[239] **They call him a low ordinary person (puthujjana):** "Ordinary persons" — in what sense are they ordinary persons? They generate manifold (puthu) defilements (kilesa), thus they are ordinary persons. Their personality-view (sakkāyadiṭṭhi), manifold and undestroyed, remains, thus they are ordinary persons. They gaze up at the faces of manifold teachers, thus they are ordinary persons. They are covered over by all the manifold destinations, thus they are ordinary persons. They fabricate manifold and various volitional formations (abhisaṅkhāra), thus they are ordinary persons. They are swept along by manifold and various floods (ogha), thus they are ordinary persons. They are tormented by manifold and various torments, thus they are ordinary persons. They are burned by manifold and various fevers, thus they are ordinary persons. They are impassioned, greedy, tied, infatuated, engrossed, attached, fastened, and impeded amidst the five cords of sensual pleasure (kāmaguṇa), thus they are ordinary persons. They are covered, hindered, enveloped, shut in, concealed, and turned upside down by the five hindrances (nīvaraṇa), thus they are ordinary persons.
**They call him a low ordinary person:** thus they say, thus they have said, thus they speak, thus they utter, thus they explain, thus they express: "an ordinary person — low, inferior, mean, vile, foul, insignificant." Therefore, "they call him a low ordinary person." Hence the Blessed One said:
One who, having formerly wandered alone,
resorts to sexual intercourse —
like a carriage swerving out of control is he in the world:
they call him a low ordinary person.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.