[55] When this was said, the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna said this to the Venerable Sāriputta: "Friend Sāriputta, what is the cause, what is the condition, whereby, of these two persons both alike having a blemish (aṅgaṇa), one is declared an inferior man and one is declared a superior man? And what, friend Sāriputta, is the cause, what is the condition, whereby, of these two persons both alike without a blemish, one is declared an inferior man and one is declared a superior man?"
"Therein, friend, when the person who has a blemish does not understand as it really is (yathābhūta): 'There is a blemish within me,' this can be expected of him: he will not generate zeal (chanda), will not strive, will not arouse energy (vīriya) for the abandoning of that blemish. He will die with lust (rāga), with hatred, with delusion, with a blemish, with a defiled mind (citta). Suppose, friend, a bronze dish were brought from a shop or from a family of smiths, covered over with dust and stain; and its owners would neither use it nor have it cleaned, but would set it down in a dusty place. Would not that bronze dish, friend, at a later time become still more defiled and gripped by stain?"
"So it is, friend."
"In the same way, friend, when the person who has a blemish does not understand as it really is: 'There is a blemish within me,' this can be expected of him: he will not generate zeal, will not strive, will not arouse energy for the abandoning of that blemish. He will die with lust, with hatred, with delusion, with a blemish, with a defiled mind.
"Therein, friend, when the person who has a blemish understands as it really is: 'There is a blemish within me,' this can be expected of him: he will generate zeal, will strive, will arouse energy for the abandoning of that blemish. He will die without lust, without hatred, without delusion, without a blemish, with an undefiled mind. Suppose, friend, a bronze dish were brought from a shop or from a family of smiths, covered over with dust and stain; and its owners would use it and would have it cleaned, and would not set it down in a dusty place. Would not that bronze dish, friend, at a later time become pure and bright?"
"So it is, friend."
"In the same way, friend, when the person who has a blemish understands as it really is: 'There is a blemish within me,' this can be expected of him: he will generate zeal, will strive, will arouse energy for the abandoning of that blemish. He will die without lust, without hatred, without delusion, without a blemish, with an undefiled mind.
"Therein, friend, when the person who has no blemish does not understand as it really is: 'There is no blemish within me,' this can be expected of him: he will attend to the sign of the beautiful (subhanimitta); because of his attending to the sign of the beautiful, lust will corrupt his mind. He will die with lust, with hatred, with delusion, with a blemish, with a defiled mind. Suppose, friend, a bronze dish were brought from a shop or from a family of smiths, pure and bright; and its owners would neither use it nor have it cleaned, but would set it down in a dusty place. Would not that bronze dish, friend, at a later time become defiled and gripped by stain?"
"So it is, friend."
"In the same way, friend, when the person who has no blemish does not understand as it really is: 'There is no blemish within me,' this can be expected of him: he will attend to the sign of the beautiful; because of his attending to the sign of the beautiful, lust will corrupt his mind. He will die with lust, with hatred, with delusion, with a blemish, with a defiled mind.
"Therein, friend, when the person who has no blemish understands as it really is: 'There is no blemish within me,' this can be expected of him: he will not attend to the sign of the beautiful; because of his not attending to the sign of the beautiful, lust will not corrupt his mind. He will die without lust, without hatred, without delusion, without a blemish, with an undefiled mind. Suppose, friend, a bronze dish were brought from a shop or from a family of smiths, pure and bright; and its owners would use it and would have it cleaned, and would not set it down in a dusty place. Would not that bronze dish, friend, at a later time become still purer and brighter?"
"So it is, friend."
"In the same way, friend, when the person who has no blemish understands as it really is: 'There is no blemish within me,' this can be expected of him: he will not attend to the sign of the beautiful; because of his not attending to the sign of the beautiful, lust will not corrupt his mind. He will die without lust, without hatred, without delusion, without a blemish, with an undefiled mind.
"This, friend Moggallāna, is the cause, this is the condition, whereby, of these two persons both alike having a blemish, one is declared an inferior man and one is declared a superior man. And this, friend Moggallāna, is the cause, this is the condition, whereby, of these two persons both alike without a blemish, one is declared an inferior man and one is declared a superior man."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.