[248] "Then, friends, listen and attend well; I shall speak."
"Yes, friend," those bhikkhus replied to the Venerable Mahākaccāna. The Venerable Mahākaccāna said this:
"Friends, that summary which the Blessed One recited in brief and, without analyzing the meaning in detail, rose from his seat and entered his dwelling — namely: 'Bhikkhu, from whatever source reckonings born of proliferating perception (papañcasaññāsaṅkhā) beset a person: if there is nothing there to delight in … it is here that these evil, unwholesome states cease without remainder' — of this summary recited in brief by the Blessed One, whose meaning was not analyzed in detail, I understand the detailed meaning thus:
"Dependent on the eye and forms, friends, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact (phassa). With contact as condition, there is feeling (vedanā). What one feels, that one perceives; what one perceives, that one thinks about (vitakka); what one thinks about, that one proliferates (papañca); what one proliferates — with that as source, reckonings born of proliferating perception beset a person with respect to forms cognizable by the eye, past, future, and present.
"Dependent on the ear and sounds, friends, ear-consciousness arises …. Dependent on the nose and odors, friends, nose-consciousness arises …. Dependent on the tongue and tastes, friends, tongue-consciousness arises …. Dependent on the body and tangibles, friends, body-consciousness arises …. Dependent on the mind and mental phenomena (dhammā), friends, mind-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, there is feeling. What one feels, that one perceives; what one perceives, that one thinks about; what one thinks about, that one proliferates; what one proliferates — with that as source, reckonings born of proliferating perception beset a person with respect to mental phenomena cognizable by the mind, past, future, and present.
"When there is the eye, friends, when there is a form, when there is eye-consciousness, that one will point out a designation (paññatti) of contact — this is possible. When there is a designation of contact, that one will point out a designation of feeling — this is possible. When there is a designation of feeling, that one will point out a designation of perception — this is possible. When there is a designation of perception, that one will point out a designation of thought — this is possible. When there is a designation of thought, that one will point out a designation of the besetting by reckonings born of proliferating perception — this is possible.
"When there is the ear, friends, when there are sounds …. When there is the nose, when there are odors …. When there is the tongue, when there are tastes …. When there is the body, when there are tangibles …. When there is the mind, friends, when there are mental phenomena, when there is mind-consciousness, that one will point out a designation of contact — this is possible. When there is a designation of contact, that one will point out a designation of feeling — this is possible. When there is a designation of feeling, that one will point out a designation of perception — this is possible. When there is a designation of perception, that one will point out a designation of thought — this is possible. When there is a designation of thought, that one will point out a designation of the besetting by reckonings born of proliferating perception — this is possible.
"When there is no eye, friends, when there is no form, when there is no eye-consciousness, that one will point out a designation of contact — this is not possible. When there is no designation of contact, that one will point out a designation of feeling — this is not possible. When there is no designation of feeling, that one will point out a designation of perception — this is not possible. When there is no designation of perception, that one will point out a designation of thought — this is not possible. When there is no designation of thought, that one will point out a designation of the besetting by reckonings born of proliferating perception — this is not possible.
"When there is no ear, friends, when there are no sounds …. When there is no nose, when there are no odors …. When there is no tongue, when there are no tastes …. When there is no body, when there are no tangibles …. When there is no mind, friends, when there are no mental phenomena, when there is no mind-consciousness, that one will point out a designation of contact — this is not possible. When there is no designation of contact, that one will point out a designation of feeling — this is not possible. When there is no designation of feeling, that one will point out a designation of perception — this is not possible. When there is no designation of perception, that one will point out a designation of thought — this is not possible. When there is no designation of thought, that one will point out a designation of the besetting by reckonings born of proliferating perception — this is not possible.
"Friends, that summary which the Blessed One recited in brief and, without analyzing the meaning in detail, rose from his seat and entered his dwelling — namely: 'Bhikkhu, from whatever source reckonings born of proliferating perception beset a person: if there is nothing there to delight in … it is here that these evil, unwholesome states cease without remainder' — of this summary recited in brief by the Blessed One, whose meaning was not analyzed in detail, I understand the detailed meaning thus. But if you venerable ones wish, you may go to the Blessed One himself and question him about this meaning; as the Blessed One answers you, so should you remember it."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.