[196] On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Vesālī, in the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof. Then Sāḷha the Licchavi and Abhaya the Licchavi approached the Blessed One; having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, they sat down to one side. Sitting to one side, Sāḷha the Licchavi said this to the Blessed One: "Venerable sir, there are some ascetics and brahmins who declare the crossing over of the flood (ogha) by means of two things: by reason of purity of morality (sīlavisuddhi) and by reason of austerity and scrupulousness (tapojigucchā). Here, venerable sir, what does the Blessed One say?"
"Purity of morality, Sāḷha, I declare to be one factor of the ascetic life (sāmaññaṅga). Those ascetics and brahmins, Sāḷha, who hold the doctrine of austerity and scrupulousness, who take austerity and scrupulousness as the essence, who dwell attached to austerity and scrupulousness — they are incapable of crossing over the flood. And those ascetics and brahmins, Sāḷha, whose bodily conduct is impure, whose verbal conduct is impure, whose mental conduct is impure, whose livelihood is impure — they are incapable of knowledge and vision (ñāṇadassana), of unsurpassed enlightenment.
"Suppose, Sāḷha, a man wishing to cross a river were to take a sharp axe and enter a wood. There he would see a great sāla trunk, straight, young, without knotted defects. He would cut it at the root; having cut it at the root, he would cut off the top; having cut off the top, he would clear away the branches and foliage till it was well cleared; having cleared away the branches and foliage till it was well cleared, he would hew it with axes; having hewn it with axes, he would hew it with adzes; having hewn it with adzes, he would scrape it with a scraper; having scraped it with a scraper, he would polish it with a stone ball; having polished it with a stone ball, he would launch it to cross the river. What do you think, Sāḷha — would that man be capable of crossing the river?"
"Surely not, venerable sir."
"For what reason?"
"Because, venerable sir, that sāla trunk is well worked on the outside but unpurified within. This is to be expected of it: the sāla trunk will sink, and the man will come to calamity and disaster."
"Just so, Sāḷha, those ascetics and brahmins who hold the doctrine of austerity and scrupulousness, who take austerity and scrupulousness as the essence, who dwell attached to austerity and scrupulousness — they are incapable of crossing over the flood. And those ascetics and brahmins, Sāḷha, whose bodily conduct is impure, whose verbal conduct is impure, whose mental conduct is impure, whose livelihood is impure — they are incapable of knowledge and vision, of unsurpassed enlightenment. But those ascetics and brahmins, Sāḷha, who do not hold the doctrine of austerity and scrupulousness, who do not take austerity and scrupulousness as the essence, who do not dwell attached to austerity and scrupulousness — they are capable of crossing over the flood. And those ascetics and brahmins, Sāḷha, whose bodily conduct is pure, whose verbal conduct is pure, whose mental conduct is pure, whose livelihood is pure — they are capable of knowledge and vision, of unsurpassed enlightenment.
"Suppose, Sāḷha, a man wishing to cross a river were to take a sharp axe and enter a wood. There he would see a great sāla trunk, straight, young, without knotted defects. He would cut it at the root; having cut it at the root, he would cut off the top; having cut off the top, he would clear away the branches and foliage till it was well cleared; having cleared away the branches and foliage till it was well cleared, he would hew it with axes; having hewn it with axes, he would hew it with adzes; having hewn it with adzes, he would take a chisel and clear out the inside till it was well cleared; having cleared out the inside till it was well cleared, he would scrape it with a scraper; having scraped it with a scraper, he would polish it with a stone ball; having polished it with a stone ball, he would make it into a boat; having made it into a boat, he would fit it with oars and rudder; having fitted it with oars and rudder, he would launch it to cross the river. What do you think, Sāḷha — would that man be capable of crossing the river?"
"He would, venerable sir."
"For what reason?"
"Because, venerable sir, that sāla trunk is well worked on the outside and well purified within, made into a boat and fitted with oars and rudder. This is to be expected of it: the boat will not sink, and the man will go safely to the far shore."
"Just so, Sāḷha, those ascetics and brahmins who do not hold the doctrine of austerity and scrupulousness, who do not take austerity and scrupulousness as the essence, who do not dwell attached to austerity and scrupulousness — they are capable of crossing over the flood. And those ascetics and brahmins, Sāḷha, whose bodily conduct is pure, whose verbal conduct is pure, whose mental conduct is pure, whose livelihood is pure — they are capable of knowledge and vision, of unsurpassed enlightenment.
"Suppose, Sāḷha, a professional warrior, even though he knows many feats of archery, is nevertheless worthy of a king, fit for a king's service, and reckoned truly as a limb of the king, by three qualities. By which three? He is a long-distance shooter, a shooter at a lightning flash (akkhaṇavedhī), and a splitter of a great body. Just as, Sāḷha, the professional warrior is a long-distance shooter, even so, Sāḷha, the noble disciple possesses Right Concentration (sammāsamādhi). The noble disciple possessing Right Concentration, Sāḷha, sees with right wisdom, as it really is, thus: whatever form there is — past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near — all form: 'This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.' Whatever feeling (vedanā) … whatever perception … whatever volitional formations … whatever consciousness there is — past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near — all consciousness: 'This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self' — thus he sees it with right wisdom, as it really is.
"Just as, Sāḷha, the professional warrior is a shooter at a lightning flash, even so, Sāḷha, the noble disciple possesses Right View (sammādiṭṭhi). The noble disciple possessing Right View, Sāḷha, understands as it really is: 'This is suffering (dukkha)' … 'This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering.'
"Just as, Sāḷha, the professional warrior is a splitter of a great body, even so, Sāḷha, the noble disciple possesses right deliverance (sammāvimutti). The noble disciple possessing right deliverance, Sāḷha, splits apart the great mass of ignorance."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.