[52] "Bhikkhus, I shall teach the seven destinations of persons (purisagati) and final Nibbāna without clinging (anupādā parinibbāna). Listen to it, attend carefully; I shall speak." "Yes, venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
"And what, bhikkhus, are the seven destinations of persons? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus: 'It might not be, and it might not be mine; it will not be, and it will not be mine. What exists, what has come to be — that I am abandoning': thus he obtains equanimity (upekkhā). He is not enamoured of existence, he does not cling to coming-into-existence, and with right wisdom he sees: 'There is a higher state that is peaceful.' But that state has not been realized by him entirely; the latent tendency (anusaya) to conceit (māna) has not been abandoned by him entirely, the latent tendency to lust for existence (bhavarāga) has not been abandoned entirely, the latent tendency to ignorance (avijjā) has not been abandoned entirely. With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters (orambhāgiyāni saṃyojanāni) he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna in the interval (antarāparinibbāyī). Just as, bhikkhus, when an iron bowl has been heated all day and is being struck, a chip might come off and be extinguished — even so, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus: 'It might not be, and it might not be mine; it will not be, and it will not be mine. What exists, what has come to be — that I am abandoning': thus he obtains equanimity. He is not enamoured of existence, he does not cling to coming-into-existence, and with right wisdom he sees: 'There is a higher state that is peaceful.' But that state has not been realized by him entirely; the latent tendency to conceit has not been abandoned by him entirely, the latent tendency to lust for existence has not been abandoned entirely, the latent tendency to ignorance has not been abandoned entirely. With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna in the interval.
"Here again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus: 'It might not be, and it might not be mine; it will not be, and it will not be mine. What exists, what has come to be — that I am abandoning': thus he obtains equanimity. He is not enamoured of existence, he does not cling to coming-into-existence, and with right wisdom he sees: 'There is a higher state that is peaceful.' But that state has not been realized by him entirely; the latent tendency to conceit has not been abandoned by him entirely, the latent tendency to lust for existence has not been abandoned entirely, the latent tendency to ignorance has not been abandoned entirely. With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna in the interval. Just as, bhikkhus, when an iron bowl has been heated all day and is being struck, a chip might come off, rise up, and be extinguished — even so, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna in the interval.
"Here again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna in the interval. Just as, bhikkhus, when an iron bowl has been heated all day and is being struck, a chip might come off, rise up, and be extinguished without striking the ground — even so, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna in the interval.
"Here again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna upon landing (upahaccaparinibbāyī). Just as, bhikkhus, when an iron bowl has been heated all day and is being struck, a chip might come off, rise up, and, having struck the ground, be extinguished — even so, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna upon landing.
"Here again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna without exertion (asaṅkhāraparinibbāyī). Just as, bhikkhus, when an iron bowl has been heated all day and is being struck, a chip might come off, rise up, and fall upon a small heap of grass or a small heap of sticks; there it would produce fire and produce smoke, and having produced fire and produced smoke, it would consume that very small heap of grass or heap of sticks and, without fuel, be extinguished — even so, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna without exertion.
"Here again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna with exertion (sasaṅkhāraparinibbāyī). Just as, bhikkhus, when an iron bowl has been heated all day and is being struck, a chip might come off, rise up, and fall upon an ample heap of grass or an ample heap of sticks; there it would produce fire and produce smoke, and having produced fire and produced smoke, it would consume that very ample heap of grass or heap of sticks and, without fuel, be extinguished — even so, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one who attains final Nibbāna with exertion.
"Here again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one bound upstream, heading to the Akaniṭṭha realm (uddhaṃsota akaniṭṭhagāmī). Just as, bhikkhus, when an iron bowl has been heated all day and is being struck, a chip might come off, rise up, and fall upon a great heap of grass or a great heap of sticks; there it would produce fire and produce smoke, and having produced fire and produced smoke, it would consume that heap of grass or heap of sticks and burn the shrubbery and burn the woodland; and having burned the shrubbery and burned the woodland, upon reaching the edge of the green, or the edge of rock, or the edge of water, or a delightful stretch of ground, it would, without fuel, be extinguished — even so, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus … With the utter destruction of the five lower fetters he becomes one bound upstream, heading to the Akaniṭṭha realm. These, bhikkhus, are the seven destinations of persons.
"And how, bhikkhus, is there final Nibbāna without clinging? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is practicing thus: 'It might not be, and it might not be mine; it will not be, and it will not be mine. What exists, what has come to be — that I am abandoning': thus he obtains equanimity. He is not enamoured of existence, he does not cling to coming-into-existence, and with right wisdom he sees: 'There is a higher state that is peaceful.' And that state has been realized by him entirely; the latent tendency to conceit has been abandoned by him entirely, the latent tendency to lust for existence has been abandoned entirely, the latent tendency to ignorance has been abandoned entirely. With the destruction of the taints (āsava) … having realized it, he enters upon and dwells in it. This, bhikkhus, is called final Nibbāna without clinging.
"These, bhikkhus, are the seven destinations of persons and final Nibbāna without clinging."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.