[306] "Well then, chieftain, I shall make a simile for you, for by means of a simile some sensible men here understand the meaning of what is said. Chieftain, suppose a man were sunk head and all in a dung-pit. Then you would command men: 'Well then, sirs, pull that man up out of that dung-pit.' They, having answered, 'Very well,' would pull that man up out of that dung-pit. You would say to them thus: 'Well then, sirs, scrape the dung thoroughly off that man's body with strips of bamboo.' They, having answered, 'Very well,' would scrape the dung thoroughly off that man's body with strips of bamboo. You would say to them thus: 'Well then, sirs, rub that man's body down thoroughly with pale-yellow clay three times.' They, having answered, 'Very well,' would rub that man's body down thoroughly with pale-yellow clay three times. You would say to them thus: 'Well then, sirs, anoint that man with oil and wash him thoroughly clean with fine powder three times.' They would anoint that man with oil and wash him thoroughly clean with fine powder three times. You would say to them thus: 'Well then, sirs, trim that man's hair and beard.' They would trim that man's hair and beard. You would say to them thus: 'Well then, sirs, present that man with a costly garland, costly unguent, and costly garments.' They would present that man with a costly garland, costly unguent, and costly garments. You would say to them thus: 'Well then, sirs, bring that man up onto a palace and furnish him with the five cords of sensual pleasure (kāmaguṇa).' They would bring that man up onto a palace and furnish him with the five cords of sensual pleasure. What do you think, chieftain? Would that man—well bathed, well anointed, with hair and beard trimmed, adorned with jewelled ornaments, clothed in white garments, having gone up to the upper storey of a splendid palace, supplied and endowed with the five cords of sensual pleasure, amusing himself—have any desire to plunge into that dung-pit again?"
"No, worthy Kassapa."
"Why is that?"
"Because, worthy Kassapa, a dung-pit is impure—both impure and reckoned as impure, foul-smelling and reckoned as foul-smelling, loathsome and reckoned as loathsome, repulsive and reckoned as repulsive."
"Even so, chieftain, to the gods human beings are both impure and reckoned as impure, foul-smelling and reckoned as foul-smelling, loathsome and reckoned as loathsome, repulsive and reckoned as repulsive. Chieftain, the smell of humans assails the gods even from a hundred yojanas away. What then of your friends and companions, relatives and kinsmen who abstained from killing living beings, abstained from taking what is not given, abstained from misconduct in sensual pleasures, abstained from false speech, abstained from divisive speech, abstained from harsh speech, abstained from idle chatter, who were uncovetous, whose minds (citta) were without ill will, who held right view, and who, at the breaking up of the body, after death, have been reborn in a good destination, a heavenly world—will they come back and announce to you: 'Thus indeed there is another world; there are beings spontaneously reborn; there is fruit and result of deeds well done and ill done'? By this very method of yours too, chieftain, let it be thus: 'Thus indeed there is another world; there are beings spontaneously reborn; there is fruit and result of deeds well done and ill done.'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.