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B020101Pārājikakaṇḍa aṭṭhakathā(grave sins commentary)

English

or rich and wealthy due to the outflow of non-greed. ‘Gone to a bad destination’ means gone to a bad destination, or poor and lacking food and drink due to the outflow of greed. ‘According to their deeds’ means gone to whatever deed they have accumulated. There, by the former, like 'passing away', the function of the divine eye was stated; but by this word, the function of the knowledge of beings' deeds. And of that knowledge, this is the sequence of its arising – He, below, extending light towards hell, sees the beings in hell experiencing great suffering. That seeing is indeed the function of the divine eye. He thus considers in mind: 'What deed, pray, having done, do these beings experience this suffering?' Then for him, 'Having done this deed by name,' that knowledge, having that deed as its object, arises. Similarly, above, extending light towards the world of devas, in the Nandanavana, Missakavana, Phārusakavana, and so on, he sees beings experiencing great prosperity. That seeing too is indeed the function of the divine eye. He thus considers in mind: 'What deed, pray, having done, do these beings experience this prosperity?' Then for him, 'Having done this deed by name,' that knowledge, having that deed as its object, arises. This is called the knowledge of beings' deeds. For this, there is no separate preparatory work. Just as for this, so also for the knowledge of the future. For these are based on the divine eye, and are accomplished together with the divine eye. In (the words) like 'by bodily misconduct': 'badly conducted,' or 'corrupted conduct,' because defilements make it foul, is misconduct. Misconduct by body, or misconduct arisen from the body, is bodily misconduct. Similarly, verbal and mental misconducts should also be understood. 'Endowed with' means being possessed of. 'Revilers of the Noble Ones' means of the Noble Ones who are Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, and Buddha's disciples, even of lay stream-enterers, having become desirous of their harm, either by a final accusation, or by disparagement of their qualities, are revilers; it is said they are abusers, censurers. There, one who says, 'These have no ascetic practice, they are not ascetics,' reviles by a final accusation. One who says, 'These have no jhāna, or liberation, or path, or fruit,' should be understood as reviling by disparagement of their qualities. And he may revile knowing or not knowing, in both ways it is reviling the Noble Ones. is. A heavy deed, an obstruction to heaven, and an obstruction to the path, but it is curable. To illustrate its manifestation, they cite this story – “Once upon a time, in a certain village, an elder monk and a young monk were going for alms. Right at the first house, they received a ladleful of hot gruel. The elder monk had a stomach ailment. He thought: ‘This gruel is suitable for me; I will drink it before it gets cold.’ So he sat down on a log of wood brought by people for the threshold, and drank it. The other monk was disgusted by him: ‘This old man, being so greedy, has made us feel ashamed!’ The elder monk, after going for alms in the village, went to the monastery and said to the young monk: ‘Do you have, friend, a footing in this Teaching?’ ‘Yes, Venerable Sir, I am a Stream-Enterer.’ ‘Then, friend, do not strive for the higher paths; you have slandered one whose defilements are destroyed.’ He apologized to him. Then it became normal for him.” Therefore, whoever else slanders an Arahant, they should go and if the other is older than oneself, they should apologize, saying: “I said such and such to the Venerable One; please forgive me.” If the other is younger, they should bow down, sit on their haunches, raise their hands in añjali, and apologize, saying: “Venerable Sir, I said such and such to you; please forgive me.” If the other does not forgive, or has gone to another direction, they should go to the monks residing in that monastery, and if one is older than oneself, while standing, if one is younger, sitting on their haunches, raising their hands in añjali, they should apologize, saying: “Venerable Sirs, I said such and such to the Venerable so-and-so; may that Venerable One forgive me.” If the other has passed away, they should go to the place of their final passing, even to the charnel ground, and apologize. When this is done, it is not an obstruction to heaven or an obstruction to the path; it becomes normal. “Of wrong view” means of perverted vision. “Undertaking deeds of wrong view” means wrongly who, by means of wrong view, have undertaken various deeds, and who also encourage others in bodily actions and so on, rooted in wrong view. Here, by the inclusion of verbal misconduct, reproaching noble ones, and by the inclusion of mental misconduct, wrong view, are also encompassed. But the repetition of these two is to show their great blameworthiness. For reproaching noble ones is greatly blameworthy, similar to an anantarīya karma. As it is said: “Just as, Sāriputta, a bhikkhu endowed with virtue, endowed with concentration, endowed with wisdom, might realize something in this very life; even so, Sāriputta, I say that without abandoning that speech, without abandoning that thought, without relinquishing that view, he is cast down as if brought, thus into hell” (M.N. 1.149). And there is nothing more greatly blameworthy than wrong view. As it is said: “I do not see, bhikkhus, any other single thing so greatly blameworthy as this, wrong view. Wrong view is the highest of faults, bhikkhus” (A.N. 1.310). “At the breaking up of the body” means the relinquishing of the grasped aggregates. “After death” means the grasping of the aggregates that arise immediately thereafter. Or, “at the breaking up of the body” means the cutting off of the life faculty. “After death” means after the death-consciousness. “Apāya” (woeful state) and so on, all these are synonyms for hell. For hell is an apāya because it is devoid of the ways that are conducive to heaven and liberation, which are considered meritorious, or because there is no way to happiness. “Duggati” (bad destination) is a destination, a refuge of suffering; or it is a destination produced by evil deeds, due to the prevalence of defilements. “Vinipāta” (state of ruin) is where evildoers fall helplessly; or it is where those whose limbs and minor parts are being torn apart fall, thus it is a vinipāta. “Niraya” (hell) is where there is no way to anything called delight. Alternatively, by the inclusion of apāya, it indicates the animal realm. For the animal realm is an apāya, being devoid of a good destination; but it is not a duggati, because powerful nāga kings and others can be born there. By the inclusion of duggati, it indicates the realm of hungry ghosts. For that is both an apāya and a duggati. And because it is devoid of a good destination, and is a destination of suffering; But it is not a downfall like that of the Asuras, because they do not fall down. For even the mansions of powerful hungry ghosts arise. By the term 'downfall' (vinipāta), the Asura realm is indicated. For by the meaning stated, it is both a woeful state and a bad destination, and because it falls away from all accumulations, it is called a downfall. By the term 'hell' (niraya), hell itself, of many kinds such as Avīci and others, is indicated. 'Upapannā' means 'gone to', the intention is 'reborn there'. The bright side should be understood by the opposite of what has been said. But this is the distinction – here, by the term 'good destination' (sugati), the human destination is also included. By the term 'heaven' (sagga), only the divine destination is meant. There, a beautiful destination is a 'sugati'. That which is excellent with respect to forms and other objects is 'sagga'. All of it, in the sense of decaying and crumbling, is 'world' (loka) – this is the meaning of the word. 'Knowledge' (vijjā) is the knowledge of the divine eye. 'Ignorance' (avijjā) is the ignorance that conceals the passing away and rebirth of beings. The rest is in the same manner as stated. This is the distinction here – just as in the discourse on past lives it is said: "having shattered the egg-shell of ignorance, which conceals the aggregates lived in past lives, with the beak-like mouth of the knowledge of recollection of past lives"; similarly here it should be said: "having shattered the egg-shell of ignorance, which conceals passing away and rebirth, with the beak-like mouth of the knowledge of passing away and rebirth." The discourse on the knowledge of the divine eye is concluded. Discourse on the Knowledge of the Destruction of Taints 14. "With his mind thus concentrated" – here, the fourth jhāna consciousness, which is the basis for insight, should be understood. "For the knowledge of the destruction of taints" means for the knowledge of the path of Arahantship. For the path of Arahantship is called the destruction of taints because it destroys the taints. And that knowledge is included therein. "I directed my mind" means I brought forth the insight consciousness. So, in "This is suffering" and so on, "This much is suffering, no more than this," I fully understood, knew, and penetrated the entire truth of suffering as it is, by realizing its intrinsic characteristic. And the craving that produces that suffering, "This is the origin of suffering" – both of these, whatever place having reached, ceases, that non-occurrence of theirs, Nibbāna, "this is the cessation of suffering," and the Noble Path leading to it, "this is the path leading to the cessation of suffering," I fully understood, knew, penetrated, by direct comprehension of their essential characteristics, as they really are. This is the meaning to be understood. Having thus shown the truths in their essence, now, showing them by way of defilements, indirectly, he said, "these are the taints," and so on. "For me, thus knowing, thus seeing" means for me, thus knowing, thus seeing,