ ‘‘Just as, O great king, fire burns grass, wood, branches, and leaves, even so, O great king, by the yogi, the practitioner of yoga, all those defilements, internal or external, experiencing desirable and undesirable objects, all of them should be burned by the fire of wisdom. This, O great king, is the first quality of fire to be taken. ‘‘Furthermore, O great king, fire is merciless and pitiless. Even so, O great king, by the yogi, the practitioner of yoga, no compassion or pity should be shown towards any defilements. This, O great king, is the second quality of fire to be taken. ‘‘Furthermore, O great king, fire repels cold. Even so, O great king, by the yogi, the practitioner of yoga, having generated the burning energy of effort, defilements should be repelled. This, O great king, is the third quality of fire to be taken. ‘‘Furthermore, O great king, fire, free from favor and aversion, generates heat. Even so, O great king, by the yogi, the practitioner of yoga, one should dwell with a mind like fire, free from favor and aversion. This, O great king, is the fourth quality of fire to be taken. ‘‘Furthermore, O great king, fire dispels darkness and reveals light. Even so, O great king, by the yogi, the practitioner of yoga, having dispelled the darkness of ignorance, the light of wisdom should be revealed. This, O great king, is the fifth quality of fire to be taken. This, O great king, was also spoken by the Blessed One, the God of gods, when advising his own son Rāhula. by him – 'Develop a meditation like fire, Rahula, for when you develop a meditation like fire, Rahula, will arisen pleasant and unpleasant contacts not overwhelm your mind?' The third question on the element of fire. 4. The Question on the Element of Wind 4. "Venerable Nagasena, when you say, 'Five qualities of wind should be adopted,' what are those five qualities that should be adopted?" "Just as, great king, the wind blows through a grove of beautifully blooming trees, even so, great king, the yogi, the practitioner, should delight in the grove of objects blooming with the excellent flowers of liberation. This, great king, is the first quality of wind to be adopted. "Furthermore, great king, the wind churns the groups of trees and plants on the earth, even so, great king, the yogi, the practitioner, having entered the forest (of meditation), contemplating formations, should churn up the defilements. This, great king, is the second quality of wind to be adopted. "Furthermore, great king, the wind moves in the sky, even so, great king, the yogi, the practitioner, should direct their mind towards the supramundane states. This, great king, is the third quality of wind to be adopted. "Furthermore, great king, the wind experiences scents, even so, great king, the yogi, the practitioner, should experience the fragrant scent of their own excellent virtue. This, great king, is the fourth quality of wind to be adopted. "Furthermore, great king, the wind is unattached, dwelling without a home, even so, great king, the yogi, the practitioner, should be unattached, homeless, without intimacy, liberated everywhere. This, great king, is the fifth quality of wind to be adopted. And this, great king, was spoken by the Blessed One, the God of gods, in the Sutta Nipāta – '''From intimacy, fear arises, from a home, dust (defilement) arises; without a home, without intimacy, this indeed is the vision of the sage.''' The fourth question on the element of wind. 5. The Question on the Element of Mountain 5. "Venerable Nagasena, 'mountain... "You say that five qualities of a mountain should be taken, what are those five qualities that should be taken?" "Just as, great king, a mountain is unmoving, unshaken, unperturbed, even so, great king, by the yogi, the practitioner, in honor and dishonor, in respect and disrespect, in fame and infamy, in blame and praise, in pleasure and pain, in desirable and undesirable things, everywhere, in forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and mental objects that incite passion, one should not be impassioned; in things that incite hatred, one should not be hateful; in things that incite delusion, one should not be deluded; one should not tremble, one should not waver; one should be unmoving like a mountain. This, great king, is the first quality of a mountain that should be taken. And this, great king, was spoken by the Blessed One, the God of gods – ‘As a solid rock, Is not stirred by the wind; So in blame and praise, The wise are not moved.’ Again, great king, a mountain is firm, not mixed with anything; even so, great king, by the yogi, the practitioner, one should be firm, unmixed, not making association with anyone. This, great king, is the second quality of a mountain that should be taken. And this, great king, was spoken by the Blessed One, the God of gods – ‘Unassociated with householders, And with the homeless, both; Wandering without abode, with few wishes, Him I call a brahmin.’ Again, great king, on a mountain, seeds do not sprout; even so, great king, by the yogi, the practitioner, defilements should not be allowed to sprout in one's own mind. This, great king, is the third quality of a mountain that should be taken. And this, great king, was spoken by the Elder Subhūti – ‘When a mind associated with passion, Arises in me; I myself reflect on it, And alone, I tame it. ‘You are impassioned by things that incite passion, And hateful by things that incite hatred; You are deluded by things that incite delusion... and from delusion, depart from the forest, you! “‘This is the dwelling of the pure, of the stainless ascetics; Do not defile the pure, depart from the forest, you!’” “And again, great king, a mountain is exceedingly high; just so, great king, a yogi, a practitioner of yoga, should be exceedingly high in wisdom. This, great king, is the fourth quality of a mountain to be taken. And this, great king, was spoken by the Exalted One, the God of gods: “‘When the wise one dispels heedlessness with heedfulness, Having ascended the palace of wisdom, sorrowless, he beholds the sorrowing folk; Like one on a mountain, he, the wise, looks upon the foolish on the ground.’ “And again, great king, a mountain is neither elevated nor depressed; just so, great king, a yogi, a practitioner of yoga, should not engage in elevation or depression. This, great king, is the fifth quality of a mountain to be taken. And this, great king, was spoken by the laywoman Cūḷasubhaddā, praising her own ascetics: “‘The world is elevated by gain, and depressed by loss; Equal in gain and loss, such are my ascetics.’” The Fifth Question on the Qualities of a Mountain. 6. The Question on the Qualities of Space 6. “Venerable Nāgasena, when you say, ‘Five qualities of space are to be taken,’ which are those five qualities to be taken?” “Just as, great king, space is entirely ungraspable; just so, great king, a yogi, a practitioner of yoga, should be entirely ungraspable by defilements. This, great king, is the first quality of space to be taken. “And again, great king, space is traversed by sages, ascetics, beings, and flocks of birds; just so, great king, a yogi, a practitioner of yoga, should cause his mind to traverse the formations as ‘impermanent, suffering, and non-self.’ This, great king, is the second quality of space to be taken. “And again, great king, space is terrifying; just so, great king, a yogi, a practitioner of yoga, should cause his mind to tremble at all rebirths and connections to existence, and the enjoyment should not be done. This, O great king, is the third quality of space to be taken. Furthermore, O great king, space is endless, immeasurable, unquantifiable. Just so, O great king, the yogi, the practitioner, should be of endless virtue, of immeasurable wisdom. This, O great king, is the fourth quality of space to be taken. Furthermore, O great king, space is unattached, unentangled, unsupported, unhindered. Just so, O great king, the yogi, the practitioner, should be unattached in family, in company, in gains, in dwellings, in hindrances, in requisites, and in all defilements, everywhere. He should be unentangled, unsupported, unhindered. This, O great king,