4.

Grouping of the Fours

10. Four persons -

(1) A bad person, one worse than a bad person, a good person, one better than a good person.

(2) An evil one, one more evil than the evil one, a good one, one more good than the good one.

(3) One of bad character, one of worse character than one of bad character, one of good character, one of better character than one of good character.

(4) The blameworthy, the one abounding in faults, the one of little fault, the faultless.

(5) One who understands quickly, one who understands through elaboration, one who needs to be guided, one for whom the word is the maximum.

(6) One with proper discernment, not with fluent discernment; one with fluent discernment, not with proper discernment; one with both proper discernment and fluent discernment; one with neither proper discernment nor fluent discernment.

(7) Four persons who are preachers of the Teaching.

(8) Four persons similar to rain clouds.

(9) Four persons similar to mice.

(10) Four persons similar to mangoes.

(11) Four persons similar to water-pots.

(12) Four persons similar to lakes.

(13) Four persons similar to oxen.

(14) Four persons similar to venomous snakes.

(15) A certain person, without investigating and without scrutinising, praises one who deserves dispraise; a certain person, without investigating and without scrutinising, dispraises one who deserves praise; a certain person, without investigating and without scrutinising, displays confidence in a matter not inspiring confidence; a certain person, without investigating and without scrutinising, displays distrust in a matter inspiring confidence.

(16) A certain person, having investigated and scrutinised, dispraises one who deserves dispraise; a certain person, having investigated and scrutinised, praises one who deserves praise; a certain person, having investigated and scrutinised, displays distrust in a matter not inspiring confidence; a certain person, having investigated and scrutinised, displays confidence in a matter inspiring confidence.

(17) A certain person speaks dispraise of one who deserves dispraise, factual and true, at the right time, but does not speak praise of one who deserves praise, factual and true, at the right time; a certain person speaks praise of one who deserves praise, factual and true, at the right time, but does not speak dispraise of one who deserves dispraise, factual and true, at the right time; a certain person speaks dispraise of one who deserves dispraise, factual and true, at the right time; and speaks praise of one who deserves praise, factual and true, at the right time; a certain person neither speaks dispraise of one who deserves dispraise, factual and true, at the right time, nor speaks praise of one who deserves praise, factual and true, at the right time.

(18) One who lives on the fruit of work but not on the fruit of merit, one who lives on the fruit of merit but not on the fruit of work, one who lives on both the fruit of work and the fruit of merit, one who lives on neither the fruit of work nor the fruit of merit.

(19) Darkness heading for darkness, darkness heading for light, light heading for darkness, light heading for light.

(20) The low to low, the low to high, the high to low, the high to high.

(21) Four persons similar to trees.

(22) One who measures by appearance and is pleased by appearance, one who measures by sound and is pleased by sound.

(23) One who measures by austerity and is pleased by austerity, one who measures by the teaching and is pleased by the teaching.

(24) A certain person is practising for personal welfare, not for the welfare of others; a certain person is practising for the welfare of others, not for personal welfare; a certain person is practising both for personal welfare and for the welfare of others; a certain person is practising neither for personal welfare nor for the welfare of others.

(25) A certain person is self-mortifying, devoted to the pursuit of self-mortification; a certain person is other-mortifying, devoted to the pursuit of mortifying others; a certain person is both self-mortifying, devoted to the pursuit of self-mortification, and other-mortifying, devoted to the pursuit of mortifying others; a certain person is neither self-mortifying nor devoted to the pursuit of self-mortification, nor other-mortifying nor devoted to the pursuit of mortifying others. He, being neither self-mortifying nor other-mortifying, in this very life dwells without hunger, quenched, become cool, experiencing happiness, with a self become divine.

(26) With lust, with hate, with delusion, with conceit.

(27) A certain person is an obtainer of internal serenity of mind, but not an obtainer of insight into phenomena through higher wisdom; a certain person is an obtainer of insight into phenomena through higher wisdom, but not an obtainer of internal serenity of mind; a certain person is both an obtainer of internal serenity of mind and an obtainer of insight into phenomena through higher wisdom; a certain person is neither an obtainer of internal serenity of mind nor an obtainer of insight into phenomena through higher wisdom.

(28) One who goes along with the stream, one who goes against the stream, one of established self, one who has crossed over, gone beyond, the brahmin stands on dry ground.

(29) One of little learning not possessed of learning, one of little learning possessed of learning, one very learned not possessed of learning, one very learned possessed of learning.

(30) The unshakeable ascetic, the lotus ascetic, the white lotus ascetic, the delicate ascetic among ascetics.

A tetrad.