[63] To Dīgha Tapassī the Nigaṇṭha, who was sitting to one side, the Blessed One said this: "Tapassī, how many kinds of action (kamma) does the Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta designate for the doing of an evil action, for the perpetration of an evil action?"
"Friend Gotama, it is not the custom of the Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta to designate 'action, action'; it is the custom of the Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta, friend Gotama, to designate 'rod (daṇḍa), rod'."
"Then, Tapassī, how many kinds of rod does the Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta designate for the doing of an evil action, for the perpetration of an evil action?"
"Friend Gotama, the Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta designates three kinds of rod for the doing of an evil action, for the perpetration of an evil action, namely: the bodily rod, the verbal rod, and the mental rod."
"But, Tapassī, is the bodily rod one thing, the verbal rod another, and the mental rod another?"
"Friend Gotama, the bodily rod is one thing, the verbal rod another, and the mental rod another."
"Then, Tapassī, of these three rods, thus analyzed and thus distinguished, which rod does the Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta designate as the more greatly blameworthy for the doing of an evil action, for the perpetration of an evil action: the bodily rod, the verbal rod, or the mental rod?"
"Friend Gotama, of these three rods, thus analyzed and thus distinguished, the Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta designates the bodily rod as the more greatly blameworthy for the doing of an evil action, for the perpetration of an evil action — not so the verbal rod, not so the mental rod."
"Do you say the bodily rod, Tapassī?"
"I say the bodily rod, friend Gotama."
"Do you say the bodily rod, Tapassī?"
"I say the bodily rod, friend Gotama."
"Do you say the bodily rod, Tapassī?"
"I say the bodily rod, friend Gotama."
Thus the Blessed One made Dīgha Tapassī the Nigaṇṭha stand firm on this point of discussion up to the third time.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.