Saṃyutta Nikāya
3. Khandha Vagga
24. Diṭṭhi Saṃyutta
1. Sot'āpatti Vagga
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
3. The Book Called the Khandhā-Vagga
Containing Kindred Sayings on the Elements of Sensory Existence and other Subjects
24. Kindred Sayings on Views
1. On Stream-Winning
Sutta 8
Mahā Diṭṭhi Suttaṃ
By the (Great) Heresy
Translated by F. L. Woodward
Edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved
For details see Terms of Use.
[1] Thus have I heard:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī
at the Jeta Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
And there the Exalted One addressed the brethren, saying:
"Brethren!"
"Master!" responded those brethren.
The Exalted One said:
"There being what, brethren,
by clinging to what,
by depending upon what
does such a view as this arise:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.[1]
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.[2]
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.[3]
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes [171] of mankind.[4]
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.[5]
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,[6]
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:[7]
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,[8]
seven ways of birth from the knot.[9]
There are seven sorts of devas,[10]
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins[11]
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting[12] it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted[13] to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls[14] as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds"?
[172] "For us, lord, things have the Exalted One as their root
their guide,
their resort.
Well indeed if the meaning of these words
should show itself in the Exalted One."
■
"There being a body, brethren,
by clinging to body,
depending on body,
arises such a view as this:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'
There being feeling, brethren,
by clinging to feeling,
depending on feeling,
arises such a view as this:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'
There being perception, brethren,
by clinging to perception,
depending on perception,
arises such a view as this:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'
There being the activities, brethren,
by clinging to the activities,
depending on the activities,
arises such a view as this:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'
There being consciousness, brethren,
by clinging to consciousness,
depending on consciousness,
arises such a view as this:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'
■
As to that, what think ye, brethren?
Is body permanent or impermanent?"
"Impermanent, lord."
"That which is impermanent,
is it weal or woe?"
"Woe, lord."
"Impermanent,
woeful,
by nature changeable, -
without clinging to that
can such a view as this arise:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'"
"Surely not, lord."
■
"Is feeling permanent or impermanent?"
"Impermanent, lord."
"That which is impermanent,
is it weal or woe?"
"Woe, lord."
"Impermanent,
woeful,
by nature changeable, -
without clinging to that
can such a view as this arise:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'"
"Surely not, lord."
■
"Is perception permanent or impermanent?"
"Impermanent, lord."
"That which is impermanent,
is it weal or woe?"
"Woe, lord."
"Impermanent,
woeful,
by nature changeable, -
without clinging to that
can such a view as this arise:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'"
"Surely not, lord."
■
"Are the activities permanent or impermanent?"
"Impermanent, lord."
"That which is impermanent,
is it weal or woe?"
"Woe, lord."
"Impermanent,
woeful,
by nature changeable, -
without clinging to that
can such a view as this arise:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'"
"Surely not, lord."
■
"Is consciousness permanent or impermanent?"
"Impermanent, lord."
"That which is impermanent,
is it weal or woe?"
"Woe, lord."
"Impermanent,
woeful,
by nature changeable, -
without clinging to that
can such a view as this arise:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'"
"Surely not, lord."
■
"Now what is seen,
heard,
sensed,
known,
attained,
sought after,
thought out by mind, -
is that permanent or impermanent?"
"Impermanent, lord."
"That which is impermanent,
is it weal or woe?"
"Woe, lord."
"Impermanent,
woeful,
by nature changeable, -
without clinging to that
can such a view as this arise:
'These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other
weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
What seven?
The elementary substances of earth,
water,
fire,
air:
weal
and woe
and life.
These seven things are neither made
nor caused to be made,
neither created
nor caused to be created,
barren (of results).
Stable as a mountain-peak,
stable as a pillar,
they move not nor change:
they clash not together,
incapable of causing each other weal,
or woe,
or weal and woe alike.
He who with a sharp sword
cuts off a head
thereby robs none of life.
It is just the sword
entering in between
the seven elementary substances.
There are (these) fourteen hundred thousand chief sorts of birth:
sixty hundred,
and again six hundred.
There are five hundred karmas,
five karmas,
and three karmas.
There is a whole karma
and a half karma.
There are sixty-two ways of conduct,
sixty-two periods (in the kalpa),
six classes of mankind.
There are eight stages
(in the life) of a man.
There are forty-nine hundred ways of life,
forty-nine hundred sorts of wanderers,
forty-nine hundred names of nagas.
There are twenty hundred sense-faculties,
thirty hundred purgatories,
six and thirty dust-heaps:
seven wombs of conscious
and seven of unconscious birth,
seven ways of birth from the knot.
There are seven sorts of devas,
seven sorts of men
and seven of goblins
There are seven lakes,
seven knots,
seven great precipices,
seven hundred precipices.
There are seven great dreams,
seven hundred dreams.
There are eighty-four hundred thousand great periods,
wherein both fools and wise,
when they have run,
have fared on,
will make an end of suffering.
Herein it is useless for one to say:
"By this virtue,
by this practice,
by this penance,
or holy living
I shall bring to ripeness
the karma that is yet unripe:"
useless to say:
"This karma that is ripe,
meeting it again and again,
I shall work out to an end."
Useless to say:
"The weal and woe of rebirth
allotted to me
have an end.
There is no waxing or waning of it,
no growing more or less."
Just as when one throws down a ball of thread,
it rolls as far as it unwinds -
even so both fools and wise alike
wander on so far as their weal or woe unwinds.'"
"Surely not, lord."
§
"But when in an Ariyan disciple
doubt as to these six points is put away
when for him doubt as to suffering is put away,
doubt as to the arising of suffering,
as to the ceasing of suffering,
as to the way going to the ceasing of suffering is put away, -
then this Ariyan disciple is called
'Stream-winner,
saved from disaster,
assured,
bound for enlightenment.'"
[1] The view of Pakudha Kaccāyana. D. i, 56; Dialog. i, 74. The view following is ascribed to Makkhali of the Cow-pen. D. i, 54; Dialog. i, 72.
[2] Comy. takes these divisions to be according to the five senses, and again according to thought, word, and deed.
[3] Comy. says word and deed are to be reckoned as one, and thought as a half.
[4] Comy., as in the previous section, says, Under the colour black are included hunters, fishermen, robbers, etc. Under blue, bhikkhus and wanderers. Under red, ascetics of one cloth. Under yellow, naked ascetics. Under white, ājīvaka ascetics. As the view is that of Makkhali, radiant is reserved for the practiscrs of his own precepts.
[5] Comy. 'Tender (baby) stage, playtime, stage of investigation, standing erect, learning, reclusehood, victory, attainment.'
[6] Text has ājīvaka-sate, but Comy. ājīva-.
[7] ? Realms where cosmic dust gathers. Comy. merely says 'dust from hand or foot'
[8] Comy., 'of animals and vegetables and grains, by grafting.'
[9] Text pavudhā (growth period). So Comy., who says 'gaṇṭhikā' (knots). Dīgha text reads paṭuvā, where R.D. has pacuṭa. Both are unintelligible. It may refer to the seven-knotted bamboo staff of the ascetics, said to represent the seven centres or plexuses of the spinal column, awakened in yoga.
[10] Dibbā.
[11] Comy. 'whereas they are countleas.'
[12] Lit. touching. Cf. Pss. Brethren, ver. 783.
[13] Doṇamite, 'ladled out.'
[14] Reading paleti with text and Comy. Dīgha reads phaleti.
