[165] On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Pāvā, in the mango grove of Cunda the smith's son. Then Cunda the smith's son approached the Blessed One; having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, he sat down to one side. As Cunda the smith's son sat there to one side, the Blessed One said this to him: "Cunda, whose rites of purification (soceyya) do you approve of?"
"Venerable sir, the brahmins of the western lands — who carry water-pots, wear garlands of water-plants, tend the sacred fire, and practise immersion in water — prescribe rites of purification. It is theirs that I approve of."
"But in what way, Cunda, do the brahmins of the western lands — who carry water-pots, wear garlands of water-plants, tend the sacred fire, and practise immersion in water — prescribe rites of purification?"
"Here, venerable sir, the brahmins of the western lands — who carry water-pots, wear garlands of water-plants, tend the sacred fire, and practise immersion in water — exhort their disciples thus: 'Come, good man: rising early from your bed, you should touch the earth; if you do not touch the earth, you should touch fresh cow-dung; if you do not touch fresh cow-dung, you should touch green grass; if you do not touch green grass, you should tend the fire; if you do not tend the fire, you should venerate the sun with joined palms; if you do not venerate the sun with joined palms, you should immerse yourself in water three times, with the evening as the third.' It is thus, venerable sir, that the brahmins of the western lands — who carry water-pots, wear garlands of water-plants, tend the sacred fire, and practise immersion in water — prescribe rites of purification; and it is their rites of purification that I approve of."
"In one way, Cunda, do the brahmins of the western lands — who carry water-pots, wear garlands of water-plants, tend the sacred fire, and practise immersion in water — prescribe purification; but in quite another way is there purity in the discipline of the Noble One."
"But in what way, venerable sir, is there purity in the discipline of the Noble One? It would be good, venerable sir, if the Blessed One would teach me the Dhamma in such a way as there is purity in the discipline of the Noble One."
"Then, Cunda, listen and attend carefully; I will speak." "Yes, venerable sir," Cunda the smith's son replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this: "Impurity by body, Cunda, is threefold; impurity by speech is fourfold; impurity by mind is threefold.
"And how, Cunda, is impurity by body threefold? Here, Cunda, someone is a destroyer of living beings: cruel, bloody-handed, given to blows and violence, merciless towards living beings. He is a taker of what is not given: whatever wealth and property of another, whether in the village or in the forest, he takes, not being given, by way of theft. He is one who engages in sexual misconduct: he transgresses with women who are protected by their mother, protected by their father, protected by a brother, protected by a sister, protected by relatives, protected by the Dhamma, who have a husband, whose violation entails a penalty, or even, at the least, one garlanded in token of betrothal. It is thus, Cunda, that impurity by body is threefold.
"And how, Cunda, is impurity by speech fourfold? Here, Cunda, someone is a speaker of falsehood: when he has gone to an assembly, to a company, to the midst of his relatives, to the midst of a guild, or to the midst of the royal court, and is brought forward and questioned as a witness — 'Come, good man, tell what you know' — then, not knowing, he says 'I know', or knowing, he says 'I do not know'; not seeing, he says 'I see', or seeing, he says 'I do not see'; thus for his own sake, or for the sake of another, or for the sake of some trifling material gain, he deliberately speaks falsehood. He is a speaker of malicious speech: having heard something here, he repeats it elsewhere in order to divide these people; or having heard something elsewhere, he repeats it here in order to divide those people; thus he is a divider of those who are united and an instigator of those already divided; delighting in faction, rejoicing in faction, taking pleasure in faction, he speaks words that create faction. He is a speaker of harsh speech: he utters such words as are rough, hard, bitter to others, offensive to others, bordering on anger, not conducive to concentration (samādhi). He is one who indulges in frivolous chatter: he speaks at the wrong time, speaks what is not fact, speaks what is unbeneficial, speaks what is contrary to the Dhamma, speaks what is contrary to the discipline; he speaks words not worth treasuring — untimely, without reason, without limit, unconnected with the good. It is thus, Cunda, that impurity by speech is fourfold.
"And how, Cunda, is impurity by mind threefold? Here, Cunda, someone is covetous: he covets the wealth and property of another thus: 'Oh, that what belongs to another were mine!' He is one of malevolent mind, of corrupt intention: 'May these beings be slain, may they be slaughtered, may they be cut off, may they be destroyed, or may they not exist!' He is one of wrong view (micchādiṭṭhi), of distorted vision: 'There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed; there is no fruit or result of good and bad actions; there is no this world, no other world; there is no mother, no father; there are no beings spontaneously reborn (opapātika); there are in the world no ascetics and brahmins of right attainment and right practice who, having realized this world and the other world for themselves by direct knowledge, make them known.' It is thus, Cunda, that impurity by mind is threefold.
"These, Cunda, are the ten unwholesome courses of action (akusala-kammapathā). One who possesses these ten unwholesome courses of action, though rising early from his bed he touches the earth, is impure all the same; and though he does not touch the earth, he is impure all the same; though he touches fresh cow-dung, he is impure all the same; and though he does not touch fresh cow-dung, he is impure all the same; though he touches green grass, he is impure all the same; and though he does not touch green grass, he is impure all the same; though he tends the fire, he is impure all the same; and though he does not tend the fire, he is impure all the same; though he venerates the sun with joined palms, he is impure all the same; and though he does not venerate the sun with joined palms, he is impure all the same; though he immerses himself in water three times, with the evening as the third, he is impure all the same; and though he does not immerse himself in water three times, with the evening as the third, he is impure all the same. For what reason? These ten unwholesome courses of action, Cunda, are themselves impure and productive of impurity. Moreover, Cunda, it is because of possessing these ten unwholesome courses of action that hell is declared, the animal realm is declared, the realm of hungry ghosts (pittivisaya) is declared, and whatever other bad destination there may be.
"Purity by body, Cunda, is threefold; purity by speech is fourfold; purity by mind is threefold. And how, Cunda, is purity by body threefold? Here, Cunda, someone, having abandoned the destruction of living beings, abstains from destroying living beings; with rod laid down, with weapon laid down, scrupulous, compassionate, he dwells sympathetic to the welfare of all living beings. Having abandoned taking what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given: whatever wealth and property of another, whether in the village or in the forest, he does not take, not being given, by way of theft. Having abandoned sexual misconduct, he abstains from sexual misconduct: he does not transgress with women who are protected by their mother, protected by their father, protected by a brother, protected by a sister, protected by relatives, protected by the Dhamma, who have a husband, whose violation entails a penalty, or even, at the least, one garlanded in token of betrothal. It is thus, Cunda, that purity by body is threefold.
"And how, Cunda, is purity by speech fourfold? Here, Cunda, someone, having abandoned false speech, abstains from false speech: when he has gone to an assembly, to a company, to the midst of his relatives, to the midst of a guild, or to the midst of the royal court, and is brought forward and questioned as a witness — 'Come, good man, tell what you know' — then, not knowing, he says 'I do not know', or knowing, he says 'I know'; not seeing, he says 'I do not see', or seeing, he says 'I see'; thus neither for his own sake, nor for the sake of another, nor for the sake of some trifling material gain does he deliberately speak falsehood. Having abandoned malicious speech, he abstains from malicious speech: having heard something here, he does not repeat it elsewhere in order to divide these people; having heard something elsewhere, he does not repeat it here in order to divide those people; thus he is a reconciler of those who are divided and a promoter of those who are in concord; delighting in concord, rejoicing in concord, taking pleasure in concord, he speaks words that create concord. Having abandoned harsh speech, he abstains from harsh speech: he utters such words as are blameless, pleasing to the ear, lovable, going to the heart, urbane, agreeable to many people, pleasing to many people. Having abandoned frivolous chatter, he abstains from frivolous chatter: he speaks at the right time, speaks what is fact, speaks on the good, speaks on the Dhamma, speaks on the discipline; he speaks words worth treasuring — timely, with reason, measured, connected with the good. It is thus, Cunda, that purity by speech is fourfold.
"And how, Cunda, is purity by mind threefold? Here, Cunda, someone is uncovetous: he does not covet the wealth and property of another thus: 'Oh, that what belongs to another were mine!' He is one without malevolence of mind, of uncorrupted intention: 'May these beings be free from enmity, free from affliction, untroubled; may they maintain themselves in happiness!' He is one of right view (sammādiṭṭhi), of undistorted vision: 'There is what is given, there is what is offered, there is what is sacrificed; there is fruit and result of good and bad actions; there is this world, there is the other world; there is mother, there is father; there are beings spontaneously reborn; there are in the world ascetics and brahmins of right attainment and right practice who, having realized this world and the other world for themselves by direct knowledge, make them known.' It is thus, Cunda, that purity by mind is threefold.
"These, Cunda, are the ten wholesome courses of action (kusala-kammapathā). One who possesses these ten wholesome courses of action, rising early from his bed, though he touches the earth, is pure all the same; and though he does not touch the earth, he is pure all the same; though he touches fresh cow-dung, he is pure all the same; and though he does not touch fresh cow-dung, he is pure all the same; though he touches green grass, he is pure all the same; and though he does not touch green grass, he is pure all the same; though he tends the fire, he is pure all the same; and though he does not tend the fire, he is pure all the same; though he venerates the sun with joined palms, he is pure all the same; and though he does not venerate the sun with joined palms, he is pure all the same; though he immerses himself in water three times, with the evening as the third, he is pure all the same; and though he does not immerse himself in water three times, with the evening as the third, he is pure all the same. For what reason? These ten wholesome courses of action, Cunda, are themselves pure and productive of purity. Moreover, Cunda, it is because of possessing these ten wholesome courses of action that devas are declared, human beings are declared, and whatever other good destination there may be."
When this was said, Cunda the smith's son said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, venerable sir! … Let the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for as long as life lasts, from this day forward."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.