[110] Householders, there are some ascetics and brahmins who hold such a doctrine and such a view as this: "For one who acts or causes others to act, who mutilates or causes others to mutilate, who tortures or causes others to torture, who inflicts sorrow or causes others to inflict sorrow, who oppresses or causes others to oppress, who intimidates or causes others to intimidate, who causes living beings to be slain, who takes what is not given, breaks into houses, plunders wealth, commits burglary upon a single house, lies in ambush on the highway, goes to another's wife, speaks falsehood — for one so acting, no evil is done. Even if, with a wheel whose rim is razor-edged, one were to make the living beings of this earth into one shambles of flesh, one heap of flesh, there would be no evil arising from that cause, no coming of evil. Even if one were to go along the south bank of the Ganges killing and slaughtering, mutilating and causing others to mutilate, torturing and causing others to torture, there would be no evil arising from that cause, no coming of evil. Even if one were to go along the north bank of the Ganges giving and causing others to give, sacrificing and causing others to sacrifice, there would be no merit arising from that cause, no coming of merit. Through giving, through self-taming, through restraint, through speaking truth, there is no merit, no coming of merit."
Householders, there are some ascetics and brahmins whose doctrine is in direct opposition to those very ascetics and brahmins. They speak thus: "For one who acts or causes others to act, who mutilates or causes others to mutilate, who tortures or causes others to torture, who inflicts sorrow or causes others to inflict sorrow, who oppresses or causes others to oppress, who intimidates or causes others to intimidate, who causes living beings to be slain, who takes what is not given, breaks into houses, plunders wealth, commits burglary upon a single house, lies in ambush on the highway, goes to another's wife, speaks falsehood — for one so acting, evil is done. Even if, with a wheel whose rim is razor-edged, one were to make the living beings of this earth into one shambles of flesh, one heap of flesh, there would be evil arising from that cause, there would be a coming of evil. Even if one were to go along the south bank of the Ganges killing and slaughtering, mutilating and causing others to mutilate, torturing and causing others to torture, there would be evil arising from that cause, there would be a coming of evil. Even if one were to go along the north bank of the Ganges giving and causing others to give, sacrificing and causing others to sacrifice, there would be merit arising from that cause, there would be a coming of merit. Through giving, through self-taming, through restraint, through speaking truth, there is merit, there is a coming of merit."
What do you think, householders? Do not these ascetics and brahmins hold doctrines in direct opposition to one another?
"So it is, venerable sir."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.