3.
The First Discourse on the Confluence
1123.
"Just as, monks, where these great rivers flow together and meet, as follows -
the Ganges, the Yamunā, the Aciravatī, the Sarabhū, the Mahī - from there a man might draw up two or three drops of water.
What do you think, monks, which is more -
the two or three drops of water drawn up or the water at the confluence?"
"This indeed, venerable sir, is more, that is to say -
the water at the confluence;
the two or three drops of water drawn up are trifling.
They do not amount to a reckoning, they do not bear comparison, they do not amount to a fraction - compared with the water at the confluence, the two or three drops of water drawn up."
"So too, monks, for a noble disciple, etc.
exertion is to be done."
The third.