[415] 8. "Here alone is purity (suddhi)," they declare;
they do not say there is purification (visuddhi) in other teachings (dhammā).
That upon which they depend — there they proclaim the excellent:
many are they, severally entrenched in their own separate truths (paccekasacca).
Desiring debate, having plunged into an assembly,
they brand one another, each in turn, a fool;
relying on another, they utter contentious talk (kathojja),
desirous of praise, claiming to be skilled.
Engaged in debate in the midst of the assembly,
desiring praise, he becomes apprehensive;
but when he is refuted, he is abashed;
angered by blame, he seeks the other's weak point.
When the examiners of the question declare
his argument defeated and refuted,
the one whose argument has failed laments and grieves;
"He has surpassed me," he moans.
These disputes have arisen among ascetics;
in these there is elation and dejection.
Seeing this too, one should refrain from contentious talk,
for there is no benefit here other than the gaining of praise.
Or else he is praised there,
having declaimed his argument in the midst of the assembly;
thereat he laughs and grows exalted,
having attained that end just as his mind had wished.
That very exaltation is the ground of his distress,
yet he speaks with conceit (māna) and arrogance (atimāna).
Seeing this too, one should refrain from contentious talk,
for the skilled do not say that purity comes thereby.
As a champion nourished on the king's fare
advances bellowing, eager for a rival champion —
go off, champion, to wherever he may be;
here, already from before, there is nothing for battle.
Those who, having seized upon a view (diṭṭhi), dispute
and assert, "This alone is truth" —
speak with them if you will; for here, when debate has arisen,
there is none to stand as your adversary.
But those who wander with the army disbanded,
not setting view against views —
what would you gain from them, Pasūra,
by whom nothing here is grasped as supreme?
So now you have come speculating,
pondering views in your mind;
you have come yoke to yoke with the Cleansed One (dhona) —
you will not be able to proceed alongside him.
The Pasūra Sutta, the eighth.
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In the Suttanipāta, the ninth [discourse] of the fourth [chapter], the Aṭṭhakavagga: the Māgandiya Sutta.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.