[499] Then the brahmin Jāṇussoṇī approached the Blessed One … Sitting to one side, the brahmin Jāṇussoṇī said to the Blessed One: "Master Gotama, whoever has a sacrifice, a memorial offering (saddha), a dish of milk-rice (thālipāka), or a gift to be given, should give that gift among brahmins possessed of the threefold knowledge (tevijja)."
"But how, brahmin, do the brahmins describe a brahmin as possessed of the threefold knowledge?"
"Here, Master Gotama, a brahmin is well born on both sides, of pure maternal and paternal descent, of unblemished conception back through seven generations of paternal ancestors, unassailable and irreproachable with respect to birth; he is a reciter and preserver of the hymns, a master of the three Vedas with their vocabularies and ritual manuals, with their phonology and etymology, and the histories as a fifth; he is skilled in philology and grammar, and fully versed in cosmology and in the marks of a great man. It is in this way, Master Gotama, that the brahmins describe a brahmin as possessed of the threefold knowledge."
"Brahmin, one possessed of the threefold knowledge as the brahmins describe him is one thing; one possessed of the threefold knowledge in the discipline of the Noble One is quite another."
"But how, Master Gotama, is one possessed of the threefold knowledge in the discipline of the Noble One? It would be good if Master Gotama would teach me the Dhamma in such a way as to show how one is possessed of the threefold knowledge in the discipline of the Noble One."
"Then, brahmin, listen and attend carefully; I will speak."
"Yes, sir," the brahmin Jāṇussoṇī replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
"Here, brahmin, a bhikkhu, secluded from sensual pleasures … enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna. When his mind (citta) is thus concentrated, purified, cleansed, unblemished, rid of defilement, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs the mind to the knowledge (ñāṇa) of the recollection of past abodes. He recollects his manifold past abodes … This is the first true knowledge (vijjā) attained by him: ignorance (avijjā) has been dispelled, true knowledge has arisen; darkness has been dispelled, light has arisen, as happens for one who dwells heedful, ardent (ātāpī), and resolute.
"When his mind is thus concentrated, purified, cleansed, unblemished, rid of defilement, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs the mind to the knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings. With the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human, he sees beings … This is the second true knowledge attained by him: ignorance has been dispelled, true knowledge has arisen; darkness has been dispelled, light has arisen, as happens for one who dwells heedful, ardent, and resolute.
"When his mind is thus concentrated, purified, cleansed, unblemished, rid of defilement, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs the mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the taints (āsava). He understands as it really is (yathābhūta): 'This is suffering (dukkha)' … He understands as it really is: 'This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering.' He understands as it really is: 'These are the taints' … He understands as it really is: 'This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of the taints.' When he knows and sees thus, his mind is liberated from the taint of sensuality, his mind is liberated from the taint of existence, his mind is liberated from the taint of ignorance. When it is liberated there comes the knowledge: 'It is liberated.' He understands: 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done; there is no more coming to any state of being.' This is the third true knowledge attained by him: ignorance has been dispelled, true knowledge has arisen; darkness has been dispelled, light has arisen, as happens for one who dwells heedful, ardent, and resolute.
"One accomplished in virtue and observances,
resolute and concentrated,
whose mind is brought under mastery,
one-pointed and well composed;
the sage who knows his past abodes,
who sees heaven and the planes of misery,
and has attained the destruction of birth,
consummate in direct knowledge —
by these three true knowledges
one is a brahmin of threefold knowledge.
It is him I call one of threefold knowledge,
not another, a mere babbler of recitations.
"It is in this way, brahmin, that one is possessed of the threefold knowledge in the discipline of the Noble One."
"Master Gotama, the one of threefold knowledge among the brahmins is one thing, and the one of threefold knowledge in the discipline of the Noble One is quite another. And, Master Gotama, the one of threefold knowledge among the brahmins is not worth a sixteenth part of this one possessed of the threefold knowledge in the discipline of the Noble One. Excellent, Master Gotama! … May Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who from this day forth has gone for refuge for life."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.