10.
The Discourse on Cunda
176.
Thus have I heard -
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Pāvā in the mango grove of Cunda, the smith's son.
Then Cunda, the smith's son, approached the Blessed One;
having approached, he paid respect to the Blessed One and sat down to one side.
To Cunda, the smith's son, seated to one side, the Blessed One said this:
"Whose purity rites do you approve of, Cunda?"
"The brahmins, venerable sir, of the western lands, carrying water-pots, wearing garlands of moss, tending the fire, descending into water, declare purity rites;
I approve of their purity rites."
"In what way, then, Cunda, do the brahmins of the western lands, carrying water-pots, wearing garlands of moss, tending the fire, descending into water, declare purity rites?" "Here, venerable sir, the brahmins of the western lands, carrying water-pots, wearing garlands of moss, tending the fire, descending into water. They exhort their disciple thus - 'Come, my good man, having risen early in the morning from your bed, you should touch the earth; if you do not touch the earth, you should touch fresh cow-dung; if you do not touch fresh cow-dung, you should touch green grass; if you do not touch green grass, you should tend the fire; if you do not tend the fire, you should pay homage to the sun with joined palms; if you do not pay homage to the sun with joined palms, you should descend into water for the third time in the evening.' Thus indeed, venerable sir, the brahmins of the western lands, carrying water-pots, wearing garlands of moss, tending the fire, descending into water, declare purity rites; I approve of their purity rites."
"In one way, Cunda, the brahmins of the western lands, carrying water-pots, wearing garlands of moss, tending the fire, descending into water, declare purity rites, but in another way is purity in the Noble One's discipline." "In what way, then, venerable sir, is purity in the Noble One's discipline? It would be good, venerable sir, if the Blessed One would expound to me the Teaching in such a way that there is purity in the Noble One's discipline."
"Well then, Cunda, listen, pay close attention; I will speak." "Yes, venerable sir," Cunda, the smith's son, assented to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
"There is, Cunda, threefold impurity by body; there is fourfold impurity by speech; there is threefold impurity by mind.
"And how, Cunda, is there threefold impurity by body? "Here, Cunda, a certain one is a killer of living beings, cruel, with bloody hands, devoted to striking and killing, without compassion for all living beings.
"He is one who takes what is not given. Whatever belongs to another, another's wealth and requisites, whether in the village or in the forest, that which is not given, reckoned a theft, he takes.
"He engages in sexual misconduct. Those women who are protected by the mother, protected by the father, protected by both mother and father, protected by the brother, protected by the sister, protected by relatives, protected by the clan, protected by co-religionists, having an owner, under penalty, even those encircled with a garland of flowers, he commits adultery with such women. Thus, Cunda, there is threefold impurity by body.
"And how, Cunda, is there fourfold impurity by speech? Here, Cunda, a certain one is a liar. Having gone to an assembly, or having gone to a company, or having gone among relatives, or having gone among a guild, or having gone among the royal court, being brought forward and questioned as a witness - 'Come, good man, tell what you know' - he, not knowing, says 'I know,' or knowing, says 'I do not know'; or not seeing, says 'I see,' or seeing, says 'I do not see.' Thus for his own sake, or for another's sake, or for the sake of some material gain, he becomes a conscious speaker of falsehood.
"He speaks divisive speech. Having heard here, he repeats it elsewhere to divide these people, or having heard elsewhere, he repeats it here to divide those people. Thus he is one who divides those who are united, or a supporter of those who are divided, rejoicing in discord, delighting in discord, taking delight in discord, he is a speaker of words that create discord.
"He speaks harsh speech. Whatever speech is rough, harsh, hurtful to others, offensive to others, bordering on wrath, not conducive to concentration, he speaks such speech.
"He engages in idle chatter, speaks at the wrong time, speaks what is not factual, speaks what is unbeneficial, speaks what is not the Teaching, speaks what is not the discipline; he speaks words not worth treasuring, at the wrong time, without reason, without limit, not connected with benefit. Thus, Cunda, there is fourfold impurity by speech.
"And how, Cunda, is there threefold impurity by mind? Here, Cunda, a certain one is covetous. Whatever belongs to another, another's wealth and requisites, he covets - 'Oh, may what belongs to another be mine!'
"He has a mind of ill-will, with corrupt mental intentions - 'May these beings be killed, or bound, or annihilated, or destroyed, or may they not exist!'
"He holds wrong view, has perverted vision - 'There is not what is given, there is not what is sacrificed, there is not what is offered, there is no fruit and result of good and bad actions, there is not this world, there is not the other world, there is not mother, there is not father, there are no spontaneously reborn beings, there are not in the world ascetics and brahmins who have gone the right way, who have rightly practised, who proclaim this world and the other world, having realised them by direct knowledge themselves.' Thus, Cunda, there is threefold impurity by mind.
"These, Cunda, are the ten unwholesome courses of action. Cunda, one possessed of these ten unwholesome courses of action, even if rising early from his bed he touches the earth, he is impure; and if he does not touch the earth, he is impure.
"Even if he touches fresh cow-dung, he is impure; and if he does not touch fresh cow-dung, he is impure.
"Even if he touches green grass, he is impure; and if he does not touch green grass, he is impure.
"Even if he tends the fire, he is impure; and if he does not tend the fire, he is impure.
"Even if with joined palms he pays homage to the sun, he is impure; and if with joined palms he does not pay homage to the sun, he is impure.
"Even if he goes down into the water for the third time in the evening, he is impure; and if he does not go down into the water for the third time in the evening, he is impure. What is the reason for this? These, Cunda, ten unwholesome courses of action are impure and cause impurity.
"But, Cunda, because of being endowed with these ten unwholesome courses of action, hell is discerned, the animal realm is discerned, the sphere of ghosts is discerned, or whatever other unfortunate realms there are.
"Cunda, there is threefold purity by body; there is fourfold purity by speech; there is threefold purity by mind.
"How, Cunda, is there threefold purity by body? Here, Cunda, a certain one, having abandoned the killing of living beings, abstains from killing living beings; with rod laid down, with knife laid down, one who has shame, compassionate, he dwells concerned for the welfare of all living beings.
"Having abandoned taking what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. Whatever belongs to another, another's wealth and requisites, whether in the village or in the forest, that which is not given, reckoned a theft, he does not take.
"Having abandoned sexual misconduct, he abstains from sexual misconduct; those women who are protected by the mother, protected by the father, protected by both mother and father, protected by the brother, protected by the sister, protected by relatives, protected by the clan, protected by co-religionists, having an owner, under penalty, even those encircled with a garland of flowers, he does not commit adultery with such women. Thus, Cunda, there is threefold purity by body.
"And how, Cunda, is there fourfold purity by speech? Here, Cunda, a certain one, having abandoned lying, abstains from lying. Having gone to an assembly, or having gone to a company, or having gone among relatives, or having gone among a guild, or having gone among the royal court, being brought forward and questioned as a witness - 'Come, good man, tell what you know' - he, not knowing, says 'I do not know,' or knowing, says 'I know,' or not seeing, says 'I do not see,' or seeing, says 'I see.' Thus for his own sake, or for another's sake, or for the sake of some trifling material gain, he does not become a conscious speaker of falsehood.
"Having abandoned divisive speech, he abstains from divisive speech - having heard something here, he does not repeat it elsewhere to divide these people, nor having heard something elsewhere does he repeat it here to divide those people. Thus he is one who reunites those who are divided, a promoter of those who are united, rejoicing in concord, delighting in concord, taking delight in concord, he is a speaker of words that create concord.
"Having abandoned harsh speech, he abstains from harsh speech. He speaks such words as are gentle, pleasing to the ear, affectionate, going to the heart, urbane, pleasing to many people and agreeable to many people.
"Having abandoned idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter; he speaks at the right time, speaks what is factual, speaks what is beneficial, speaks on the Teaching, speaks on the discipline; he speaks words worth treasuring, timely, reasonable, well-defined, connected with the goal. Thus, Cunda, there is fourfold purity by speech.
"And how, Cunda, is there threefold purity by mind? Here, Cunda, a certain one is non-covetous. Whatever belongs to another, another's wealth and requisites, he does not covet - 'Oh, may what belongs to another be mine!'
"He has a mind without ill-will, with uncorrupted mental intention - 'May these beings be free from enmity, free from affliction, free from trouble, may they look after themselves happily.'
"He holds right view, with undistorted vision - 'There is what is given, there is what is sacrificed, there is what is offered, there is fruit and result of good and bad actions, there is this world, there is the other world, there is mother, there is father, there are spontaneously reborn beings, there are in the world ascetics and brahmins who have gone the right way, who have rightly practised, who proclaim this world and the other world, having realised them by direct knowledge themselves.' Thus, Cunda, there is threefold purity by mind.
"These, Cunda, are the ten wholesome courses of action. Cunda, one possessed of these ten wholesome courses of action, even if he rises early in the morning from his bed and touches the earth, he is pure; even if he does not touch the earth, he is pure.
"Even if he touches wet cow-dung, he is pure; even if he does not touch wet cow-dung, he is pure.
"Even if he touches green grass, he is pure; even if he does not touch green grass, he is pure.
"Even if he tends the fire, he is pure; even if he does not tend the fire, he is pure.
"Even if with joined palms he pays homage to the sun, he is pure; even if with joined palms he does not pay homage to the sun, he is pure.
"Even if he goes down into the water for the third time in the evening, he is pure; even if he does not go down into the water for the third time in the evening, he is pure. What is the reason for this? Cunda, these ten wholesome courses of action are pure and purifying.
"And, Cunda, because of being endowed with these ten wholesome courses of action, gods are discerned, human beings are discerned, or whatever other fortunate destinations there are."
When this was said, Cunda, the smith's son, said this to the Blessed One - "Excellent, venerable sir! Etc. May the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from this day forth for life." The tenth.