[315] Millet, ciṅgūlaka, and cīnaka beans,
leaf-fruit, root-fruit, and gavipphala fruit —
eating these, gained righteously, the good
do not, desiring sensual pleasures, speak falsehood.
But eating whatever is well made, well finished,
given by others, pure and exquisite,
enjoying a dish of sāli rice,
you, Kassapa, eat raw stench (āmagandha).
"Raw stench is not proper for me" —
so indeed you speak, O kinsman of Brahmā,
while enjoying a dish of sāli rice
with well-dressed flesh of birds.
I ask you, Kassapa, about this matter:
of what sort is this raw stench of yours?
The destruction of life (pāṇātipāta), beating, cutting, and binding,
theft, false speech (musāvāda), fraud and deceptions,
crooked studies, consorting with the wives of others —
this is raw stench, not the eating of meat.
Those people here unrestrained in sensual pleasures,
greedy for tastes, mixed with what is impure,
of nihilistic view (natthikadiṭṭhi), crooked, hard to guide —
this is raw stench, not the eating of meat.
Those who are coarse, cruel, backbiting,
treacherous to friends, pitiless, arrogant beyond measure,
ungiving by habit, who give to no one —
this is raw stench, not the eating of meat.
Anger, intoxication, obstinacy, defiance,
deceit, envy, boastful speech,
conceit and contempt, and intimacy with the bad —
this is raw stench, not the eating of meat.
Those here of evil character, repudiators of debts, informers,
cheats in their dealings, counterfeiters,
vilest of men, who here do villainy —
this is raw stench, not the eating of meat.
Those people here unrestrained toward living beings,
who, taking what belongs to others, are bent on harming them,
immoral, cruel, harsh, without regard —
this is raw stench, not the eating of meat.
Those greedy for these things, hostile, murderous,
ever bent [upon evil], who after death go to darkness —
beings who fall headfirst into hell (niraya) —
this is raw stench, not the eating of meat.
Neither the flesh of fish, nor fasting,
nor nakedness (nor a shaven head, matted hair, dirt,
rough antelope hides), nor attendance upon the fire-oblation (aggihutta),
nor whatever many austerities in the world aimed at immortality,
nor chants and oblations, nor sacrifice and seasonal observance,
purify a mortal who has not crossed beyond doubt.
One who would fare guarded in regard to these, the faculties (indriya) understood,
standing firm in the Dhamma, delighting in integrity and gentleness,
gone beyond ties, with all suffering (dukkha) abandoned —
that wise one is not smeared by things seen and heard.
Thus the Blessed One declared this matter again and again;
he who had gone to the far shore of the hymns understood it.
With variegated verses the sage made it known —
free of raw stench, unattached, hard to trace.
Having heard the well-spoken word of the Buddha,
free of raw stench, dispelling all suffering,
humble in mind, he paid homage to the Tathāgata,
and right there he chose the going forth (pabbajjā).
The Āmagandha Sutta, the second.
In the Suttanipāta, the third [discourse] of the second chapter, the Cūḷavagga: the Hiri Sutta.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.