Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II — trans. T. W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids (1910)

of action, speech, and thought towards their fellowdisciples, both in public and in private — so long as they shall divide without partiality, and share in common with their upright companions, all such things as they receive in accordance with the just provisions of the Order, down even to the mere contents of a begging-bowl — so long as the brethren shall live among the saints in the practice, both in public and in private, of those virtues which [unbroken, intact, unspotted, unblemished] are productive of freedom \ and praised by the wise ; which are untarnished [by the desire of future life, or by the belief in the efficacy of outward acts] - ; and which are conducive to concentration of heart — so long as the brethren shall live among the saints, cherishing, both in public and in private, that noble and saving insight which leads to the complete destruction of the sorrow of him who acts according to it — so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.

[8l] ' So long as these six conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren — so long as they are instructed in these six conditions — so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.'

12. Now it was while the Exalted One was staying there at Rajagaha on the Vulture's Peak that he held that comprehensive religious talk with the brethren, saying : — ' Such and such is upright conduct ; such and such is earnest contemplation ; such and such is intelli-

1 Buddhaghosa takes this in a spiritual sense. He says : — ' These virtues are bhujissani because they bring one to the state of a free man by delivering him from the slavery of craving/

2 The commentator explains: — 'These virtues are called aparama//Mni because they are untarnished by craving or delusion, and because no one can say of him who practises them, "you have been already guilty of such and such a fault." Craving is here the hope of a future life in heaven, and delusion the belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies (the two nissayas), which are condemned as unworthy inducements to virtue. At A. Ill, 132 these five qualities are called phasu-vihara, states of bliss.

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gence. Great becomes the fruit, great the advantage of earnest contemplation, when it is set round with upright conduct. Great becomes the fruit, great the advantage of intellect when it is set round with earnest contemplation. The mind set round with intelligence is set quite free from the Intoxications, that is to say, from the Intoxication of Sensuality, from the Intoxication of Becoming, from the Intoxication of Delusion, from the Intoxication of Ignorance1.'

13. Now when the Exalted One had sojourned at Rajagaha as long as he thought fit, heA addressed the venerable Ananda, and said : — ' Come, Ananda, let us o;o to Ambala////ika.'

1 So be it, lord ! said Ananda in assent, and the Exalted One, with a large company of the brethren, proceeded to Ambalti/Mika.

14. There the Exalted One stayed in the king's house and held that comprehensive religious talk with the brethren, saying : — ' Such and such is upright conduct ; such and such is earnest contemplation ; such and such is intelligence. Great becomes the fruit, great the advantage of earnest contemplation, when it is set round with upright conduct. Great

1 This paragraph is spoken of as if it were a well-known summary, and it is constantly repeated below. The word I have here rendered 'earnest contemplation' is samadhi, which occupies in the Five Nikayas very much the same position as faith does in the New Testament ; and this section shows that the relative importance of samadhi, panna, and sila played a part in early Buddhism just as the distinction between faith, reason, and works did afterwards in Western theology. It would be difficult to find a passage in which the Buddhist view of the relation of these conflicting ideas is stated with greater beauty of thought, or equal succinctness of form. See further Rhys Davids's ' The Yogavacara's Manual of Indian Mysticism,' pp. xxv foil, and above, Vol. I, p. 156. Also E. W. West, ' Pahlavi Texts,' III, 37 ; Anguttara I, 233 ; Itivuttaka, No. 59.

The expression 'set round with' is in Pali paribhavita. In a constantly recurring simile (M. I, 104; S. Ill, 153) eggs are said to be paribhavitani by a brooding hen. In medicine the word means ' charged with, impregnated with.5 See Jat. I, 380 ; IV, 407 ; and compare Mil. 361, 382, 394. Comp. Bhag. Gita III, 38 for this simile.