[412]
Abiding in views (diṭṭhi), [holding] "This is supreme,"
whatever a person makes out to be highest in the world,
he declares all others "inferior" beside it;
therefore he has not passed beyond disputes.
Whatever advantage he sees for himself
in the seen, the heard, in precept and vow (sīlabbata),[1] or in the sensed (muta),
grasping firmly at just that there,
he sees all else as inferior.
That, too, the skilled call a knot (gantha) —
that in dependence on which one sees another as inferior.
Therefore a bhikkhu should not depend
upon the seen, the heard, or the sensed, or upon precept and vow.
Nor should he form even a view in the world
by means of knowledge (ñāṇa) or by precept and vow;
he should not represent himself as "equal,"
nor should he conceive himself "inferior," nor yet "superior."[2]
Having given up what was taken up, not clinging,
he makes no dependence even upon knowledge;
truly, among those who are divided he follows no faction;
he does not fall back upon any view at all.
For whom there is here no wish for either extreme —
for this or that state of existence, here or beyond —
for whom[3] there are no adherences (nivesana) of any kind,
grasped after deliberation among dhammas:
for him, with regard to the seen, the heard, or the sensed,
not even a minute perception (saññā) is fashioned here.
That brahmin (brāhmaṇa) who takes up no view —
by what here in the world could anyone categorize him?
They do not formulate, they do not prefer;
nor are any dhammas embraced by them.
A brahmin is not to be led by precept and vow;
gone to the far shore, such a one (tādī) does not fall back.
[1] M., Yu.: sīlavate. [2] Po.: cāpi. [3] M., Yu.: tassa. (Variant readings; the Siam text reads sīlabbate, vāpi, yassa, which is followed here.)
The Paramaṭṭhaka Sutta, the fifth.
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In the Suttanipāta, the sixth [discourse] of the fourth chapter, the Aṭṭhakavagga: the Jarā Sutta.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.